The man before her was capable of snatching the dagger from her hand before its blade could move even the width of a finger.
To these cultivators, her resistance was nothing more than the desperate struggle of a mortal woman who did not even possess enough strength to decide her own fate.
Even so, Xiao Yun’s fingers did not loosen around the handle.
She kept the blade pressed near her neck while fear, stubbornness, and sorrow mingled within her eyes as she desperately searched for one final way to prevent them from using her against her son.
And in the midst of that moment, when she believed these might be the final moments of her life, one person suddenly appeared in her mind without warning.
That person was Ji Lin.
Her breathing stopped for an instant.
She had spent the past several days convincing herself that his distance from her was the best outcome for both of them.
If they simply never met again after what had happened between them, then perhaps their lives would gradually return to the way they had once been.
Yet now, when death had become a genuine possibility before her eyes, she found herself wondering whether Ji Lin would feel sorrow when he heard of her death.
Perhaps her death would be better for him as well.
One day, he might meet a woman closer to his own age, someone who could stand beside him without the awkward gap that existed between them.
Then he would no longer have to waste his feelings on a widow whose son was nearly the same age as him.
A faint trace of pain appeared in Xiao Yun’s eyes as those thoughts passed through her mind.
However, she refused to allow them to distract her.
She continued retreating cautiously, keeping the dagger near her neck until her back suddenly collided with something that had not been there only moments earlier.
Thud!!
Her entire body froze.
She immediately realized that what she had struck was not a wall.
The surface behind her was firm, yet it carried an unmistakable warmth that seeped through her back and pierced the cold that had engulfed her body the instant she touched it.
It felt as though she had backed directly into the chest of someone standing behind her.
Who…?
Xiao Yun gasped and quickly turned around.
However, the instant she raised her eyes toward the person standing behind her, every word stopped upon her lips.
A handsome young man stood only a short distance away, close enough for her to feel the warmth radiating from his body, while an almost imperceptible smile rested upon his lips.
Xiao Yun’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Her lips trembled slightly before she finally managed to force out his name.
Ji… Lin?
Xiao Yun continued staring at the face that had suddenly appeared before her, as though her mind still could not comprehend how Ji Lin had arrived at this exact moment.
However, her astonishment did not last long.
The instant she remembered the three men behind her, the confusion vanished from her eyes and was replaced by a fear even greater than what she had felt for herself only moments earlier.
Ji Lin, what are you doing here?!
She immediately moved toward him and stepped in front of him, as though trying to shield him from the three men’s sight with her own body, despite knowing perfectly well that she had no ability to protect him.
Leave quickly!
These men are cultivators.
You can’t fight them!
His medical expertise had made him the physician many people sought when ordinary methods failed to cure them.
However, fame in medicine meant nothing when facing cultivators.
As far as everyone knew, Ji Lin had never taken even a single step onto the path of cultivation.
No matter how extraordinary his ability to save lives might be, medical skill could never grant him the strength to confront three men who possessed spiritual energy.
On the other side, the expressions of the Liu Family men changed the moment they recognized him.
One of them stared at his face for several seconds before a broad smile spread across his lips.
Ji Lin?
The famous physician of Azure Cloud City and the follower who’s always at Ye Fang’s side?
The man leading them laughed, a greedy gleam appearing in his eyes as he examined Ji Lin from head to toe.
It seems our luck today is even better than we expected.
Their original objective had only been to capture Xiao Yun, but Ji Lin’s sudden appearance had made their mission far more valuable.
If they returned to the Liu Family with Ye Fang’s mother as well as the most famous physician in the city and one of Ye Fang’s closest followers, the reward they received would certainly not be small.
Xiao Yun, however, was thinking about none of that.
When she realized that Ji Lin showed no intention of leaving, she hurriedly placed both palms against his chest and began pushing him backward, desperately trying to force him to leave.
Why are you still standing here?
Go!
Her voice trembled with anxiety.
She raised her eyes toward him and urged him again.
