Chapter 2337

Her observations, her knowledge of secrets, are valuable.

Mei Wuniang hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

The leader pressed his knuckles, about to teach her a lesson, but Mei Wuniang spoke before he could act: "I know."

"Oh?" The leader tested her, "Who is this person, and where is their base?"

Mei Wuniang furrowed her fine brows, strained to recall, and before the leader urged her again, she said: "They number thirty-one in total, have five bases, but usually operate at the Hui Long Pawnshop on Moyou Zhongyang Street. The constant flow of people there makes it hard to attract official attention."

She spoke very fluently, beyond the leader's expectation. No torture needed—information poured out like beans from a bamboo tube?

But this girl is a pampered heavenly palace maid, not a warrior or spy, with no special training or life-or-death ordeal, and people easily yield when afraid.

The key is, he knows there really is a Hui Long Pawnshop on Moyou Zhongyang Street, and its storefront is indeed sizable. Tong Yiyi, selected as a heavenly palace maid at sixteen, is unlikely to have ever been to Moyou. Without having seen documents or intelligence, how would she know the specific place name?

So the leader pressed on: "The name—what is the name of this 'Central Hub'?"

"He..." Mei Wuniang hesitated, then said, "His name is..."

"Huh?" Her voice was too soft; the leader instinctively leaned forward—but then a flash of light blinded him—

Tong Yiyi drew a small knife and stabbed at his throat!

This move, this angle, was not hard to defend, and she didn't use much force. So the leader seized her wrist, twisted hard, and wrested the knife from her.

Her wrist flared with pain; Mei Wuniang couldn't help crying out, but she lashed out with a straight kick to his vital point.

The leader sank his elbow, struck first, and punched her in the solar plexus, sending her flying over half a zhang away.

Mei Wuniang's inner organs screamed with pain, her throat filled with a sweet, bloody taste; she spat out a mouthful of blood and lay on the ground, unable to rise for a long while—each breath felt like her abdomen was about to split open.

She had previously circulated her true energy throughout her body for defense; otherwise, one or two ribs would have been broken.

This person strikes truly ruthlessly.

The crowd immediately surged forward, surrounding her.

Someone tried to step forward and kick her again, but the leader raised his hand to stop them:

"Wait."

The sun had already broken through the clouds; the clearing where Mei Wuniang lay prone was now bathed in direct, brilliant midday sunlight.

Then the leader saw it—a slender red thread had appeared on her shoulder, stretching all the way to the endless sky.

"This is...?" What is this, and when was it connected?

Before he could finish speaking, Mei Wuniang strained to lift her head, a trace of blood still at the corner of her mouth, and said fiercely:

"You think your crimes are flawless? My god knows all, is everywhere! You wait—divine punishment is coming! It will surely not spare you, these irreverent wretches!"

If someone is lurking in the dark, they should act now—unless she misjudged from the start.

Their group, if they misjudge, may well pay with their lives.

The leader frowned, "Knows all, is everywhere"? Is this red thread related to the heavenly god?

Ah, this maid came from the heavenly palace—perhaps the heavenly palace uses this red thread as a means of tracking. He does know that the heavenly god seems to have a way to track mortals.

Then the urgent task is to sever the connection between the heavenly god and this maid!

The leader gripped a small knife in his hand, didn't hesitate, and swung—cutting the red thread on her shoulder in passing.

To his subordinates, it looked as if the leader had just swung his knife at empty air.

"Take her away!" the leader pointed at Mei Wuniang and ordered, "Change location for questioning—this place is no longer safe!"

"Yes!"

As the crowd prepared to act, another rainbow light suddenly flew out from the forest.

The hand reaching to grab Mei Wuniang—his chest was instantly pierced through!

Ambush.

The crowd hastily drew their weapons; this rainbow light, ignoring everyone, turned in a circle and stabbed out again.

This time, the target was Mei Wuniang!

Mei Wuniang's face drained of color.

The leader flung his small knife—ding! —it struck the rainbow light, deflecting it.

The small knife let out a "duo" sound as it struck the ground, landing right two feet in front of Mei Wuniang's eyes.

She didn't hesitate—she picked it up first, then would speak.

At this moment, another ten or so people emerged from the woods; the leader had a stern, cold face and ruthless eyes. The rainbow light flew back to hover before him, transforming into a flying sword that darted incessantly.

This flying sword is utterly pure—driven by its master to fly and wound, not meant for hand-held combat, so it lacks a hilt, guard, etc., resembling a large embroidery needle or a spiked ridge.

Mei Wuniang also recognized this face—it is the heavenly palace's lantern bearer, and also one of Lu Yongyan's confidants, Ye Zhao.

Besides the lantern bearer's divine arts, Ye Zhao's cultivation is also quite formidable.

Upon seeing him, Mei Wuniang's heart turned cold.

Ye Zhao has an unflattering epithet in the heavenly palace, called "Cleanser." Ceng Guzi once told Mei Wuniang that the heavenly palace often has people and matters inconvenient to clean up openly, so they send figures like Ye Zhao to handle them.

Clearly, Mei Wuniang has now become such an "inconvenient-to-clean-up" person.

Ye Zhao's retinue behind him are all skilled fighters—not comparable to the few useless fellows in Mei Wuniang's group.

"Even stealing from corpses, you Mou people truly have no limits!" Ye Zhao waved his hand, and his retinue surged forward.

In the blink of an eye, the two sides clashed. The bandit leader's men tried to seize Mei Wuniang and retreat, but she suddenly inhaled lightly, performed a diving motion, and plunged headfirst into the earth!

His grasp closed on nothing.

Soon after, the heavenly palace troops attacked.

After Mei Wuniang went underground, the fighting and noise in the forest faded behind her. She didn't look back, heading west, moving stealthily for over three hundred zhang until her talisman power was exhausted, then she burst from the ground, gulping fresh air in great mouthfuls, and even spat out two more mouthfuls of blood.

Her inner injuries were severe; each breath felt like burning fire, but she once again confirmed her ribs were not broken.

That will do.

Mei Wuniang fed herself two pills, then regulated her breath a few times, and the pain eased somewhat.

"Two bunches of bastards, not a single decent thing among them!" She had originally intended to casually toss away the talisman paper of the Earth Escape Talisman, but on second thought picked it up again, using a wisp of True Fire to burn it clean, and also wiped away the bloodstains on the ground.

Infiltrating the Heavenly Palace as a spy is a high-risk mission; she has a lot of emergency equipment on hand, such as various pills, and for instance this Earth Escape Talisman specially made by Songyang Prefecture, its subterranean escape range is more than three times that of an ordinary Escape Talisman.

This mountain forest is very dense; as long as she escapes the sight of those two parties, she will basically be safe.

Those two groups of people should be fighting to the death right now; Mei Wuniang also doesn't want to go join the excitement, so she turns and flees at full speed in the opposite direction.

She unfolds her movement technique, her footsteps exceptionally heavy; with every step she runs, the internal injuries in her chest and abdomen hurt so badly it feels fatal.

But her mood is very relaxed.

Free, free. The "Divine Gaze" originally attached to her has been severed; the Heavenly Gods can no longer monitor her.