Chapter 41: Girl! Poisonous Insect! Decapitation!

Jiang Ye’s figure slipped like a wisp of smoke merging into the night, landing silently behind a massive tree with a trunk as wide as two arms could embrace.

Not even a human, let alone the most alert beast, could detect his presence.

He tilted his head slightly, using the mottled moonlight filtering through the leaves to gaze toward the source of the commotion.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and the scene before him grew sharp.

Two figures, one chasing, one fleeing, clashed fiercely across the wasteland.

The pursuer was a young girl dressed in a fitted light-yellow combat suit.

Her face was delicate and lovely, yet her brow radiated an air of martial vigor and sharpness unsuited to her age.

She appeared to be around the same age as Liu Yiyi, but her figure...

Jiang Ye’s gaze sharpened slightly.

The girl’s figure was exceptionally well-developed.

The tight suit accentuated her graceful curves—full breasts, a slender waist like a willow branch, and hips with a startlingly alluring contour.

Though still a girl, she carried the faint aura of ripeness, like a ripe peach clinging to the branch, ready to fall.

In her hand she held a silver longsword, its blade narrow and long, gleaming with a cold, icy luster under the moonlight.

Her swordplay was cunning and fierce; each strike was not merely lethal, but her lithe form danced through the air, weaving arcs so dazzling they blurred the eyes.

It was a deadly dance, not a battle.

What startled Jiang Ye most was her strength.

When she struck, the aura emanating from her body was astonishingly thick—even thicker than his own, nearly matching Liu Qingshi’s.

Clearly, this girl was likely a perfected Qi Condensation cultivator.

“So this is the strength of a Tianqing Sect disciple...”

Jiang Ye nodded silently.

The fleeing figure was a man, bloated like a ball, skin pitch-black, face swollen with fat, and hair so thick it nearly obscured his features.

He wore a bloodstained, tattered robe, retreating while turning to strike back—like a monstrous, evolved wild boar, ugly and ferocious.

Black Five, fighting as he fled, occasionally cast lecherous glances at the girl’s shapely body with his tiny green eyes, sneering: “Heh heh, little girl, you’re as stubborn as salt and vinegar. Looks like you really want me to catch you and have you for three days and three nights!!!”

“Insolent!” the girl snapped, her swordplay growing even fiercer. “You’re about to die, and still spouting filth! When I catch you, I’ll cut out your tongue and feed it to dogs!”

The battle intensified further; Black Five kept hurling vulgar insults, trying to provoke her and disrupt her focus.

The girl, a true disciple of a great sect, showed no sign of disarray—her attacks remained precise, her only response a colder glint in her eyes.

Dozens more strikes passed.

Pfft! Pfft!

Black Five finally revealed an opening.

His heavy black blade slowed half a beat too late—he couldn’t block it. The girl’s longsword struck like a venomous snake’s tongue, piercing him twice.

The blade sank into flesh, spraying blood!

“Hmph! Still not dead?!”

Seeing this, the girl’s eyes flashed with triumph.

She drew a deep breath and unleashed every ounce of her internal force into her sword.

The blade hummed violently, its cold light blazing—she would strike now, with all her strength, to end Black Five’s life!

Facing this fatal blow, Black Five dared not slacken for a moment.

He poured every bit of his internal force into his black blade, which glowed with swirling dark energy as he met the silver sword head-on.

CLANG!

A deafening metallic clash exploded across the wasteland.

Sparks flew everywhere!

Black Five’s heavy blade was pierced clean through by the silver sword, leaving a gaping notch.

The blade trembled, on the verge of snapping!

Clearly, in this clash, he was utterly outmatched.

“I’ve won...”

Seeing this, the girl’s eyes blazed with unhidden elation.

To eliminate such a great menace alone—this would count as a major achievement.

Yet at that moment, Black Five’s face showed no fear—only a cruel, triumphant smirk.

The girl frowned slightly, a chill of unease creeping over her.

In the next instant:

A tiny black shadow shot out from Black Five’s sleeve!

The shadow moved like lightning, landing instantly on the girl’s right wrist.

“Damn—it’s...”

The girl’s eyes widened, her face paling.

The tiny black creature was a spider, pitch-black, with strange markings on its back—the infamous Black Fang Spider.

She lashed out with her left hand, swift as thunder, aiming to crush it.

But it was too late.

Hss.

