After leaving Blackrock City, Ling Ye, with his newly acquired "little tail," headed north.
Zhu Zhuqing was very quiet, and most of the time she would just silently follow a few steps behind Ling Ye, like a silent shadow.
She was still wearing that large black cloak, concealing her beautiful figure and face, revealing only a pair of wary and scrutinizing eyes as she carefully observed everything around her, including Ling Ye in front of her.
Ling Ye didn't say much, but would occasionally give her some dry food and water, or slow down her pace a little when she was clearly exhausted.
Her soul power seal is quite troublesome; it's a unique confinement technique used by the Star Luo royal family, and forcibly breaking it might damage her very essence.
Although Ling Ye has the ability to crack the code, he needs some specific medicinal herbs to assist him, so he can only put it aside for now.
After spending several days together, Zhu Zhuqing's doubts deepened.
This man is so strange.
On the surface, his soul power was weak, only at the level of a Soul Master, and his Martial Soul seemed to be some inconspicuous point of light, and he didn't seem very powerful when traveling.
But he knows a great deal.
His insights into soul power cultivation were often incisive, and a few casual words of guidance loosened the bottleneck that had troubled her for a long time.
His knowledge of soul beasts, medicinal herbs, and even various forces on the continent was far beyond that of an ordinary soul master.
Moreover, he seems to have had excessively good luck?
Whenever he encounters a fork in the road, he always manages to choose the safer one.
Occasionally, some low-level soul beasts would sneak out, but they would always coincidentally crash into the tree behind him and faint, or be tripped by vines that suddenly appeared on the ground.
At night, you can always find the driest and most sheltered corner to rest in.
Was all of this really just luck?
That evening, the two rested briefly by a stream.
Zhu Zhuqing sat cross-legged to the side, trying to break through the seal, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.
Ling Ye leaned against a tree, seemingly resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, his mental energy had already covered a range of several hundred meters around him.
Suddenly, his eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly.
They've arrived.
Five well-concealed figures were rapidly approaching from three directions. Although their killing intent was concealed, it could not escape his perception.
They were all at the Soul Master level, their actions were swift and unified, and their teamwork was excellent—typical assassin style.
It seems to be the first wave of pursuers sent by the Xingluo Dai family.
Zhu Zhuqing seemed to sense a faint sense of crisis as well. She suddenly opened her eyes, a cold glint flashing in her purple pupils, and instantly entered battle mode, warily looking around at the dark woods.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
Several whooshing sounds suddenly rang out as poisoned crossbow bolts shot towards Zhu Zhuqing's vitals from different angles!
The speed is astonishing!
Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed. Although her martial spirit was sealed, her fighting instincts remained. Her body twisted like a nimble cat, narrowly avoiding most of the arrows. However, one still grazed her arm, leaving a trail of blood. The wound instantly went numb.
poison!
Five masked figures in black pounced out like cheetahs, their short blades gleaming with an eerie light, aiming straight for Zhu Zhuqing!
Their perfect teamwork sealed off all her escape routes.
Despair flashed in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. Her soul power was sealed and she was poisoned. Facing five Soul Masters, she had no chance of survival!
At this critical moment.
"oops!"
Ling Ye, who had been "terrified" the whole time, seemed to be in a panic and "accidentally" tripped over a tree root. He "frantically" lunged forward and bumped into the wrist of one of the killers who was holding a knife!
The assassin felt a numbness in his wrist, and the short blade almost slipped from his hand, his attack instantly deformed.
At the same time, when Ling Ye fell, something he was holding "flew out of his hand," and several small stones "randomly" shot towards the faces of the other two assassins!
The stones flew seemingly without any pattern, yet their speed was strangely fast, and their angles were even more tricky, forcing the two assassins to parry with their swords, halting their attack.
Zhu Zhuqing was experienced in combat. Although she didn't understand what had happened, she would never let this fleeting opportunity slip by!
She endured the numbness, her body sliding through the gaps in the last assassin's blade as if boneless, her fingernails slicing towards his throat like sharp claws!
