Jiang Xu rose and walked out of the courtyard gate, casually casting a barrier to envelop the entire courtyard.
Closing her eyes, she sensed the trail of the imprint left earlier: West City.
The corners of Jiang Xu’s mouth curved upward. Her figure shifted, and in the dark night, the woman in crimson looked like a streak of fire, swiftly skimming across the night sky.
Ming Yuan drifted beside her, unhurried yet never falling behind.
A flash of fire landed in West City.
Jiang Xu touched down on the ground and sprinted toward a cave not far away.
A massive stone gate blocked the cave entrance, but Jiang Xu paid it no mind. She raised her hand slightly, channeling spiritual power into her fingertips.
The next moment, the stone gate shattered at the sound. The demons inside the cave were startled awake, let out an angry roar, and rushed out.
Just as they stepped out of the cave, they saw the crimson-robed woman wearing a chilling expression, her gaze filled with unmasked, knife-sharp murderous intent.
The demon instinctively shuddered, reflexively shrinking back into the cave. Then, realizing what he was doing, anger flared up in his heart once again. He had actually been frightened twice in a single day by the same half-demon!
Just as the horse-eared guard was about to rush out again, he saw that the crimson-robed woman was already pacing slowly into the cave, empty-handed, with murderous intent surging in her eyes.
“You damned half-demon! What do you want? If you kill me, do you think you can escape?”
The guard’s tone was fierce, but his voice betrayed a carefully concealed tremor.
Jiang Xu understood the situation inwardly and was in no rush to make a move. “Oh? Escape? Why should I run?”
Seeing that she did not attack immediately, the guard assumed she was intimidated by him, and his heart relaxed somewhat.
“Hmph, half-demon, this is our demon territory. Do you think the city lord won’t know if you dare make a move here? Once discovered, your cheap life won’t be saved.
You can hand over your valuables right now and get lost quickly. Lord Ma can pretend nothing ever happened.”
The guard looked haughty and overbearing. When mentioning valuables, greed flashed in his eyes while his fierce look was hidden away.
He certainly wouldn’t let this damned half-demon go easily. Early tomorrow morning, he would bring men to surround her and ensure she suffered a wretched death!
He had actually been wondering how to openly obtain the valuables on her. If not for the strict regulations forbidding the bullying of half-demons, he would have made a move right at the city gates.
Now that she had delivered herself to his doorstep, it gave him a wonderful excuse. This way, even if he beat and killed this half-demon, the City Lord’s Mansion wouldn’t say a word.
“Hand over my valuables? Very well.” Jiang Xu made a move as if to hand over the storage ring in her hand.
Seeing this, the guard was overjoyed. He had only been gambling that she feared the City Lord’s Mansion and wouldn’t dare touch him, but since she had forced her way to his door, he actually hadn’t felt very confident.
Never did he expect this half-demon to be so stupid as to actually believe him!
As expected of a half-demon, humble and foolish. Why should such a person possess so many spirit stones?
Suppressing his wild joy, the guard reached out to take the storage ring from her hand, calculating his odds of winning if he attacked right now.
If he killed her directly right now, he wouldn’t have to split the obtained spirit stones with the other fellows.
The next moment, he saw his own head flying into the air, splashing a spray of blood onto the cave walls.
Yet the crimson-robed woman remained completely unstained, standing cleanly in place.
How is this possible? Why is my head flying?
The guard felt confused, and only then did he realize that his head had been hacked off. How could this be? She actually dared to attack?
Flying mid-air, the guard’s eyes bulged with split corners, filled with disbelief, unwillingness, remorse, resentment, and other emotions.
His head traced a perfect arc through the air, hitting the ground with a heavy clatter, and the guard’s body toppled over in response.
Jiang Xu expressionlessly glanced at the corpse, her fingers twitching slightly as one hundred spirit stones floated up from the dead body’s waist.