The Black Fang Spider bit her porcelain-white wrist, then leapt away into the grass, vanishing without a trace.

“No!!!”

The girl glanced at the wound oozing black blood—her heart plummeted.

A jolt of numbness surged from the bite, racing swiftly through her meridians.

Then came a searing, freezing pain—like ten thousand ants gnawing her bones—her entire arm stiffened, frozen.

Plop.

Her right hand lost all strength—her sword clattered heavily to the ground.

Seizing the chance, Black Five grinned, swung his fist backward, and slammed it into her shoulder.

Crack!

The sharp sound of snapping bone pierced the silent night.

The girl’s body flew like a cut kite, crashing to the ground, spewing a mouthful of crimson blood.

Lying there, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief and despair.

She had been so close—just one more thrust...

“Hahahaha! You didn’t even know who you were chasing, and you dared come alone to capture me?”

Black Five sneered, his tiny green eyes roaming over the girl’s body, his tongue sliding out to lick his dry lips.

The girl shuddered under his gaze, every hair on her body standing on end.

A dread colder than death surged from her heart.

If this ugly beast so much as touched her with a finger, she’d rather die a thousand, ten thousand times!

“You vile, despicable beast! Using poison insects to ambush me? If you’ve got guts, kill me now!!!”

The girl screamed with all her remaining strength, but her voice was now a feeble whisper.

“Kill you? I couldn’t bear to!” Black Five chuckled darkly. “Once I’ve got you, I’ll have you for three days and three nights without stopping! A true disciple of Tianqing Sect—hah! I’ve never tasted one before!”

Saying this, he tore off his bloodstained clothes, revealing his bloated, fatty body.

This man was truly a lust-crazed beast—he ignored the two sword wounds on his body, determined to ravage her right there in the wasteland.

“You monster... if you dare touch me... you...”

The girl realized, in despair, she no longer had the strength to curse.

The Black Fang Spider’s poison had already paralyzed half her body.

Black Five leered as he leaned down, inhaling the girl’s faint, sweet fragrance—drawing a deep, greedy breath, his face suffused with ecstasy:

“Good, good! A virgin! Master Five loves virgins best!”

“Come on! Let Master Five have a kiss first!”

Seeing Black Five draw near, the girl’s eyes filled with tears, and she closed them in despair.

As everyone knows, a man is most vulnerable when he’s about to commit evil.

Black Five was lowering his head.

Shhh!

A piercing, razor-sharp whistling tore through the night’s silence.

It was a blade’s glow.

A blade’s glow like moonlight cascading—beautiful beyond words, yet chilling enough to freeze the soul.

It emerged from the darkness, tracing a perfect arc, striking precisely at Black Five’s neck.

A thin line of blood appeared.

In the next instant:

Black Five’s ugly head separated from his body.

Puff!!

Blood gushed from the severed neck like a fountain, splattering the girl’s face.

The head rolled twice through the air before landing with a thud beside her on the grass.

“Hmm...”

The girl, who had been tightly shut-eyed, bracing for unspeakable horror, suddenly felt a few drops of warm liquid fall onto her face.

Fighting back her fear and despair, she slowly cracked open her eyelids just a sliver.

Immediately, her eyes flew wide open.

What met her gaze was a scene she would never forget.

Just a moment ago, the tyrannical Black Fifth had been severed at the neck.

His head lay beside her, its face still frozen in a grotesque, dying sneer.

And the architect of this carnage? A tall, thin old man with snow-white hair and a cold, rigid face.

He stood there, gripping a curved blade like a crescent moon, its tip dripping blood drop by drop.

The girl’s heart nearly stopped.

Seeing Black Fifth dead, she inwardly exhaled—but her wariness did not waver an inch.

An old man appearing out of nowhere in this wilderness—his allegiance was impossible to tell.

She knew full well how irresistible her body was to men.

Within the Qingqing Sect, her suitors numbered countless.

Even if he was merely an old man, seemingly long past his prime.

But what if he couldn’t control himself...?

Poisoned and helpless, she remained in grave danger.

The girl fixed her gaze on the old man before her, her pulse racing to her throat.

Yet, it seemed she had worried needlessly.

The old man merely glanced at her once, then turned his eyes back to Black Fifth’s headless corpse, swiftly beginning to search it.

He showed not the slightest intention to touch her.

Nor did he show any intention to save her.