2
She quickly walked to the iron cage, crouched down, and looked at the little girl inside. The girl was curled up in the corner, hugging her knees. Her face was smudged with dirt, hiding her originally cute and well-behaved appearance. Her big, dark eyes gazed at Yun Li.
The little girl in the cage didn’t speak, when she saw Yun Li approaching and instinctively shrank back, her face filled with fear.
Yun Li felt a pang of compassion. Those human traffickers were far too wicked, they would even abduct such a young girl.
Remembering how the little yellow dog had risked everything to save her, Yun Li softened her voice and coaxed gently. “Don’t be afraid, I’m here to rescue you!”
The human traffickers, worried the little girl might escape, had locked the iron cage as well. Yun Li would have to sue magic again.
Since she couldn’t use magic in front of human, Yun Li said to the little girl. “Close you eyes firs, I’ll get you out!”
The little girl didn’t react. Her watery eyes remained fixed on Yun Li without blinking. Having no choice, Yun Li reached out and covered the little girl’s eyes while using magic to open the lock.
The white thread around her wrist glowed faintly. It served as both her pass to the human world and a monitor for her use of magic.
The lock clattered to the ground, and Yun Li suffered another backlash from using magic. The pain made beads of sweat form on her forehead.
But there was no time to dwell on it. She opened the cage and pulled the little girl out.
However, the little girl resisted fiercely, struggling with all her might. She even scratched the back of Yun Li’s hand, leaving two marks.
“You—!”
Yun Li started to speak but noticed the girl’s terrified expression. The little girl tried to crawl back into the cage, tears the size of beans rolling down her cheeks. The tears mixed with the dirt on her face, making her look even more pitiful.
Yun Li’s heart softened. She figured the little girl must have mistaken her for a trafficker and was scared of her too.
What could she do to earn her trust?
Right, the little yellow dog!
“Your little yellow dog sent me to save you!”
Yun Li gestured with her hands. “About this tall, a grayish-yellow puppy with blue eyes. He got hurt trying to save you. If you don’t come out now, his sacrifice will have been for nothing!”
Sure enough, when the little girl heard about the little yellow dog, the wariness in her eyes noticeably faded. “It’s Baibai?”
Baibai?
Yun Li repeated the name softly. Was that the little yellow dog’s name?
Without a second thought, she nodded. “Yes, he sent me to save you. Let’s go quickly, or the traffickers will come back!”
The little yellow dog had mentioned the traffickers were armed, and they couldn’t fight them!
When the little girl heard that Baibai had sent her, she stopped crying and crawled out of the iron cage.
The little girl couldn’t walk. Ever since she had been abducted, the traffickers wouldn’t let her eat for fear she might escape. She had gone hungry for several meals and was too weak to stand.
Yun Li bent down, picked her up, and carried her toward the exit.
Her night vision was excellent, but so was her hearing.
Just as she reached the doorway, she heard footsteps approaching from outside. There were about four or five people, heading toward the warehouse.
Oh no. These must be the traffickers the little yellow dog had mentioned.
What should she do?
The warehouse was small, with no place to hide. There was no way to avoid them.
The little girl noticed the pretty big sister suddenly stop walking and gently tugged on Yun Li’s sleeve. “Sister!”
“Shh, the bad guys are back!”
At the word “bad guys,” the little girl’s expression changed. Fear crept back onto her face, her pupils dilating. Her grimy hands instinctively gripped Yun Li’s clothes tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, the pretty big sister would abandon her.
She missed her mom and dad. She wanted to go home!
Seeing the look in the little girl’s eyes, Yun Li instinctively patted her head. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t leave you behind!”
“Sister!”
Yun Li crouched down, placing the little girl in a corner. “Close your eyes first. Wait until I’ve dealt with the bad guys, and then I’ll take you away!”
Fear had completely consumed the little girl. Her hands clung desperately to Yun Li’s clothes. With no other choice, Yun Li tried to soothe her: “Don’t be scared. I promised the little yellow dog.”
She was a fox of her word. When she promised something, she meant it.
The footsteps grew closer. Yun Li turned her head toward the entrance, her expression turning serious.
Though she couldn’t use magic, she still had some martial arts skills, after all, she hadn’t spent all her training time slacking off.
“Be good, close your eyes. Don’t look, no matter what, or you’ll have nightmares.”
Yun Li covered the little girl’s eyes, and the girl obediently shut them.
The demon code said she couldn’t use magic to harm humans, but it didn’t say she couldn’t use her fists.
Holding her breath, Yun Li listened to the commotion outside.
The men stepping out of the car all had fierce expressions—clearly no good.
“Where’d Old Three go? Wasn’t he supposed to be watching the door?”
“No idea. The brat probably went to take a piss.”
