Xiong Qi turned around in astonishment, only to see Zhang Wei standing there—the same man she had spotted earlier.
A glow emanated from Zhang Wei’s body, his face twisted with ferocity. “I knew you’d come back, little one. I just didn’t expect…” He glanced at Jinshu. “An unexpected surprise here as well. Since you’ve come, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Xiong Qi took half a step back. “He actually waited here to ambush us.”
Jinshu grabbed her wrist calmly. “I already guessed as much.”
“Huh?”
“How could such a large circus have such an obvious flaw for us to sneak in? It was clearly a trap.”
“Then why did you still come?”
Jinshu gave Xiong Qi a reassuring smile. “Since I knew there was danger, how could I come unprepared? I’ve already made backup plans.”
The girl’s bright smile left Xiong Qi momentarily stunned, but Zhang Wei had already grown impatient. “What are you two little girls muttering about? Don’t think I’m afraid of you just because you’re from the Beast Control Sect. Since you ran off last time, you should know who I am, right?”
Xiong Qi snorted coldly. “Just a defector. If I hadn’t left the Sect’s elders behind this time, do you think I’d let you go? Once I return, I’ll report to my father and have them capture you.”
Zhang Wei threw his head back and laughed. “How presumptuous! Do you think I’ll let you leave? I’ll make you disappear without a trace.”
Jinshu tugged at Xiong Qi’s sleeve and whispered, “Summon your mount to buy me some time. My magical artifact can’t transform into a sword right now, so I have little combat ability. I’ve already set up several transmission arrays. Once I activate them, we can teleport away.”
Xiong Qi gave an almost imperceptible nod, channeling her Spiritual Power. With a sharp whistle, a wild tiger’s roar echoed through the air.
“Roar!” Xiong Qi’s spirit beast tiger tore through a corner of the tent and leaped to its master’s side.
Xiong Qi’s aura grew stronger with the arrival of her spirit beast. She affectionately patted the tiger’s head and commanded, “Go!”
The tiger lunged at Zhang Wei with its jaws wide open. Zhang Wei waved his hand, unleashing a wave of dark Spiritual Power. The tiger let out a piercing roar, and Xiong Qi’s face showed a flicker of anxiety. A spirit beast and its animal controller were mutually dependent—any harm to one inevitably affected the other.
Fortunately, the tiger merely shook its head and continued its fierce assault on Zhang Wei. As Jinshu activated the transmission array, she kept a close eye on the battle, silently marveling at Xiong Qi’s strength. Truly worthy of being called part of the cultivation world’s Golden Generation.
“Xiong Qi, no need to keep fighting. I’m ready.”
Hearing this, Xiong Qi whistled again. The tiger halted its attack and turned to run back toward the two girls.
Zhang Wei sneered triumphantly. “Giving up already, little girls?”
Xiong Qi swiftly mounted the tiger’s back and reached out to pull Jinshu up behind her.
Jinshu curiously stroked the tiger’s sturdy back before channeling her Spiritual Power. A blinding white mist erupted, dazzling Zhang Wei’s eyes. He hastily covered them with his hands and stumbled back two steps.
Jinshu chuckled softly. “We’re done playing with you.”
As the mist cleared, Zhang Wei found himself alone—the two girls and the tiger had vanished without a trace.
In the blink of an eye, Xiong Qi found herself in a deserted alleyway, with only a bright crescent moon hanging in the sky, casting shimmering moonlight that reflected the shadows of the two girls and a tiger on the wall.
Xiong Qi said bluntly, “I didn’t expect your escape skills to be so impressive.”
Jinshu retorted indignantly, “How can you say that? Besides escaping, I’m quite skilled in other areas too!”
She was, of course, aware of her current limitations. To prevent any mishaps, she had consulted several ancient texts and sought advice from Xuanqing Zhenren before setting out, learning a few of the quickest and safest escape methods.
Xiong Qi chuckled sheepishly, “I was just joking, don’t be upset.”
Jinshu urged, “It’s getting late, let’s hurry to the outskirts of the city. My external aid is already waiting for us there.”
Xiong Qi replied, “Alright, hold on tight.”
“Where do you think you’re running to?” Jinshu widened her eyes in shock. Standing on the wall was none other than Zhang Wei, whom they had just left behind.
