Wei Yunxi noticed their movements and immediately feigned fear, taking a cautious step back.
"Daoyou... why are you following me?"
One of the men sneered and answered bluntly.
"Isn't it obvious? Hand over your storage pouch, and we might let you live. Refuse, and don't blame us for being ruthless."
A blatant threat.
Wei Yunxi took another step back, retreating into the range of her formation disk. Her voice trembled, though she forced herself to sound stern.
"I'm a disciple of Haoran Sect. Don't push your luck."
"Hmph. You sect disciples are exactly who we're after."
With that, the second man formed a hand seal and fired a spike of water at her.
Wei Yunxi tilted her head and narrowly dodged, then turned and ran. The two men chased after her without hesitation, but the moment they stepped into the area covered by the formation disk, Wei Yunxi vanished from their sight.
They both froze.
"She dares set a trap for us?"
"She's a fat sheep for sure. We have to take her down."
"Of course. Brother Xia, let your tracking rat loose. Find out where she's hiding."
"On it."
The man called Brother Xia didn't hesitate. He pulled a small white rodent from his robe. Its most striking feature was its pair of black ears. This was the tracking rat—the reason Wei Yunxi hadn't been able to shake them off before.
Now aware of the trick, Wei Yunxi quickly manipulated the formation to split the two apart. Then she raised her sword and charged at the one who had pursued her first, choosing to leave the Xia-named cultivator for later.
"Heh. Short little brat, but full of tricks. You dare ambush us?"
A vicious glint flashed in the Loose Cultivator's eyes. The two of them had used the tracking rat to secretly ambush and kill plenty of sect disciples during their training missions, collecting no small amount of cultivation resources. Both of them were at the peak of Qi Refinement, and had been planning to return to Baohua City to break through to Foundation Establishment in a few days.
But on their way back, they spotted Wei Yunxi traveling alone. Temptation flared. She looked young, her cultivation disguised, and her gear valuable. Too good a target to pass up.
Wei Yunxi didn't waste time with more words. She attacked head-on.
Aside from that time she killed the lecherous Chen Feng, this was her second time facing a human cultivator in battle. Over the past three years, her sparring partners had mostly been spirit beasts in the back mountain. Her experience fighting people was sorely lacking.
Her opponent was clearly more seasoned. Though her actual cultivation exceeded his, his strikes were ruthless and precise. At first, Wei Yunxi struggled to keep up. She found herself constantly on the back foot.
Fortunately, Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind came through for her. The movement art helped her slip through several near-lethal attacks.
Wei Yunxi quickly realized her biggest weakness—she had no real combat techniques. Aside from basic spells and this low-grade spirit sword, she had no structured means of offense. The sword did some damage when infused with spiritual power, but lacked any proper form or skill behind it.
Still, she learned something during the fight. As long as her speed was fast enough, she could avoid the enemy's attacks. But this was only possible because her spiritual energy reserves were greater than his. If they were equal in cultivation, she wouldn't have stood a chance.
Now that she understood her limits, Wei Yunxi had no interest in dragging the fight out. Her body flickered, and she appeared behind the Loose Cultivator. A sword thrust followed—clean and sharp, stabbing straight into his heart.
The man fell, disbelief still frozen in his eyes. A predator used to hunting others, taken down silently by prey that bit back harder.
Wei Yunxi searched his body and took his storage pouch, then moved on to the area where the cultivator surnamed Xia was trapped.
Xia Yang was swinging a heavy axe at the edge of the formation, clearly trying to escape. The moment he and his partner were split apart, he knew they had kicked an iron wall. All he wanted now was to survive.
The instant Wei Yunxi appeared, he swung his axe without hesitation.
Too bad for him, Wei Yunxi came prepared. She vanished before the strike could connect, reappearing behind him. Her sword sliced horizontally. He ducked fast enough to avoid being killed, but not fast enough to avoid having a chunk of his hair chopped off.
Cold sweat ran down Xia Yang's back.
He immediately surrendered.
"Daoyou, I'm willing to offer my storage pouch. Just... please spare my life."
Wei Yunxi paused, as if considering his offer.
Seeing a sliver of hope, Xia Yang rushed to add, "It's not easy being a Loose Cultivator. We only resorted to robbery to gather cultivation resources. We never kill, we only steal. Please, let me off this once."
Wei Yunxi waved impatiently.
"Fine. But I want your tracking rat. Break the contract and hand it over."
Xia Yang stiffened, but clenched his teeth.
"Alright. I'll do it. As long as you vow not to kill me."
His words were cut short by a shard of ice that struck near his foot.
Wei Yunxi's voice turned cold.
"Do you think you're in a position to negotiate? Be grateful I'm in a good mood. If you don't hand it over, I'll reunite you with your friend."
Dark light flickered in Xia Yang's eyes, but he still pulled out the tracking rat from his robe. He formed a hand seal and broke the master-servant contract, then pushed the small creature toward Wei Yunxi.
The tracking rat blinked up at her, eyes like black beans, as if evaluating its new master's strength.
Wei Yunxi swept her spiritual sense over it. Confirming there was no trickery involved, she picked the creature up and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was soft, palm-sized, and warm.
Satisfied, she turned to Xia Yang.
"I'll let you go this time, since you know how to read the situation. Now get lost."
She opened a gap in the formation. Xia Yang let out a shaky breath of relief. If he could avoid a life-or-death struggle, all the better. He stepped out without hesitation.
The next second, the formation closed shut.
Xia Yang didn't even have time to react before the sharp force of the formation sliced his body in two.
"You—"
He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before death claimed him.
"Hmph. You think I'm easy to fool just because I look young? You really thought I didn't know how many lives you two had taken? If I hadn't needed that rat, I would've killed you the moment I saw you."
Grumbling to herself, Wei Yunxi rifled through his storage pouch. As expected, it was full of odd and shady items. There were even seven or eight pieces of women's undergarments. Clearly, this man hadn't done a single decent thing in his life.
She also found a third-grade explosive talisman clenched in his dead hand. It had likely been his last resort. If she had shown any mercy, he might've used it to kill them both.
"Tch. That was close."
Wei Yunxi muttered again, pocketing the talisman. It was hers now—a proper trophy of survival.
After meditating for a quarter-hour to restore herself, she packed up her formation disk. Then, she let her cultivation aura show—early Foundation Establishment. This wasn't an accident. She had thought it through.
It was time to join the inner sect openly.
The Baohua Mountains held countless opportunities. Whether you gained something depended on your ability to seize it. Wei Yunxi had decided—she would be one of the few who could.
Just before leaving, she cast a glance behind her toward the tree and flashed what she believed was a mysterious, chilling smile. Then her figure vanished.
The male cultivator hiding behind the tree twitched at the corner of his mouth.
He was lucky he hadn't stepped in to break the formation. That little girl's grin was terrifying.