Jiang Xu caught the spirit stones and stowed them away casually. Then, she retrieved a cyan handkerchief from her waist and methodically wiped fingers that had never even touched a drop of blood.
“Wow! So cool! The female protagonist is so cool, I love it, I love it! She has so much villainous aura.” The jade pendant at Ming Yuan’s waist wobbled, howling and squealing in Ming Yuan’s mind.
“Shut up,” Ming Yuan transmitted back to the jade pendant.
The jade pendant aggrievedly wobbled again and reluctantly reined in its voice. The host is so fierce, hmph!
Having finished wiping her fingers, Jiang Xu raised her eyes to meet Ming Yuan’s deeply intrigued gaze, and her face instantly flushed bright red.
Damn it! I forgot Ming Yuan was beside me again!
“Let’s leave first. Someone will be coming soon.” Amusement resurfaced in Ming Yuan’s eyes.
“Oh, oh.” Jiang Xu looked at the lingering smile in the depths of Ming Yuan’s eyes, responded in a flustered flurry, and felt her mind filled entirely with the other’s gentle, smiling appearance.
Walking out of the cave, Jiang Xu scanned her surroundings and vanished into the darkness with a flicker.
“Do you think I’m cruel?” Jiang Xu asked softly as she walked through the dark, an unperceived trace of anxiety fluttering in her heart.
For some reason, she did not want Ming Yuan to view her as a bloodthirsty, ruthless person.
“No. Kindness to an enemy is cruelty to oneself. Rather than showing mercy, I prefer cutting weeds and digging up the roots,” Ming Yuan replied softly.
She wasn’t intentionally comforting Jiang Xu; she genuinely felt that way. Compared to dying in agony, what did it matter if one was bloodthirsty and ruthless? At least they were still alive.
Ming Yuan’s gaze was profound, her entire figure seemingly veiled by something that made Jiang Xu feel she looked exceptionally lonely at this moment.
Subconsciously, she replied, “I think so too. We are so alike.”
The gloomy qi in the depths of Ming Yuan’s eyes dissipated, and smiles surfaced once again.
Divider line: I am Jiang Xu’s blushing red face.
The mountains rose and fell in a continuous, rolling expanse. The wind blew fiercely, a forest of countless trees stood tall, birds and beasts perched on branches, wild beasts leapt past and vanished into the depths of the forest, and the cries of fierce beasts occasionally echoed through the air.
Deep within the mountains, the terrain undulated with overlapping precipitous cliffs and layer upon layer of fractured rock foundations.
A crimson-robed woman leaped between tree branches, her toes lightly touching surfaces as she vaulted over a dozen meters at a time. Her posture was agile and vigorous, her red robes flashing like a stream of fire as she sped past, leaving afterimages behind.
Amidst the fluttering red robes, birds and beasts startled in all directions, shattering the silent tranquility of the environment.
“Ming Yuan, it’s not here either,” Jiang Xu murmured softly, unmistakable frustration threading through her words.
“There’s no need to rush. The Glazed Fruit is within this mountain range; it can’t run away. As long as we search slowly, we will find it eventually,” Ming Yuan consoled gently.
“Sigh, alright.” Jiang Xu nodded, locked onto a direction, channeled her spiritual energy, and soared forward by pushing off the air.
Ming Yuan followed behind, shaking her head helplessly. How come she hadn’t known Jiang Xu had such a childish side before? Still, it was rather cute.
Thinking of what the system had said about Jiang Xu’s original destined path, perishing body and soul, reincarnating and being reborn as a pampered little princess of a great clan.
Her status would be noble, but would that kind of Jiang Xu still be the present Jiang Xu?
Certainly not! Ming Yuan’s gaze deepened as she looked up at the sky, feeling that this small world’s Heavenly Dao was truly redundant.
Sensing Ming Yuan’s thoughts, the Heavenly Dao whimpered aggrievedly, and muffled thunder rolled across the sky.