“Those beasts you took all carry my mark. Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you won’t escape my grasp.”
Jinshu tightened her grip on Xiong Qi’s clothes. “I didn’t expect her to have such a trick. Never mind, let’s just run. My senior brother and the others are in the city. While we escape, I’ll activate the Tianxuan Sect’s distress signal. They’ll come to help us.”
Xiong Qi didn’t dare delay. Her tiger, in tune with its master’s thoughts, dashed toward the city outskirts.
“Xiao Hua, run faster!” Xiong Qi patted the tiger’s head anxiously.
Despite the urgency, Jinshu couldn’t help but ask, “It’s called Xiao Hua?”
“Of course! Xiao Hua grew up with me. It’s from the renowned Lihua Tiger clan. If it weren’t so young, it would have already torn that scoundrel Zhang Wei to pieces!”
The scoundrel named Zhang Wei was hot on their heels. Though still some distance away, at her current speed, she would likely catch up to Jinshu in no time.
Jinshu used her Spiritual Power to activate one illusion jade token after another, causing bursts of dazzling fireworks to bloom in the sky. Of course, only the Tianxuan Sect would recognize these as their internal distress signals.
Xiao Hua moved swiftly, stirring gusts of wind that brought a welcome coolness to the sweltering summer night. The only downside was Jinshu’s disheveled bangs slapping against her face.
Even as she activated the illusion jade tokens, Jinshu still managed to brush the stray hairs from her face. Before she could catch her breath in the howling wind, Xiong Qi shouted from ahead, “Xiao Hua, faster, faster!”
Could it be that this wasn’t even its top speed? Jinshu felt like crying. Her stomach churned, but Xiao Hua gave her no time to prepare. It raised its head with a roar and leaped into the air, soaring forward.
“It can fly too?” Jinshu exclaimed in surprise as a sudden feeling of weightlessness made her cling tightly to Xiong Qi’s waist.
Xiong Qi’s voice came intermittently through the wind, “Of course! My Xiao Hua can do so much. Sister Jinshu, if you like spirit beasts, you should come with me to the Beast Control Sect and pick one for yourself.”
Jinshu hurriedly declined. Seeing the city gate ahead, she shouted, “Sister Xiong Qi, my contact is at the city gate. Lower a bit, and I’ll pull him up later.”
Xiong Qi agreed. Sure enough, Xiao Hua began to descend. Jinshu squinted her eyes, carefully observing their surroundings. Fortunately, their airborne appearance was too conspicuous to miss. Chen An Ran spotted them from afar and began jumping and waving her arms.
“Over there.” As Xiao Hua landed, Xiong Qi scooped up Chen An Ran.
“Ah!” Amid Chen An Ran’s exclamation, Xiao Hua flew back toward the outskirts of the city. However, due to the earlier deceleration, Zhang Wei was already dangerously close.
Suddenly, Zhang Wei transformed into a streak of black light, flashing before the three and blocking their path.
“Hmph, thank you for coming all the way outside the city. Now I won’t have to worry even if I kill you.”
As he spoke, several streaks of black light gathered at his fingertips and shot toward the group. Seeing Xiao Hua nimbly dodge them, he merely smiled faintly. A long flute appeared in his hand, but when he brought it to his lips, it produced not a heavenly melody but a piercing, metallic screech that pierced the clouds. Jinshu instinctively covered her ears. The three of them were fine, but Xiao Hua, who was carrying them, suddenly seemed to go berserk, roaring and violently shaking its body.
“Oh no.” Xiong Qi clung tightly to Xiao Hua’s head, but she could spare no energy to protect Jinshu and Chen An Ran. The two were flung out by the tremendous force, crashing heavily toward the ground.
Chen An Ran screamed, “Ah!”
Jinshu thought, This is bad. Banyu can’t transform to catch me now, and my Spiritual Power isn’t enough to let me fly. Falling from this height might turn me into a pancake.
In the critical moment, she could only circulate her Spiritual Power to try and protect herself, while also shouting a reminder, “Chen An Ran, circulate your Spiritual Power!” With that, she calmly closed her eyes. The ground below was covered in grass; even if her Spiritual Power only offered minimal protection, she likely wouldn’t die from the fall.
