Sneak into the Night with the Wind

"..."

Awkward. Very awkward.

Li Daoyu would not for the life of him think of such a twist. How could he? After all, makeup was the most magical one among the so-called "four great witchcrafts1" in that it brought vitality to the dead and added flesh to the bare bones—the possibilities were limitless. Being a city slicker always on trend, Xiaojin was a master of the skill.

As the saying went: Hail Boss Jin the experienced traveller; she might not have the curve, but she had a lot of social connections! Yabsolutely!

"Master, what's wrong?"

Right now, our girl stuck out her spotless little face, still playing her part of a harmless spoiled child, only that the earnesty on her face was purely asking for trouble.

Li Daoyu straightened up his face immediately, utterly displeased.

He had always been a commoner, unable to put his few abilities to good use and living the bigger part of his life in hardship. Now that fortune was finally on his side, he was a little carried away by his own importance, drifting towards his grand designs of becoming fabulously rich and gathering disciples by tens of millions.

With Xiaojin's messing around, a sense of being teased immediately overtook him. His voice deepened. "I was only trying to show you the right path and offer an opportunity to make friends by reading your face, yet you repay me with dishonesty. That was outrageous."

"Oh my, I'm as honest as one can be! I forgot to take off my makeup, that's all. This is exactly how I look, please take another look, will you?" Our girl responded with yet more bullsh*t.

"Humph!"

Li Daoyu would not bicker with a silly girl. Flicking his sleeves, he simply ignored her.

But our girl would not be brushed off that easily and pressed on, "Master, don't be angry! There are so many charlatans around nowadays, I can't just trust anyone I run into, can I? How about showing me some other tricks of yours? When I'm sure you're the genuine one, I'll definitely build you a shrine…"

"That's enough!"

Chen Yu could watch it no longer. He stood up and shouted, "I only let you in because I thought you were a good friend of Jiao Jiao. What is all this?"

"Nothing, I want to have a peek. That's all."

"You're not welcomed here any more. Please leave!"

"Don't be so harsh. It was my bad. How about I apologize?"

The two then stood there bickering on. Long Qiu was almost having a headache. After these days dealing with Xiaojin, she had grown to know her quite a bit. Forget about the girl's pretty claims of territorial awareness and thinking of her brother and sister, she was only doing this because it was fun!

She was by nature a devilish brat and it would probably kill her to pass a day without disturbing the world with that trait.

"..."

Xue Zhao stood aside and observed in silence, his face gloomy. This girl had showed up out of the blue and taunted them for no obvious reason; she was obviously trying to stir something up.

They were only introduced as "Jin Jin" and "Xiao Qiu" earlier and he had no idea what their connections were. If it turned out that they were from the opponents of the Xue Family, they would be in deep trouble.

Such thought was characteristic of those from families holding influential positions for generations—they were always sensing danger and animosity. He felt for his phone inconspicuously, pressed a speed-dial button, then turned back to the others as if nothing had happened.

"Master, I said I was sorry. Give me another chance, will you?"

"That's enough! Leave now, or I'll make you leave!"

"Fine, fine. We're leaving, leaving now. Don't trouble yourself to see us off…"

Seeing that it was getting late, Xiaojin felt she had had enough fun and it was time to leave. Grabbing Long Qiu, she started walking out. Once outside the meditation room, they were only able to advance a few steps before the gate to the courtyard was pushed open with a loud bang. Five men rushed in.

Tough-looking, vigorous, and all with an imposing manner, they were none other than the bodyguards of Xue Zhao.

'Hm?'

Xiaojin stopped. Turning around, she asked, "What's all this?"

"Haha, I'm just curious about your identities and want to know you better."

Xue Zhao also left the room and said with a smile, "Work with us and you'll be on your way back home soon."

"Oh my, are you aware that you're committing false imprisonment?"

Xiaojin was not at least nervous about the fact that she was surrounded by five stalwarts. "I'll call the police."

"The police?"

As if he had just heard a joke, Xue Zhao replied, "You can certainly try."

"Brother, you, you…"

Chen Jiao was the most flustered. She had always lived comfortably as a spoiled girl and never experienced such a scene. Chen Yu comforted her. "Don't worry, it's ok. We know when to stop."