What did it have to do with it? It was only a substitute! The previous matters weren’t done by it; they had nothing to do with it whatsoever, right?
The Heavenly Dao felt deeply wronged, yet it didn’t dare do anything to Ming Yuan, so it could only swallow its grievance and secretly resolve that once it went back, it would give the original Heavenly Dao that had harmed Jiang Xu a severe beating.
Hmph! Serving it right for stirring up trouble and getting locked up!
Ming Yuan did not know how she could faintly hear the substitute Heavenly Dao’s accusations and plans for revenge from a few rumbling peals of thunder, but it didn’t stop her from breaking into a joyful, cheerful smile.
“Ming Yuan, hurry up and come over, otherwise I won’t find the Glazed Fruit.” Jiang Xu called out from a distance.
Ming Yuan sighed and resignedly followed behind.
“Didn’t I tell you? The Glazed Fruit loves the shade, grows in cool and moist places, and requires the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon to bear fruit, which is why it usually appears in elevated places.”
Ming Yuan patiently repeated what she had told Jiang Xu earlier.
“I know, but you weren’t beside me. Even if I found it, I might not have recognized it,” Jiang Xu replied weakly.
Ming Yuan felt a fresh wave of helplessness; nobody had mentioned beforehand that the female protagonist would be this clingy.
“Let’s go.” Ming Yuan drifted ahead, and Jiang Xu cheerfully followed behind.
The southern peak of the Tengyun Mountain Range was wreathed in clouds and mist.
A massive tree stood on the edge of a rugged precipice, looking precarious. The moment the wind blew, its trunk trembled slightly, yet it still clung stubbornly to the rock face with roots dug in deep.
At the very top of the tree hung a tiny fruit, pure white throughout, looking crystal-clear under the sunlight, resembling polished glaze that had washed away all earthly impurities, appearing from afar like a clump of clouds.
Jiang Xu leaped to the side of the tree, carefully examining the fruit that Ming Yuan called “Glazed.” She found it somewhat hard to believe that such a massive tree bore only this single fruit.
She stretched out her hand, gently touching the Glazed Fruit. Her fingertips met with warmth, making her feel as though she were bathing in sunlight, comfortable and at ease.
“The Glazed Fruit? It really is here! Wonderful! If the Young Lord finds out, he’ll definitely reward us heavily.”
Just as Jiang Xu intended to pluck the Glazed Fruit according to the method Ming Yuan taught her, a voice rang out from the precipice.
Jiang Xu’s eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of expression passing through her gaze as she looked up toward the cliff edge.
It was a uniformly dressed squad. Their appearances were indistinguishable from the human race, but the demonic qi on their bodies permeated unmasked; clearly, they were demons.
The one speaking was a member of the squad. Jiang Xu could not discern its original form, nor did she care much.
At that moment, the individual looked down from above, its eyes full of surprise at discovering the Glazed Fruit, seemingly failing to notice Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu didn’t care either. Following her original plan, she gripped the Glazed Fruit, channeled her spiritual energy to wrap around it, and then exerted a tiny bit of force to snap it off branch and all. She placed it into a previously prepared jade box, and then tucked it slowly into her bosom.
“Hey, there’s someone over there! Hey, what are you doing? Hand over the Glazed Fruit right now!”
The leader of the squad scanned the area and spotted Jiang Xu. The next second, seeing her action, he couldn’t help shouting angrily. That was a Glazed Fruit! If she fumbled it with clumsy hands and ruined it, the Young Lord wouldn’t easily let them off for failing to get the item.
Ignoring them completely, Jiang Xu leaped up the cliff, turned over, and covered a distance away. Having no desire to chat with them, she spun around and vanished into thin air.
“Audacious! Leave the Glazed Fruit behind!” The leader flew into a rage. How long had it been since anyone dared to treat him with such disregard?
With a low roar, he led his squad in pursuit. Unfortunately, Jiang Xu left them far behind from the start, and within a short while, they lost her traces entirely.