They had raided the Great Zhou’s coastal regions for years—Shandong, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang—the coastline was simply too long for every inch to be fully defended.
Having dealt with Great Zhou soldiers many times, Huailiang Qin Wang had always been confident.
After all, his wandering ronin and samurai could usually take on ten Zhou soldiers apiece.
But now, right before his eyes—these were all well-trained warriors at his side—yet they were silently having their throats slit without a sound.
Under the moonlight, one of the samurai collapsed in disbelief.
At the same time, familiar shouts came from the third bend in the road.
They were the ones they had sent earlier to look for the carriage in the ravine!
Now they were screaming for help—in Japanese.
Huailiang Qin Wang finally could no longer hold back and roared, “Baka!”
Then barked commands in Japanese, ordering his men to stay alert and prepare to fight.
He himself gripped his katana tightly, eyes scanning his surroundings with growing suspicion.
And then—he finally saw a face he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Qi Yuan’s face still had traces of blood. She hadn’t controlled her strength earlier; when slitting a throat, she had pressed too hard, causing the blood to spray on her face.
She wasn’t afraid of blood—after all, in her past life, she had crawled through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
But having the blood of these Japanese men on her face? That she didn’t enjoy.
She smiled gently at Huailiang Qin Wang, then, right before his eyes, drove her flexible sword into the back of the trusted aide standing to his left.
At that moment, Huailiang Qin Wang nearly thought he was seeing a shikigami from a Japanese legend.
So beautiful, and yet so bloodthirsty.
But the fear only lasted a moment. He quickly regained his composure and lunged straight at Qi Yuan.
Tricks! Parlor tricks!
She was only able to act like this because she had been hiding in the dark.
He swung his katana down hard at the woman.
She drew her soft sword in return to block.
He had expected his katana to cleave through her weapon without resistance.
But in reality, the blades collided with a crisp clang—her soft sword didn’t break. Instead, it bent at an odd angle, sprung forward, and stabbed through the abdomen of another one of Huailiang Qin Wang’s subordinates who had rushed to assist him.
Qi Yuan even had the leisure to smile at the prince and taunt, “I heard you Japanese love ritual disembowelment. I wonder—was my technique good enough? Is the prince satisfied?”
Madwoman!
What kind of woman does something like this?
Is this even a woman at all?!
Huailiang Qin Wang was furious to the extreme—so much so that his rage overtook any lingering fear.
She must die.
This woman has to die!
Qi Yuan showed no mercy. Her soft sword twisted and stabbed wildly inside the samurai’s belly. Then, with a vicious jerk, she pulled it out—spraying Huailiang Qin Wang’s face with blood and some unidentifiable viscera.
Then finally, she stopped toying with him and charged directly at Huailiang Qin Wang.
His katana swung wide in a deadly arc, coming down hard toward her head—just as more of his reinforcements arrived, surrounding Qi Yuan completely.
Fueled by his seething rage, Huailiang Qin Wang struck with a momentum that seemed like it could split the sky.
Qi Yuan sharply leaned backward to dodge the blow, and in that instant, she raised her arm and fired a hidden sleeve arrow—striking the eye of the nearest samurai trying to get close.
Then she swiftly charged toward Huailiang Qin Wang.
Startled, he hadn’t expected her to have hidden sleeve arrows as well. He quickly raised his blade to block.
But he soon realized—even without the sleeve arrows, just that flexible sword alone was already being wielded with such fierce momentum that he was forced into a clumsy defense, barely able to react, unable to keep up with her relentless strikes.
Staggering back in near disarray, he had just opened his mouth to speak—when a sharp pain tore through his throat.
Qi Yuan’s sword had pierced straight through it.
So fast.
Huailiang Qin Wang’s eyes widened in disbelief, staring hard at the woman before him, as if still trying to figure out where exactly he had gone wrong.
Qi Yuan coldly curled her lips. “Don’t worry—I won’t let you die on Great Zhou soil. Your head will be returned to your homeland.”
As she spoke, Lai Chenglong and the others arrived just in time to witness the scene.
Chunlin finally understood why the adults reacted the way they did whenever they heard Qi Yuan’s name.
Miss Qi really does eat people alive!
The remaining samurai, devastated by the death of their master, roared “Baka!” in grief and charged at Qi Yuan.
Lai Chenglong raised his arm, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard instantly drew their blades and rushed to meet the samurai head-on.
With a kick, Qi Yuan sent Huailiang Qin Wang’s body crashing heavily to the ground.
He wasn’t completely dead yet—his hand reached up weakly, grasping at the air in vain.
Qi Yuan fought the urge to finish him off, and instead raised an eyebrow coolly at Lai Chenglong. “I’ll leave the rest to you, Lord Lai.”
Then she turned and called back, “Lend me a horse!”
Lai Chenglong looked her over with uncertainty. “You’re not injured, are you?”
Qi Yuan gave a faint smile. “If you’d come a little later, I might have been—but I’m fine for now.”
It was meant as a joke, but Lai Chenglong couldn’t laugh.
He had Chunlin hand over his horse and then lowered his voice to warn Qi Yuan, “I’ve already made arrangements for you to climb the mountain from the back trail. But be careful—there’s a narrow wooden bridge on the way. If you fall… there’s no coming back.”
Assassinating a princess wasn’t so simple.
Princess Baorong was staying in the finest Zen courtyard at Huangjue Temple, and it was heavily guarded on all sides.
To kill her, Qi Yuan would have to sneak into the inner courtyard.
Her only chance to return undetected was to take the mountain trail from the back.
But even Lai Chenglong frowned at the thought of that path—it was far too steep.
The princess’s courtyard was built right into the cliffside. Open the windows in the morning, and all you’d see was a vast sea of clouds.
He still wanted to talk her out of it.
But Qi Yuan had already mounted the horse and, without hesitation, galloped off.
Lai Chenglong could only turn back to face the remaining Japanese men, frowning deeply.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard were highly trained, trained to kill—but even they had to give it their all against these samurai.
He still couldn’t understand how Qi Yuan had managed to kill so many on her own—and take down Huailiang Qin Wang too.
As he was thinking, a figure in deep sapphire blue suddenly flashed under the moonlight, racing toward them. His eyes widened.
“Your Highness?!”
Xiao Yunting had already dealt with the samurai sent to search the ravine. He wasn’t surprised to see Lai Chenglong—just raised an eyebrow at the Embroidered Uniform Guard and asked, “Can they be trusted?”
Lai Chenglong nodded quietly. “They’re the children of the old men my father left behind. You can trust them, Your Highness.”
Xiao Yunting grunted in acknowledgment, then asked, “Where’s Qi Yuan?”
Lai Chenglong lowered his voice even more. “She’s already headed up the mountain.”
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