Chapter 518 – Encountering Ambush Again (3.5k)
The next day, Su Jiu stretched, covered her ears, and walked outside for a stroll. The wind and snow seemed to have intensified, pressing against the tree hole entrance with howling sounds seeping through the cracks.
Returning, she glanced at Lin, who was still sitting cross-legged and cultivating. That’s what she did after eating. She seemed unwilling to waste even a moment. However, what she was cultivating didn’t seem to be External Qi. As her chest rose and fell slightly, a drumming sound emanated from her body, giving off a feeling of body tempering.
“Heh… I’ll wait for her to wake up.”
Su Jiu let out a breath and started burning hot water again. Looking at the rekindled charcoal wood, she vaguely recalled her answer to Lin yesterday, her face tinged with a bit of embarrassment—
“At least I will. If you or someone as weak as you encounters an irreversible disaster, I will stand up.”
“Heh heh…”
After that, Lin had kept staring at the orange-yellow firewood with her faint purple eyes, just like Su Jiu. Upon hearing this, she was momentarily lost in thought, then shook her head as if amused, “That would be ridiculous. I’m just unwilling to be inferior to them because of my bloodline, not because I want to be a hero.”
“Bloodline really is an annoying thing.”
Saying that, she seemed to want to change the subject. She turned and moved deeper into the tree hole, then sat cross-legged and began to cultivate. Su Jiu could sense that Lin was not just an ordinary Snow Guard, but she couldn’t pinpoint what was strange about her. She just thought of her as a girl with some peculiar childhood experiences.
…
“Prepare to set off for the burial mound.”
While Su Jiu was boiling water, a clear voice sounded. Lin’s face seemed to have returned to its emotionless state. After standing up, her long green silk hair still trailed on the ground, with some snow stains clinging to the ends.
“With your hair like this, not only will it get dirty, but it will also be difficult for you to escape during a fight.”
Su Jiu turned to look at Lin, frowning. She couldn’t stand to see her like this and very seriously took out several hair clips and ties from her storage ring, walking towards her.
“Let me help you tie it.”
This time, Lin did not resist as before. She looked down at her trailing hair, and a thought to tie it up arose in her heart. Perhaps it was Su Jiu’s words that made her feel a sense of closeness towards the woman before her.
“Your hair is well-maintained.”
Su Jiu carefully tied back Lin’s hair, strand by strand. The hair was very smooth, as if she had used the same shampoo as the one used by Tang Sanzang. Soon, she tied up the middle section of her hair, and the two sides were tied into a twin-tail with hair ties decorated with two snowballs. She looked like an angel who had fallen to the mortal realm, her twin-tails like broken wings. Of course, it would be perfect if she weren’t so emotionless.
“Mmm…”
Lin didn’t know what her hair looked like, but she felt a coolness on her back and a slight heaviness on her head. When Su Jiu let go, she walked towards the direction outside the tree hole.
“Your craftsmanship is quite good. Little White used to help me tie my hair like this too, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen her.”
Su Jiu watched Lin’s retreating figure, nodding with satisfaction, then sighed softly. She picked up her phone, opened her QQ, and looked at the gray avatar, shaking her head, and followed her.
“After this is over, I can ask Bai Ming about Little White’s situation…”
She felt like she was back to being Bai Qianyu, tying her hair for her somewhat introverted self. Back then, she had to risk her life to fight a mere Battle General. The young Warrior-ranked fighter of the past had now become a powerhouse capable of facing great disasters alone, growing from someone who was once not very qualified as an Elder to a being that surpassed the power of Elders.
Exiting the tree hole, the two walked side-by-side in the wind and snow. Su Jiu could feel the energy fluctuations from afar—the monsters had begun their formal siege again, and the bursts of activity were almost accompanied by waves of sound.
Stepping on the soft, thick snow, their pace remained unhurried until about half an hour later, when they arrived at a desolate snowy area. Lin stopped and pointed to a small mound of snow piled up ahead, saying softly:
“This is it. Their bodies are all buried in the snow.”
“Okay, this is… a Battle King level Snow Tiger.”
Su Jiu replied softly, noticing the corpse of a giant tiger-like monster next to the small mound. The monster seemed to have been killed in one blow, and its Magic Crystal had been dug out by hand. However, the lingering deterrence on its body indicated that it was a Battle King level powerhouse in life. She continued to dig away the snow, exposing the corpses. It was clear that there were distinct, large claw marks or signs of violent tearing on their bodies… It was obvious that this was the work of the tiger demon.
Then, who killed this tiger demon? Su Jiu raised her head slightly, her gaze constantly monitoring the movements ahead and around her. Ever since stepping into this area, she had noticed something was missing—scavenger crows and carnivorous monsters. One could even say that there was a lack of sound, as if she had entered a zone of silence. This was the result of a very powerful monster clearing the area, leaving behind its residual might as a deterrent, and this was clearly the work of whoever or whatever killed the tiger demon…
Did the Ice Sky Vulture do this? But why didn’t it eat the human corpses? Su Jiu couldn’t help but look at Lin again, gazing at her slender back, her suspicions resurfacing. She even instinctively reached out to touch the ring containing the fire attribute feather. If the other party was indeed the Ice Vulture, why didn’t it attack her, and why did it tell her those past events? As for testing the other party directly with a contract, if Lin were an ordinary person, it would be fine. But if she guessed the truth, she might not be able to escape. The feather could only be used when the other party truly unleashed their true form and used the “Summon Snowstorm” skill.
“It seems there are no monsters.”
