Inside the ruined temple, fierce winds poured through the shattered doorway, causing the campfire on the ground to flicker wildly between light and shadow.
The chilling aura of murder exploded throughout the cramped, dilapidated hall.
The assassin leader gripped his chipped, low-quality broadsword with both hands.
The blade sliced through the cold, murky air with a terrifying force that seemed capable of crushing a person’s spirit.
Leaping high into the air like a starving wolf, he poured every ounce of strength in his body into a single devastating strike.
A ruthless downward slash descended directly toward Sang Wanwan’s pale, slender neck.
“Sang Wanwan, blame your bad luck!”
Suspended in midair, his face twisted into a grotesque expression illuminated by the firelight.
Greed and bloodlust blazed in his eyes.
“Someone paid a fortune for your head!”
“Next year on this day will be your death anniversary! Die for me!”
His arrogant laughter echoed throughout the temple.
In his mind, he had already witnessed the beautiful woman before him collapsing in a spray of blood, her head severed from her body.
Under the offering table, Zhao Tieniu and the deputies squeezed their eyes shut.
None of them dared look.
It’s over.
Lady Master is definitely getting split in half this time!
Yet the woman standing directly beneath the descending blade didn’t even blink.
Sang Wanwan neither activated her ancient martial arts qi nor reached for her usual poison needles and hidden weapons.
Her gaze remained calm as still water.
There was even a trace of amusement in her eyes, as though she were looking at a country bumpkin making a fool of himself.
“You talk too much.”
Her red lips parted slightly as she coldly uttered four words.
The sword was less than half a foot from her head now.
The force of the blade had already stirred the loose strands of hair on her forehead.
At that critical moment—
Sang Wanwan moved.
The right hand hidden inside her sleeve suddenly emerged.
There was no legendary divine weapon glimmering with cold light.
No deadly poison capable of killing with a single touch.
Instead, she held a strange black metal rod roughly the length of her forearm.
At its tip protruded two sharp metal prongs.
In the dim light of the temple, it looked completely ordinary.
The assassin leader froze for a brief second before bursting into even louder laughter.
“Hahaha! Have you lost your mind from fear? You think a scrap of metal can stop my blade…”
Bang!
Before he could finish mocking her, Sang Wanwan moved.
Instead of retreating, she stepped forward.
Her body twisted slightly at an impossibly tricky angle, narrowly avoiding the powerful slash.
At the same instant, her right hand shot forward like a striking viper.
The two metal prongs slammed directly into the assassin leader’s chest.
“Next life, don’t take outsourced jobs.”
A devilish smile curved Sang Wanwan’s lips.
Without hesitation, her thumb pressed the red switch on the handle.
Maximum output.
A high-voltage self-defense stun baton unleashed at full power.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
An ear-splitting burst of electricity erupted through the temple like thunder exploding in the middle of summer.
At the same moment, a blinding blue arc of electricity flashed into existence.
The blue current resembled a furious lightning dragon.
It surged through the metal prongs and tore through the assassin leader’s body with unstoppable force.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
A horrifying scream burst from his throat.
A moment ago, he had been laughing arrogantly.
Now his cry barely sounded human.
His fingers instantly lost their grip.
Clang!
The broadsword fell to the ground.
In the face of one hundred thousand volts of raw electrical power, martial arts, internal energy, and protective techniques became nothing more than a joke.
The assassin leader’s body froze stiff in midair.
Then it began convulsing violently at a bizarre rhythm.
His eyes rolled back until only the whites remained visible.
Foamy saliva poured from his mouth.
His neatly tied hair suddenly stood straight up under the influence of the tremendous static charge.
In an instant, his hairstyle exploded into a giant bird’s nest.
The smell of scorched flesh and burned hair rapidly spread through the temple.
Thud!
Barely two seconds later—
The fearsome assassin leader crashed onto the dirt floor like a slab of overcooked roast pork.
His entire body was blackened.
His limbs twitched uncontrollably.
The fight had completely left him.
Silence.
The entire temple fell silent.
Only the lingering electrical current at the tip of the black baton continued producing a faint sizzling sound.
The remaining assassins, who had been preparing to rush forward, froze in place as if struck by a paralysis spell.
Every single one stood motionless.
Their minds were blank.
Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
What just happened?
How did Master suddenly collapse?
What kind of demonic artifact was that thing in the woman’s hand?
Gulp.
Someone swallowed nervously in the dead silence.