“No, look—how’d the lock on this warehouse get opened?”
One of them picked up the lock from the ground, and the others’ expressions shifted.
The leader stepped forward to examine the lock for any signs of tampering. Just as he was about to speak, one of his underlings said, “Old Three’s bat is gone too. You don’t think something happened to him, do you?”
“Boss, you think the cops found us?” another lackey stammered.
“No way. This place is way too hidden. The cops can’t find it,” the boss dismissed the idea, then looked up toward the warehouse. “Let’s go inside and take a look. Maybe Old Three’s in there.”
The warehouse was dead silent. The little girl was so scared she didn’t dare breathe loudly, obediently keeping her eyes shut.
Yun Li focused on the sounds. The door suddenly swung open, a beam of light shining in along with a man’s silhouette.
She counted down in her head—three, two, one—psyching herself up before lunging forward with a kick while the man was distracted.
The human trafficker boss had been on guard but still hadn’t anticipated Yun Li’s lightning-fast strike.
Before he could even make out the figure before him, a swift, precise kick slammed into his chest.
Yun Li usually slacked off during training, but having trained for several hundred years, there was no way she couldn’t take down a single human.
The kick carried her full strength, sending the trafficker flying out the door.
With a loud thud, the man landed flat on his back, clutching his chest. He coughed up blood.
The underlings were stunned. They rushed over. “Boss, you okay?”
The boss couldn’t even get up. It felt like several ribs had cracked—every breath was agony. He barely managed to spit out, “Get that woman out here. I’ll make her pay!”
His face twisted in fury as he signaled his men to storm inside.
The underlings exchanged uneasy glances. None of them were eager to go in.
If their boss had been knocked out cold with a single kick, what chance did they have?
Just then, the second-in-command shoved the smallest guy forward and bellowed, “There’s four or five of us—you really think one woman can take us all? We’ve got bats, don’t we?”
They had numbers on their side. Surely they’d win.
Buoyed by the thought, the group charged in.
But Yun Li was ready. She took them down one by one. One kick here, another there.
She wasn’t human. She was stronger than a full-grown man, and even a group of them was no match for her.
With the darkness as her ally, Yun Li could see each of them clearly. In no time, they were all sprawled on the floor, groaning in pain.
Seems like humans are pretty easy to deal with!
Dusting off her hands, Yun Li was about to go back for the little girl when the warehouse lights suddenly flicked on.
The sudden brightness stung her eyes, and she instinctively raised a hand to shield them.
It was the trafficker boss. He’d turned on the lights. Looking at his men groaning on the ground and the figure standing untouched, his eyes narrowed.
He’d expected a muscular powerhouse to take down his crew. Instead, he was met with a slender young woman.
This was far from what he’d imagined.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, the boss glared at Yun Li with murderous intent. “You dare lay a hand on us? Looks like you’re tired of living!”
His gaze swept over her, and he couldn’t help noticing just how stunning she was—almost breathtaking.
A new thought took root in his twisted mind: a woman like her would fetch a pretty penny.
Yun Li could read his lecherous intentions instantly.
Her expression went cold. “Step aside, or I’ll make you move myself.”
Humans were far too weak. They couldn’t even stand up to her.
No wonder the demon code banned using magic to harm them.
The man knew Yun Li was beautiful but also deadly. She’d already taken down his men.
Brute force wouldn’t work. If he wanted to win, he’d have to outsmart her.
The man pretended to yield, raising his hands in surrender and stepping back a few paces, gesturing for her to leave.
“You know what’s good for you!”
Yun Li snorted coldly, then turned and walked toward the little girl. “Be good, let’s go.”
Just as she was about to pick up the little girl, the ears hidden in her hair twitched—she heard something.
Hmph. This human was still up to no good, trying to sneak attack her.
Yun Li spun around quickly, dodging the man’s incoming fist, but she overlooked the underhanded trick he had prepared.
Something unknown pressed against Yun Li’s lower back. Before she could react, the man hit a switch. A crackling current surged through her body.
The pain was even worse than the backlash from using magic. Her strength instantly drained away, and her body slowly began to collapse.
Having succeeded, the man flashed a sinister grin. “You dared to kick me? Let’s see how you like this!”
The stun baton was extremely powerful—most people couldn’t withstand the current and would pass out on the spot.
Yun Li’s face turned pale from the pain. No wonder the little yellow dog had gone to find help. She hadn’t expected the trafficker’s “weapon” to be even more formidable than magic.
With just one jolt, her entire body went numb, completely immobile.
This was bad. Not only had she failed to rescue the girl, but now she was caught as well.
She remembered what the little bluebird had said—if humans killed her, they would definitely skin her and turn her fur into a scarf.
Her nine tails…
**