Just as Su Jiu’s body tensed up, Lin’s voice suddenly sounded, still in that emotionless tone, but it seemed much softer.
“How about we go back? To the city.”
Hearing this, Su Jiu was stunned. Then she met Lin’s face, which held a hint of a smile. She watched her twin-tails sway in the cold wind, and her suspicions were suppressed a little. Maybe it was just a coincidence?
“Okay.”
Su Jiu quickly nodded with a smile and said softly, “But we’ll enter from the East District on the other side. There are monsters attacking the city here, so the formation won’t be open to individuals.”
“It should still be a while from here to the East District. When we get there, let’s grab a meal on the way.”
Hearing Su Jiu agree to take her in, Lin smiled. She was actually a bit unsure of her own feelings. Why did a flicker of joy spring up in her heart because of taking a detour? Maintaining her emotionless expression, she added softly: “Make it spicy.”
“Alright, alright…”
Su Jiu chuckled helplessly. She felt she was overthinking. How could the monster that liked to eat human flesh be the emotionless young girl before her? Even if she were a monster, she was likely to be… a good monster, right?
“It’s them, two of them. The footprints didn’t lie. Second Uncle, that woman has a storage ring on her hand, I’m sure I saw it correctly. And she has no aura of Law on her.”
Just as they turned to leave, a rather piercing voice broke the silence of the “zone of silence.” Accompanying the voice were several figures, both male and female, all wearing the attire of top Master Adventurers. One of them was even wearing the captain’s uniform of the Snow Guard. The young man with the green snake tattoo from before crossed his arms and sneered in their direction. Beside him stood a middle-aged man wearing an Adventurer King badge, his face full of fleshy folds, with a scar running across his nose. He held a flaming spear in his hand and looked at Su Jiu and Lin with a gaze that was both #〜引, G倭另珊尔2⊙棋泗岜零夢 interested, saying indifferently:
“You threatened my nephew. Should you offer some compensation?”
Su Jiu’s gaze swept across the group, finally settling on the middle-aged man with fleshy folds and High-Rank Battle King strength. She raised a hand to block Lin behind her and replied indifferently:
“Your nephew was the one who tried to bully a little girl first. I was just making them leave. As for compensation…”
Su Jiu paused, then suddenly smiled without a trace of warmth, and spat out a single word: “Scram!”
As Su Jiu spoke, the middle-aged man’s face instantly showed a cold sneer. He slightly flicked the hand holding the spear, pointing it directly at Su Jiu, and mockingly said in a cold voice:
“I just asked some Snow Guards. That woman behind you isn’t a Snow Guard at all. She’s likely a monster in disguise. You’d best hand over the ring as well so we can check it for any evidence of collusion with monsters.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Snow Guard captain frowned and scanned Lin, stating with certainty, “There is absolutely no one like her in the Snow Guard. Her appearance doesn’t look like an ordinary person, and she’s likely a monster in disguise wearing Snow Guard uniform.”
“She’s very likely the one who killed the entire squad!”
With the voices of the two men, the others quickly formed a circle. Almost everyone had a cultivation level above High-Rank Battle General, and their weapons glinted under the weak sun. Su Jiu, who had already suspected that Lin was not an ordinary Bronze-ranked Snow Guard, had a rough idea in her mind. She naturally wouldn’t let these people take her away. After all, humanoid monsters weren’t that uncommon, and Lin looked harmless. Moreover, they even coveted her ring. Su Jiu retorted with a cold smile: “Without any proof, why do you say she’s a monster…”
“Slap.” Before she could finish speaking, a hand was placed on her shoulder. It was Lin, with a calm expression on her face. She said softly, “You should leave. That scarred person is stronger than you, and you’re not a match for him…”
“Didn’t I say it last night? The strong should stand in front of the weak. At least I’ll stand in front of you now.”
Lin’s action undoubtedly admitted to what those people said. However, what Su Jiu had decided wouldn’t change. She slowly took out the loquat branch and drew two fingers across it, causing the leaf patterns to glow with a blood-gold color. Moreover, defeating a mere High-Rank Battle King wasn’t that difficult. If they wanted her ring, they should be prepared to be killed by her in return. She had never been a righteous person.
Seeing that Su Jiu was still standing by her side, Lin couldn’t help but feel confused. A look of perplexity appeared on her face, and she asked softly, “Didn’t you hear them say I’m a monster, and possibly a monster who killed those people and put on their clothes? Are you sure you want to help me?”
“At least in my eyes, you’re no different from an ordinary young girl. That’s enough.”
Su Jiu glanced at Lin and decided not to dwell on her suspicions. In life, being overly cautious could also be rather boring. Hearing this, Lin fell silent. She suddenly felt that the human before her was very interesting. Her faint purple eyes looked at Su Jiu’s back, and finally, ripples appeared…
“No proof? Then why would a normal person wear Snow Guard clothing? And this Snow Guard clothing belongs to the only female member of the squad next door.” The Snow Guard captain asked coldly.
“She didn’t kill those Snow Guards. Those Snow Guards were killed by the tiger demon next to them. If you don’t believe me, you can see for yourselves.”
Su Jiu exhaled a breath of white air and quietly activated the first layer of Elegy. Since she had just boasted to the young girl last night, she couldn’t possibly act ignorant today.
“Hahaha, you’re a human traitor then? In that case, I’ll have to apprehend you both and interrogate you properly.”
The middle-aged man with the fleshy face let out a mocking laugh upon hearing their conversation. A flame erupted from his spear, and a fiery halo appeared beneath his foot as he charged forward. The tip of his spear plowed a long, scorched mark on the snow.