“S-She controls lightning…”
“Demoness! She’s a demoness who uses evil magic! Everyone attack together! Kill her!”
One of the braver assassins finally recovered from his shock.
Summoning his courage, he roared and charged at Sang Wanwan.
The others clenched their teeth and followed.
“Looking for death.”
Sang Wanwan snorted.
A flash of excitement gleamed in her eyes.
She didn’t use a single martial arts technique.
Instead, she relied entirely on the elite combat reflexes and close-quarters fighting skills she had honed in her previous life as a special forces operative.
Holding the crackling stun baton, she charged directly into the crowd like a tiger among sheep.
Crackle!
“AAAH!”
One strike landed on an assassin’s waist.
His entire body jerked violently.
Man and weapon flew through the air together.
By the time he hit the ground, he was already sporting a smoking afro and foaming at the mouth.
Zap!
She spun and swung backward.
The baton struck another assassin in the neck just as he tried to sneak up behind her.
His eyes rolled back instantly.
He collapsed onto the floor.
Both legs kicked wildly like a frog suffering a seizure.
This wasn’t a life-and-death battle between martial arts experts.
It was a completely one-sided and brutally unfair game of whack-a-mole.
Sang Wanwan darted through the firelight.
The stun baton in her hand painted dazzling blue arcs through the air.
Every flash of blue light was accompanied by a miserable scream and the smell of something burning.
In less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea—
The battle was over.
The once-aggressive assassins now lay scattered across the cold temple floor.
Every one of them shared the same hairstyle.
The same rolled-back eyes.
The same foaming mouth.
Their bodies occasionally twitched from lingering electrical currents.
They looked even more pitiful than stray dogs lying dead by the roadside.
Sang Wanwan let out a slow breath.
Calmly, she switched off the stun baton.
Not a single bead of sweat had formed on her forehead.
With practiced ease, she tucked the weapon back into her sleeve.
The temple once again fell into a silence so complete that a dropped needle could have been heard.
Under the offering table, Zhao Tieniu and his deputies peered through the cracks.
When they saw the pile of twitching “charcoal briquettes” covering the floor, they immediately clamped both hands over their mouths.
Nobody dared make a sound.
Lady Master?
What Lady Master?
This was clearly the living King of Hell!
“Wooow!”
A bright, childish voice suddenly shattered the eerie silence.
Little Yuanyuan, who had obediently remained on the bedding the entire time, was sitting with both hands cupping her cheeks.
Her large grape-like eyes sparkled with pure admiration.
“Mother is amazing! Mother can make lightning!”
The little girl clapped excitedly.
Her sweet voice rang with joy.
She even looked eager to run over and poke the assassins who had been electrocuted.
Beside her, the little mud monkey Tuantuan was equally stunned.
He stared blankly at the broken wooden sword in his hand.
Then he looked at Sang Wanwan standing completely unharmed in the middle of the room.
For the first time ever, an expression of genuine shock appeared on the proud little boy’s face.
That ugly woman…
She’s actually this strong?
Meanwhile, in a dark corner of the temple—
Zongzheng Zhan remained seated on the floor.
Outwardly, he still looked frightened and tearful.
But behind the curtain of messy hair covering his eyes, his deep gaze had narrowed.
The innocence and foolishness he usually displayed had vanished completely.
In their place remained only intense scrutiny and astonishment.
His eyes locked onto the sleeve where Sang Wanwan had hidden the black rod.
There had been no fluctuation of qi.
No sign of internal energy whatsoever.
What exactly was that black metal weapon?
How could it summon the power of lightning from thin air and instantly defeat more than a dozen grown men?
Just how many terrifying secrets was this substitute bride, abandoned by the Marquis Zhen Guo’s household, hiding beneath the surface?
The cold wind continued to howl outside.
The campfire gradually burned brighter once more.
After some time passed, the assassins lying on the floor finally began regaining consciousness.
Their bodies still felt numb from head to toe.
Struggling to open their eyes, they stared in terror at the beautiful woman standing in the firelight.
At this moment, she no longer resembled a helpless exile.
To them, she looked like a divine being from the depths of the underworld.
A terrifying deity who commanded heavenly lightning and devoured people whole.
The assassin leader’s lips trembled.
He was just about to beg for mercy—
When he saw Sang Wanwan looking down at them from above.
Slowly, she raised a hand and stroked her smooth chin.
Then she flashed the group of helpless captives a brilliantly bright and seemingly innocent smile.
A smile so warm…
And so unsettling…
That every assassin felt a chill run down their spine.