Chapter 45: The Fierce Woman

The old lady was elderly and couldn’t stay up late; she was dozing in her room.

Ding ding ding…

The grandfather clock struck nine times.

A sharp pang in her chest jolted her awake from sleep.

It had only just struck nine; it was still early before Zi Shi.

Then why did her heart feel so heavy?

Click. Click. Click.

The pendulum of the grandfather clock swung back and forth.

Gradually, shadows began to form on the shiny pendulum.

The seedling room!

Knife!

Blood!

Something’s happened in the house!

The old lady immediately got out of bed and ran toward the seedling room.

Inside the seedling room, Xiao Ye Ci and Lu Chunying sat quietly in place, not moving—but Li Banfeng was gone.

“De Cai! De Mao! Come quickly, all of you!”

The old lady called for her two sons; soon, the eldest, De Cai, arrived.

“Where’s De Mao?”

De Cai rubbed his eyes and said, “He went to the back courtyard to sharpen the knife. That old blade of ours is hard to hone—it might take an hour just to get it right. I told you to buy a new one, but you wouldn’t let us…”

The old lady slapped De Cai across the face: “Still talking about knives? Are you blind? The man’s gone and you didn’t even notice!”

De Cai clutched his cheek and only then realized Li Banfeng had escaped.

He stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Ye Ci’s hair, and barked: “Where did he go? When did he run out?”

Xiao Ye Ci screamed hoarsely: “I don’t know! I truly don’t know!”

Lu Chunying cried beside her: “Don’t hit my mother! We don’t know anything! He came, we didn’t speak to him, we were asleep, then he left…”

This girl had more courage than her mother; she could explain clearly.

But would clarity help?

It wouldn’t. The girl didn’t understand, but Xiao Ye Ci knew perfectly well.

This family were monsters; talking to monsters was useless.

The old lady turned and ordered her eldest son: “Go get De Mao. Kill these two sluts first—the traveler won’t get far.”

At these words, Xiao Ye Ci’s voice cracked: “Big sister, please, have mercy! Do whatever you want to me, but spare my child’s life! I beg you! I beg you!”

Xiao Ye Ci pleaded over and over, but the old lady didn’t even glance at her. Still, De Cai was moved: “Mother, aren’t we supposed to wait until Zi Shi?”

The old lady roared: “Something’s gone wrong! What’s there to wait for?!”

“Mother, these women are so pretty, and the girl too—don’t you want us brothers to have a taste before we kill them?”

Slap!

The old lady slapped De Cai again: “How have I raised you? Two slutty words and you forget the rules? Go get your brother right now!”

De Cai dared not speak further and hurried out of the seedling room.

He had long craved these mother and daughter’s bodies, but his mother had always forbidden it.

Not just now—ever since they’d captured female hostages, their mother had never let them touch them.

Their whole family never left survivors. Whoever entered this house as a hostage, man or woman, child or elder, never walked out alive.

Yet they’d never slept with a single hostage—not even a single touch, not a single word beyond necessity. Their mother always said such acts broke the sect’s rules.

But even the women who came to the house, their mother forbade them from approaching. Whenever a woman arrived, their mother made them step aside. Whenever they mentioned women, their mother would scold them.

De Cai slapped his own cheeks, feeling strangely odd.

What’s going on today? Normally, even if he thought it, he’d never dare say it aloud—but why did he say it now?

This woman is no ordinary one.

De Cai glanced at Xiao Ye Ci, then left, sullen.

Xiao Ye Ci bowed her head to the old lady: “Elder, big sister, we’ve given you all our money. Please, do a good deed—let my daughter live.

Keep me. Make me a servant, a beast of burden, chop me into meat filling—it’s all the same. I beg you, big sister, I beg you, elder!”

These words echoed endlessly in the seedling room, gradually forming reverberations.

Before the echoes faded, Xiao Ye Ci repeated them again; her voice and the echoes overlapped, each syllable hammering into their hearts.

The old lady grabbed Xiao Ye Ci’s hair and sneered: “You two sluts haven’t teased my sons enough? Now you dare to do it in front of me? Do you think I don’t see through your little tricks?

You’re a Mouth Cultivator—say a few seductive words to a man, and you steal his soul. Here? Shut your mouth. I’ll let you die quickly. Otherwise, I’ll peel your flesh off, piece by piece!”

Mouth Cultivator?

Is there such a Dao sect?

What are its special abilities?

Xiao Ye Ci wept: “Madam, I dare not use my cultivation on you! Everything I said was true! You can carve me to pieces, but please spare my child’s life!”

The old lady sneered: “Because of those words, I’ll send you, little slut, to your death first!”

Saying this, she grabbed Lu Chunying’s hair.

Lu Chunying screamed loudly, but her hands didn’t stop—she scratched and punched the old lady.

This girl had real courage.

Xiao Ye Ci kept pleading: “Madam, I’m telling the truth! I beg you, spare my child!”

The old lady sneered: “If the mother’s dead, why let the child live? Leaving her alone in this world is just more suffering. Better to take her with you.”