The assassin hadn't expected his target to be so slippery, nor had he anticipated that his companion's attack would be interrupted by various "accidents." He hastily retreated, but was still slashed on the side of his neck, causing blood to flow freely.
"Damn it! Kill that troublesome kid first!" The leader of the assassins was both shocked and furious. He felt that Ling Ye was very strange, so he immediately sent one of his men to attack Ling Ye.
The assassin grinned maliciously and swung his knife at Ling Ye, who was "terrified and paralyzed on the ground."
However, just as the blade was about to strike, the assassin suddenly slipped, as if he had stepped on something smooth, and instantly lost his balance, crashing headlong into the tip of his companion's knife!
"Thud!" The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out.
"Ah! Are you blind?!" the assassin who was accidentally injured screamed.
The scene became extremely chaotic.
Despite their superior strength, the five assassins always felt constrained.
Sometimes their vision is obstructed by branches that "accidentally" fly by during an attack, sometimes they suddenly slip, or sometimes their teamwork goes wrong for no apparent reason.
Zhu Zhuqing discovered that every time she dodged and counterattacked, she seemed to be able to avoid fatal attacks "just right," and her opponents would always reveal some unbelievable flaws.
The more she fought, the more frightened she became, her gaze frequently glancing at Ling Ye, who always looked "terrified" and occasionally "clumsily" threw a stone to "protect himself".
In an extremely dangerous combined attack, two short blades pierced Zhu Zhuqing's face almost simultaneously, leaving her with no way to dodge.
Just then, a small pebble struck the side of one of the short blades with pinpoint accuracy, deflecting it by three inches.
The other short blade was "coincidentally" hit on the wrist by the water bag that Ling Ye threw in his "panic," causing the force to shift.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhu Zhuqing let out a sharp cry, enduring the poison, and wrapped her legs around the neck of an assassin, exerting force with all her might!
Click!
With a crisp sound, an assassin died instantly!
With the breach opened, Zhu Zhuqing's fighting spirit surged, and her figure became like a ghost. With Ling Ye's various "unintentional" "divine assistance," she actually managed to take down two more assassins in succession.
The last two assassins, seeing the situation was turning against them, tried to escape.
Just as they turned around, one of them tripped over a vine that "mysteriously" appeared and fell flat on his face. Zhu Zhuqing caught up and finished him off.
The other man hadn't run more than a few steps when he suddenly felt as if he had been pricked by a needle in the head. The intense pain made him pause, and the next second, Zhu Zhuqing's fingertips had already shattered his throat bone.
The battle ended, leaving only five corpses and a strong stench of blood by the stream.
Zhu Zhuqing was panting heavily. The poison and exhaustion made her almost unable to stand. She leaned against the tree trunk, but her eyes were fixed on Ling Ye, who was slowly getting up from the ground and brushing off the dust.
Once is a coincidence, twice is luck, and it always happens...
She's not stupid.
This man is definitely suspicious!
"You..." Zhu Zhuqing had just opened her mouth when she saw Ling Ye walking over with a look of "lingering fear".
"You scared me to death! You scared me to death! These people are terrifying! Miss Zhu, are you alright? Are you injured?" Ling Ye looked at her arm, his face full of "worry," as if those miraculous "accidents" had nothing to do with him.
Zhu Zhuqing swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Looking into Ling Ye's seemingly clear and innocent eyes, she realized for the first time that deep within those eyes lay a profound ocean that she could never fathom.
Who exactly is he? Why is he hiding his strength? And why is he helping me?
Countless questions swirled in her mind.
She paused for a moment, then shook her head and whispered, "It's nothing, just a little poison, I can handle it. Thank you... for saving me again."
Whoever he is, at least for now, he doesn't seem to have any ill intentions towards me.
Ling Ye smiled and took out a small jade bottle from his pocket, handing it to her: "It's for detoxification; you can take it internally or apply it externally."
As Zhu Zhuqing took the jade bottle, a sense of doubt and curiosity quietly grew within her as her fingertips touched it.
Ling Ye stood with his hands behind his back, gazing ahead. It seemed that this temporary journey together would not be peaceful.
The pursuit by the Star Luo Empire will never stop here.
What level will the next one be?
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(End of chapter)