This is Xia Ruxi’s third day in this world. Just like yesterday, Xia Ruxi went out hunting with Pei Yuanxiu.
“I don’t want grilled fish today. Let’s go into the forest and see what we can find to eat.”
Xia Ruxi’s eyes sparkled. Every time Pei Yuanxiu saw Xia Ruxi display an expression and state that didn’t quite match her usual temperament, he would just smile helplessly.
He clearly already regarded Xia Ruxi as a younger sister who, despite her rich experiences, still seemed to need care.
Pei Yuanxiu strode to keep up with Xia Ruxi. Pei Yuanxiu stood $185\text{ cm}$ tall and took long strides, but Xia Ruxi was $175\text{ cm}$ tall, which was considered quite tall for a girl.
Xia Ruxi was clearly a bit excited, and her walking speed kept increasing. If Pei Yuanxiu hadn’t been a special forces soldier who practiced martial arts, he almost wouldn’t have been able to keep up.
“Pei Yuanxiu, hurry up! There seems to be a deer running ahead. Go check it out. Whether we can have venison today depends on your performance later.” True to her principle of not lifting a finger if possible, Xia Ruxi prepared to send Pei Yuanxiu to hunt the deer. After all, he was her prospective eldest disciple.
“Okay, I’ll go right away.” Pei Yuanxiu’s handsome face revealed a helpless smile and a hint of hidden doting affection. At that moment, the sounds of fighting came from the depths of the forest.
Sensing it, Xia Ruxi turned to Pei Yuanxiu and said, “Let’s go take a look; it might be your enemies.” Pei Yuanxiu also stopped smiling, looked seriously in the direction of the sound, and nodded at Xia Ruxi.
The two of them quickly ran into the dense forest, making sure to conceal their figures and move as quietly as possible.
They arrived near the sounds of fighting and, without prior arrangement, chose a large tree with a wide view to crouch on its trunk.
Looking down, they saw that one side of the fighters was dressed similarly to Pei Yuanxiu, while the other side wore black clothes and masks to conceal their identities.
“They’re my teammates. They followed the marks I left behind. The people hunting me down were also searching for my whereabouts, and that’s how they ran into each other.” Pei Yuanxiu was worried, but he still calmly explained the situation to Xia Ruxi.
“That’s pretty much what I guessed. We’ll just ambush the men in black from behind. With our skills, it shouldn’t be a problem.” As she spoke, Xia Ruxi prepared to jump down from the tree trunk to ambush the man in black closest to her.
“Wait a minute, be careful of their guns. The bullets you took out of me earlier were fired from a gun, and they’re extremely powerful.” Although he was in a hurry, Pei Yuanxiu still reminded Xia Ruxi.
“Okay, I understand. I’ll be careful.” Hearing Xia Ruxi’s reply, Pei Yuanxiu also prepared to jump down and attack the men in black on his side.
The two jumped down from the tree unexpectedly. The people still engaged in combat on both sides didn’t notice them at first—not until Xia Ruxi and Pei Yuanxiu each killed a man in black did Pei Yuanxiu’s teammates react.
“I knew the captain wasn’t dead! The captain came to save us!” cried a big boy with a dusty face but a very sunny appearance, sounding excited and happy.
“Xiao Liang, stop talking. Let’s finish off these people quickly. Zhiyan’s injuries are almost too much to bear,” said a bespectacled, refined-looking man.
The boy called Xiao Liang perked up immediately. “Okay, Vice Captain! The Captain is here, and we can take care of this in no time!” Peng Liang’s voice was clear and loud, carrying deep admiration for Pei Yuanxiu.
Everyone exchanged nods of agreement, which showed how high their trust in their captain was.
The men in black on the other side clearly hadn’t anticipated this development. In Xia Ruxi and Pei Yuanxiu’s extremely swift second strike, two more men in black were killed.
Seemingly their leader, a man with resentment in his eyes, shouted in a hoarse voice, “Retreat! Don’t get entangled with them!” The remaining few men in black began to retreat in an orderly fashion in one direction.
Upon seeing this, Peng Liang raised his gun and fired two shots, even preparing to give chase.
At that moment, Pei Yuanxiu’s sexy and magnetic voice rang out: “Tell them to retreat, Xiao Liang. Don’t chase after them.”
Though Peng Liang had his doubts, his military discipline made him immediately stop in his tracks. He put away his gun and ran toward Pei Yuanxiu.
“Captain, thank goodness you’re alright! I thought…” Before Peng Liang could finish his sentence, a fierce-looking little girl next to him jumped up and hit him hard on the head.
“What kind of discouraging things are you saying? The captain is the best; he’ll definitely be fine!” The little girl shouted at Peng Liang with her hands on her hips.
“My bad, my bad. Sister Yingying, don’t be angry.” Peng Liang rubbed his head and didn’t forget to soothe the little girl.
“Alright, stop messing around. Zhongqing, you just said Zhiyan was injured. Where is Zhiyan?” Pei Yuanxiu strode toward Xiao Zhongqing.
“Come with me. Mu Xi is guarding Zhiyan. We found a cave to use as a temporary resting place. We followed your marks down here, and the team chasing you also came down to look for you, which is how we ran into them. Zhiyan was shot in the abdomen by the other side. We split into two groups: me, Xiao Liang, Yingying, and Yuan Zhuang led them away, and then Mu Xi took Zhiyan and hid in the cave.”
Although Xiao Zhongqing’s face remained expressionless, his pace quickened, as if he were about to lose someone important at any moment.
The entire team was tense as they quickly headed toward the cave. Having heard what happened, Xia Ruxi also walked toward their cave.
Along the way, she didn’t forget to throw a dagger and shoot down the fawn she had seen earlier. Everyone was in a rush and had no energy to pay much attention to Xia Ruxi.