Ji Lin, run before they stop you!
Moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes as her soft palms continued pressing insistently against his chest, as though that meager strength could somehow force him away from danger.
Yet no matter how hard she pushed, Ji Lin did not move even half a step.
Against the unwavering stability of his body, her small movements seemed less like an attempt to move him and more like silent pleas begging him to leave and save himself.
Ji Lin lowered his eyes toward her.
There was no trace of fear on his face.
Instead, he remained so calm that, compared with Xiao Yun’s overwhelming anxiety, it almost seemed as though he could not see the same danger standing before them.
Don’t be afraid.
The words left his lips with simple assurance.
At the same moment, an Energy Condensation Pill appeared between his fingers.
He tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it directly.
Then he reached out and gently closed his hand around one of Xiao Yun’s hands, which was still pressed against his chest.
His fingers held hers firmly enough to stop her from trying to push him away.
Nothing will happen.
Before Xiao Yun could understand what he meant, Ji Lin raised his other palm toward the three men.
He performed no complicated movement.
He assumed no fighting stance.
It was nothing more than a casual gesture of his hand.
Yet in the very next instant, the atmosphere throughout the entire courtyard changed.
Boom! Get faster updates on g.com.
A wave of scorching spiritual energy erupted from Ji Lin’s body, causing the temperature throughout the courtyard to rise violently.
The snow accumulated across the ground began melting within moments, while the surrounding air rippled and distorted beneath the intense heat.
The eyes of the Liu Family men widened the instant they sensed that energy, and their expressions changed completely.
A cultivator?!
They did not even have enough time to comprehend what had happened.
Amid the torrent of fiery energy surging toward them, three thin flashes of spiritual power formed, each as sharp as a blade.
They were almost impossible to see clearly, becoming visible for only a brief instant when the light reflected along their edges.
Tssh!
Tssh!
Tssh!
Three short sounds pierced the silence.
The spiritual energy the men had been preparing to release abruptly dissipated before it could fully take form.
At the center of each man’s forehead, a tiny black mark appeared, surrounded by dark scorch marks, as though something unimaginably hot had pierced through flesh and bone in the same instant.
The expressions of all three men froze.
Shock remained etched within their eyes until the very end.
Then, one after another, the strength drained from their bodies, and they collapsed onto the courtyard floor without any of them managing to utter even a single scream.
Silence descended over the courtyard after their fall.
The only sound that remained was the gentle dripping of water as the snow continued melting beneath the lingering heat suspended in the air.
Ji Lin slowly lowered his hand while his other hand remained wrapped around Xiao Yun’s palm.
The outcome had not surprised him in the slightest.
The strongest of the three men was merely a cultivator who had only recently entered the Energy Condensation Realm, while Ji Lin had already reached the fourth layer of that same realm.
Moreover, the difference between them was not limited to cultivation level alone.
With the Blazing Sun Prison Physique and the Ninth Sun Technique, the quality of Ji Lin’s spiritual energy and his combat strength far exceeded what an ordinary cultivator at the same level could display.
Therefore, confronting those three men had never been a genuine battle for him in the first place.
If he wanted to kill them with the least possible effort, he would not have needed to do anything more than what he had just done.
However, the moment his eyes fell upon Xiao Yun, who was still staring at him in stunned disbelief, a sudden thought crossed his mind.
The light in his eyes dimmed.
Then, deliberately, he allowed his shoulders to sag as though the power he had displayed moments earlier had completely drained his body.
Within seconds, the healthy color disappeared from his face and was replaced by an obvious pallor.
Ji Lin…?
Xiao Yun immediately noticed the change.
She blinked in confusion before quickly moving toward him, her astonishment instantly giving way to concern.
But before she could reach him, Ji Lin’s body suddenly shuddered violently.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips, scattering crimson droplets through the air.
At the same instant, Ji Lin staggered forward as though the power he had used to kill the three men had exacted a far greater price from him than he had shown only moments before.