What’s coming?
Huang Wenjun looked at Qi Yuan in confusion and suspicion, only to hear her calmly say, “I’m going to kill the alpha wolf. Once it dies, the pack will fall into chaos. Then you find a way to drive the rest of them toward the group that’s approaching. Understood?”
At this point, Huang Wenjun couldn’t understand a single word this young lady was saying.
In a life-and-death situation, there was no room for pleasantries. He barked out bluntly, “Young Miss, make yourself clear! We’re hired as escorts to protect you, not to die for you! What exactly are you planning?!”
From the way she talked, it sounded like she had enemies—and the wolves had been sent by them. If that was true, then the people coming must also be enemies, here to kill.
Qi Yuan abruptly turned her head, raising her flexible sword to his neck in an instant.
As the other escorts all turned to look her way, she said coldly, “You think those people will bother distinguishing between you and me? Right now, we’re all in the same boat—like grasshoppers tied together with string. Like it or not, if you want to live, you have to fight with everything you’ve got!”
“Think carefully. With wolves ahead and tigers behind, if you don’t want to be slaughtered, then fight your way out!” She swept her gaze across them, her tone steady. “If you make it out alive tonight, I’ll give each of you another fifty taels of silver!”
Fifty taels! With the twenty they’d already been promised, plus their base pay, each man would be walking away with eighty taels!
Eighty taels—more than most of them could earn in years.
Enough to settle down, buy a home, and keep their families clothed and fed.
With a heavy reward, comes brave men.
And besides, not fighting is still death! If they were going to die anyway, they might as well die fighting!
—
As the moon sank in the west, Liu Jinghong led his guards galloping down the path. In the distance, he spotted a valley lit red by campfires, where a group of people stood facing off against a pack of wolves.
From afar, it looked like a mass of dark figures and wild beasts, locked in eerie silence.
He narrowed his eyes and let out a cold laugh.
As expected, the wolves hadn’t been able to kill everyone. Not that it mattered—he hadn’t placed much hope on the wolves in the first place.
He raised a hand. “Bring me my bow!”
Qi Yuan, that cheap wench, good at polo? Skilled at riding?
Ha! In a land with no tigers, monkeys get to be king. She probably thought her horsemanship was unmatched in the world.
But she had no idea—real skill was being able to draw a bow on horseback, shoot with precision while riding, and hit a target a hundred paces away without breaking stride.
Today, he would show her.
He drew his six-stone bow, fitted with extra-sharp arrows. A direct hit would mean certain death.
Liu Jinghong pulled the bowstring to its full length. An arrow whistled through the air.
At that exact moment, Qi Yuan suddenly moved. Using her legs to leap onto her horse’s back, she launched herself straight toward the alpha wolf—crashing into it head-on.
The force of impact made the horse rear in panic, while Liu Jinghong’s arrow missed her face by a hair’s breadth.
Huang Wenjun, who saw everything, grew somber. Qi Yuan had said she would kill the alpha wolf—he hadn’t believed her.
After all, alpha wolves were the strongest and most vicious of the pack, no weaker than a leopard in a fight.
But now, her actions proved she hadn’t lied.
The alpha wolf was knocked back, rolling across the ground before rising again. It clawed at the dirt and bared its teeth at her, fur bristling in fury.
Qi Yuan swiftly dismounted, using the force of the leap to charge straight at the alpha, slashing her flexible sword across its head.
A deep wound split the skull, nearly to the bone.
Wounded repeatedly, the alpha wolf went berserk, roaring and lunging at her.
Even Liu Jinghong, watching from a distance, couldn’t help but feel a chill.
Who the h*ll was Qi Yuan?
The Yongping Marquisate had never produced such a ruthless person in generations—where had she come from?
Now he finally understood how Liu Mingzhu had lost to her.
With that kind of ability, few in the capital could compete.
His expression turned grim, and his resolve to kill Qi Yuan hardened like never before.
Kill—she must die.
A woman like this, once made an enemy, must not be left alive.
She would be an endless threat.
He stopped using his bow, pulled down his hood, and barked, “Kill them! Leave no one alive!”
—
At the same time, the fight between Qi Yuan and the alpha wolf reached its climax.
The wolf lunged, crashing into her and pinning her beneath it.
Even Huang Wenjun couldn’t help crying out, “Young Miss!”
She was dead—no doubt about it. No matter how strong she was, she was still human, not a god. How could she beat a wild beast like this?
All because of her arrogance—now she’d thrown her life away.
His face darkened.
With Qi Yuan dead, did they still have to follow her orders and fight people they didn’t even know?
Liu Jinghong curled his lips into a smile.
It seemed he wouldn’t have to lift a finger—Heaven itself had taken care of this arrogant woman.
But then—
A guard who had earlier been mauled suddenly cried out, “Young Miss!”
Everyone instinctively looked over.
The alpha wolf had collapsed beside Qi Yuan—dead.
And Qi Yuan stood up, blood-soaked and expressionless, holding a dagger.
Beside her, the wolf’s belly had been torn open, blood pooling beneath it.
The sight sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
So that’s why she had provoked the wolf, even let herself get tackled.
She had been waiting—for the moment its soft underbelly was exposed.
One strike. Fatal.
She stood there, blood on her face and hands, like a demon risen from h*ll.
Liu Jinghong and his men had almost reached the camp. Seeing this, he froze for a moment in shock.
But in that moment, Qi Yuan raised her wrist—her sleeve crossbow snapped open, firing a volley of arrows.
Liu Jinghong paled in fright. Thanks to sheer instinct and his excellent riding skill, he ducked just in time, avoiding the shots.
He’d barely exhaled in relief when he heard a desperate scream from one of his guards:
“Shizi, behind you!!”
But it was too late.
Still on horseback, Liu Jinghong felt a sudden, searing pain in his chest. He looked down, stunned, and saw the tip of a soft sword bursting out of his chest—piercing his heart from behind.
He turned.
Qi Yuan’s cold, expressionless face was the last thing he saw.
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