With that, she kicked Xiao Ye Ci over, tightened her grip on Lu Chunying’s hair, and shouted: “De Cai! Bring the knife!”

The girl cried: “Mom, save me!”

Xiao Ye Ci lunged at the old lady again, only to be kicked down once more.

“De Cai! Where’s the knife?!”

“Mother, save me!”

Huh? Who’s speaking?

The old lady turned—and saw her son De Cai standing at the door, tears streaming down his face, a knife tip protruding from his chest.

Li Banfeng stood behind De Cai, smiling: “Old lady, here’s your knife. I brought it for you.”

Seeing the knife through her son’s chest, the old lady’s eyes flooded with blood.

De Cai was a Level One Poison Cultivator, his cultivation level equal to Li Banfeng’s—but Li Banfeng had the speed of a Traveler and the invisibility of a Home Cultivator. De Cai had been ambushed.

“Release my son!” the old lady roared, clutching Lu Chunying. “Or I’ll kill her right now!”

Li Banfeng didn’t understand: “Go ahead and kill her if you want. You don’t need to tell me—she’s not my child.”

The old lady gritted her teeth: “Do you think I’m joking?”

Li Banfeng was even more confused: “What joke? What’s funny? You’re going to kill someone? Fine, I’ll join you. Let’s kill together.”

Saying this, he shoved the knife deeper into De Cai’s back—the tip jutting from his chest grew longer.

The old lady flung Lu Chunying aside and rushed forward to save her son. Li Banfeng lifted his foot and kicked straight for her kneecap.

It was a vicious strike, devastating against oncoming foes—if it landed, it would cripple them instantly.

But Li Banfeng missed—the old lady dodged and punched him.

The punch landed hard; Li Banfeng staggered, nearly falling.

Impossible—what realm was this old lady?

Was she faster than a Traveler?

And her strength was astonishing!

Before Li Banfeng could think further, the old lady yanked out her hairpin and stabbed toward his forehead.

Li Banfeng crouched down barely in time.

The old lady sneered inwardly—he didn’t know martial arts.

If he did, seeing the hairpin coming, he’d either retreat, tilt his head back, or block with a weapon.

Crouching on the ground? That’s just asking to be hit.

The old lady raised the hairpin and stabbed downward at Li Banfeng’s head.

She was wrong.

Li Banfeng never intended to wait for the blow.

Since childhood, he’d never lacked abuse—he was often beaten into crouching.

But crouching didn’t mean he couldn’t fight back.

He crouched and punched the old lady’s ankle.

It was a skilled strike—normally, it would dislocate the joint.

The old lady took the punch squarely—but her ankle didn’t dislocate.

She merely stumbled, unharmed.

And thanks to that stumble, the hairpin missed Li Banfeng’s head.

What Dao sect was this old woman from? Fast, brutal, and resilient.

Was she a Food Cultivator?

It doesn’t make sense—no matter how much Fatty eats, she’s never this fast.

Not only is her speed unmatched, her strength is no match for this old woman either.

Worse still, every time the old woman struck, Li Banfeng sensed no danger and couldn’t anticipate a thing.

Punches and kicks wouldn’t work—Li Banfeng circled behind De Cai, trying to draw his blade.

With her skill, she could’ve killed that mother and daughter without a blade at all.

Yet she made De Cai bring the knife over—proving this blade was no ordinary weapon.

Li Banfeng tried to draw his blade, but the old woman gave him no chance—she kicked out, sending him flying out the door.

Li Banfeng flew several meters away; before he could rise, the old woman suddenly appeared before him.

Teleportation?

What cultivation level does this require?

Thud!

The old woman kicked again, spinning Li Banfeng in place and slamming him face-down on the ground.

This time, Li Banfeng didn’t get up.

With this speed gap, rising meant only getting kicked again.

He resorted to crawling on all fours, scrambling desperately toward the wall—this time he held nothing back, pushing his Earthwind Technique to its limit, reaching the wall without pause and climbing straight onto the rooftop.

As Li Banfeng prepared to leap over the wall, a large willow tree in the courtyard whipped its branches—snap!—and flung him back down.

Controlling willow branches to strike?

This old woman can use magic!

What sect is this?

Li Banfeng crashed hard to the ground, his consciousness growing dim.

If this old woman is so strong, why did she ever bother poisoning me back then? Why not just attack me directly?

The old woman wiped sweat from her brow—this fight had drained her greatly.

She wasn’t young anymore; if there had been a safer way, she’d have preferred not to fight Li Banfeng head-on.

The old woman crouched down, raised the hairpin in her hand, and prepared to deliver the final blow.

Li Banfeng, dazed and half-unconscious, suddenly kicked out—his foot striking the old woman’s abdomen.

A kick to the head would’ve been far more obvious; the old woman likely would’ve sensed it.

But this kick to the abdomen was stealthy—the old woman was completely unprepared, convulsing involuntarily and opening her mouth.

Seizing the moment she opened her mouth, Li Banfeng pulled out a rusty elixir and shoved it down her throat.

Within five meters.

Never misses.

(End of Chapter)