However, the expected pain never came. Jinshu felt the howling wind abruptly stop beside her ears, replaced by a constricting sensation around her neck. Surprised, she opened her eyes to find herself dangling in mid-air, held by the collar of her clothes.
“Senior Sister, what are you doing?” Jinshu looked up at the person holding her. Chen Fuzhou gazed at her with a mix of confusion and concern. Glancing to the other side, she saw his left hand holding Chen An Ran, who was looking at her brother with admiration.
Jinshu sighed in relief. “Wow, Junior Brother, you finally came. I set off fireworks for so long—why did it take you this long to arrive?”
Chen Fuzhou apologized, “Senior Sister, I’ll be faster next time.”
Chen An Ran spoke up in his defense, “Brother coming at all is already loyal enough. Why do you have so many demands?”
Chen Fuzhou frowned and silently muttered a few words. Instantly, Chen An Ran seemed as if a zipper had been sewn over her mouth. She widened her eyes and mumbled a few times, but Chen Fuzhou didn’t spare her a glance as he descended steadily with the two. “Who taught you to speak like that? No respect for your elders.”
Jinshu glanced at the Youfei Sword beneath Chen Fuzhou’s feet, feeling a pang of pity for its heavy burden. Though no one had asked, she explained, “My sword contains a monkey, a bear, a bird, and a wolf. If I were to use it, I’m afraid we’d be treated to quite a spectacular rain of beasts.”
Chen Fuzhou gave a helpless smile. “Senior Sister must have her reasons for doing this.”
Jinshu finally felt at ease once her feet touched the ground. “I’ll explain later. For now, let’s go capture that man who’s been chasing us.”
Banyu slipped from Jinshu’s wrist, transforming into a large sack that shook out several beasts before turning back into a long sword and landing in her palm.
Xiong Qi had already calmed Xiao Hua, covering the child’s ears as she slowly descended from the air.
“Jinshu, is this the senior brother you mentioned? He doesn’t look very strong, though,” Xiong Qi remarked bluntly, sizing up Chen Fuzhou.
Before Chen Fuzhou could retort, Chen An Ran bristled. “What nonsense are you talking about? My brother is the most powerful person in the world!”
Jinshu patted Xiong Qi’s shoulder reassuringly. “This is my junior brother. Though he’s slightly less skilled than me, he’s actually quite strong. You can rest easy.”
“You lot still have the leisure to joke around? You really don’t take me, Zhang Wei, seriously, do you?” Zhang Wei interrupted angrily, raising his flute to his lips and blowing into it with a mournful sound.
This time, however, Xiong Qi was prepared. As soon as she saw him raise the flute, she bent down and covered Xiao Hua’s ears with her hands.
Noticing her somewhat awkward posture, Chen Fuzhou tossed a talisman toward her. “A silence talisman. Stick it to her head—it’ll block out the sound.”
Xiong Qi thanked him gratefully and quickly applied the talisman.
Seeing that he could no longer control Xiao Hua, Zhang Wei’s face showed a flicker of panic. “Hmph, so what if you’ve silenced her? You’ve let these beasts loose, and I can still control them.”
He blew into the flute again, and as expected, the recently freed beasts flashed a fierce glint in their eyes. But instead of lunging at the group as he’d hoped, they merely let out weak, successive cries before collapsing weakly back to the ground.
Jinshu let out an exaggerated “Wow!” “You didn’t forget, did you? You beat them half to death. What fighting strength could they possibly have left?”
“Serves you right,” she shrugged, rolling her eyes.
Sweat beaded on Zhang Wei’s forehead, but he stubbornly insisted, “Don’t forget, we’re in the middle of nowhere. There are countless beasts here.”
Jinshu simply crossed her arms and watched with a smile as he blew into the flute once more. After a moment of silence, he finally took two fearful steps back. “What’s going on? Why isn’t even a single fly appearing?”
A light but firm tap sounded behind him. He turned to see the delicate-looking youth who had arrived later gazing at him with calm, indifferent eyes, as if watching a clown. Trembling all over, Zhang Wei stumbled backward in terror.
Xiong Qi’s mouth fell open in astonishment. Whether it was praise or criticism, she couldn’t say, but she looked at Chen Fuzhou and sighed sincerely, “So you really aren’t just a pretty face after all.”