Outside, Xue Zhao had grown tired of all the talking. Waving his hand, he gestured his men to capture them both.

The five bodyguards eyed the two skinny girls and thought little of them. Only two men stepped forward and strode near. They were within their range of attack in no time. Stretching out their hands, they tried to grab the girls by their arms.

Xiaojin remained where she was and watched the big hand approach. It was almost touching her when there came a sudden bang!

Like a rubber band that had been released after being stretched to its limit, the man flew backwards in an extremely strange pose and knocked into a tree in the yard. The impact shook the branches violently, shedding many leaves into the air.

"Ah!"

Immediately, there came a second scream.

The other man was bending forward with his right wrist snapped neatly outwards. Bare bones were protruding out of his skin—his wrist was at a right angle with his arm.

In front of him stood the quiet Long Qiu, who remained unmoved, still the gentle and kind young woman as she always appeared to be.

"Together!"

The other three men were shocked. Abandoning their arrogance, they swerved around and struck out at the same moment from the front, the back, and the left.

Long Qiu's eyes were deep, bright, and slightly excited. She had been trained mercilessly in the valley by the ridiculously powerful couple and had few opportunities to try herself in actual combat. Presently, she revealed her two hands in orchid-like gestures, ground against the ground with her left feet, and her entire body turned a great circle around the yard.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The three men received a blow on their chests almost simultaneously and tumbled down all over the place. Groaning and whining, none of them was able to stand up again.

"Wow, Sister, you're awesome!"

By now, Xiaozhai had moved away from the battlefield and was cheering loudly like a little toady—Long Qiu was no longer "Xiao Qiu".

"..."

Rolling her eyes speechlessly at Xiaojin, Long Qiu suddenly called out, "Watch out!"

The girl turned around and her face went pale. It was the man who got smacked away previously, he had scrambled to his feet and snuck upon the rookie.

With blood oozing out of his mouth and a sinister look, the man grabbed at her from above. It was an easy capture.

"Ah!"

However, he jolted suddenly and felt an excruciating pain exploding inside him. The pain felt as if a thin, long needle had been jabbed into his body and stuck firmly between his bones.

"Ah!"

A few seconds later, the pain aggravated, as if a second needle was inserted.

"Eh?!" Xiaojin was rather frightened by the effect and jumped back with a shudder. The man was convulsing uncontrollably to the point that he looked half the size as he actually was. Completely crumpling up on the ground, the man scratched the black brick paving the ground, leaving behind streaks of blood stains.

In the end, he even started vomiting violently. The filth mixing with the blood, giving him the appearance of a mad man.

In the blink of an eye, all five men were down!

"..."

Xue Zhao was utterly baffled. He stumbled back despite himself and tripped on a cement edge, then fell back onto the wet, cold flowerbed with a thud.

"Well, I did not see that coming!"

At that moment, Li Daoyu strode into the yard and fixed his gloomy eyes on Long Qiu. "I did not expect to see a fellow practitioner here. That was my mistake."

"Hey, enough with all the self-praising. Just look at that old face of yours! My sister does not tell fortune!" Saved and unharmed, Xiaojin happily joined into the bickering again.

Li Daoyu ignored her completely and only asked, "What exactly are you doing here today?"

"Nothing, just having a look around," Long Qiu replied honestly.

"Fine! Fine!" Li Daoyu took it as an provocation and let out a laughter with anger. He was ready to move in.

"Wait!"

Xue Zhao scrambled to his feet and inserted himself between them suddenly. "What did they offer you? The Xue Family will double that!"

For the entire time, he had thought that they were sent here by the opposing families. All sorts of ideas raced through his head as he tried to adopt every possible means, soft and tough. "And I promise, I will satisfy all your future resource requirements. We can send you to the capital if you want to. There's plenty of room for you to put your abilities to good use. We can work things out the same way if you want to stay here. The Xue Family has enough influence in Shengtian. I assure you it'll not do you good to make a bigger mess! This city is ours sooner or later, so as long as you say yes…"

"Is it?"

A whisper suddenly floated in from the boundless, misty gloom, as if originated from forever changing directions. The moon overhead was a suspending mirror and carried by the wind, two figures flitted across the dim night sky, landing weightlessly in the courtyard.