Chapter 14: The Demon Maiden

When the assassin realized something was wrong, it was already too late for him to escape. No matter which direction he tried to flee, he would be intercepted by Yin Haitao, and the elite thieves behind him would never let any opportunity slip by—whenever they saw an opening, a dagger would flash out. Although the assassin did his best to avoid vital spots, he simply couldn’t withstand the sheer number of attackers. To make matters worse, the thieves’ blades were all grooved for bleeding, so every stab left wounds that would not stop bleeding. Before long, the assassin’s face turned pale.

By this time, the assassin’s companions had met their end as well. Both spearmen had fallen under the dwarven rage gunners’ assault. As for the female swordswoman who’d been overpowered by Li Mingxing from the start, she now faced the Blackstone Champion. No matter how she thrust or slashed with her sword, she couldn’t harm him in the slightest, while his massive battle-axe struck her blade again and again.

When her white jade longsword was split in half by a single blow from the Blackstone Champion’s axe, the swordswoman’s face drained of color. She spat out a mouthful of blood and retreated until she stood back-to-back with the assassin.

Sensing her condition, the assassin whispered, “It seems we have no way out. Shall we give it our all?” The swordswoman gave a slight nod. Seeing this, Li Mingxing shouted, “Don’t let them do anything reckless!”

Hardly had Li Mingxing spoken when the dwarven rage gunners, already prepared, fired in unison. Under the barrage of a dozen muskets, the assassin was blown to pieces on the spot. The swordswoman, however, managed to withstand the assault by some unknown means. Not only that, she seemed to have enough strength left to lunge at Li Mingxing, intent on finishing him with her broken sword.

Li Mingxing’s reflexes were quick. Seeing the swordswoman charge, he didn’t even attempt to fight back; instead, he darted aside at once. He was no martial arts master—he had no qualms about running when necessary.

Once Li Mingxing was out of reach, the Blackstone Champion, who had previously allowed the swordswoman to escape, approached her. This time, his enormous axe moved with the same agility as her sword, striking upward from her lower body. Forced into retreat, the swordswoman wanted to curse the Blackstone Champion for his shameless move, but one look at his massive head made her realize—if he’d tried to attack from above, like some legendary mountain-cleaving strike, his size simply wouldn’t allow it.

So this upward attack, or going for the legs, was all the Blackstone Champion could do. The swordswoman could only resign herself to the situation. Yet she soon wondered why she was thinking about such things in the heat of battle—looking down, she saw that her lower body was still standing in place, while the rest of her was retreating under the force of the Champion’s blow.

By the time she realized what had happened, it was too late. Severed in two, the swordswoman collapsed in a pool of blood. Li Mingxing even saw her soul condensing into a dozen or so spirit coins of various sizes.

Li Mingxing glanced at the fallen swordswoman and sighed softly. “Gather anything useful,” he instructed. “Yin Haitao, check the surroundings for any danger.”

Yin Haitao immediately set off and soon called out from the bushes, “Sir, come here!”

Li Mingxing hurried over, and as he approached, a faint fragrance reached his nose. He found Yin Haitao standing near the thicket, where a girl of about sixteen or seventeen was tied up. The delicate scent emanated from her.

Curious about why the girl was bound there, Li Mingxing moved closer. The girl began struggling desperately, terror flashing in her eyes. Li Mingxing realized that his appearance and the fierceness of his men had frightened her. He hesitated, intending to leave her alone, but after a few steps, he turned back and cut her bonds.

Even freed, the girl shrank into the shadows of the trees, only cautiously getting to her feet when she was sure Li Mingxing and Yin Haitao meant her no harm, her wary gaze fixed on the world outside.

Li Mingxing took in her golden hair, skin as pale as snow, and the noble bearing she couldn’t conceal despite her fear. She was likely the daughter of a minor noble, though how she’d ended up tied here was a mystery. He didn’t linger—he had no intention of speaking to her. For one, his own Draconic Lust constitution made him wary. During his fight with the swordswoman, its effect had stirred again, just as it had when he’d encountered the goblin matriarch. He didn’t want trouble. Besides, he couldn’t understand what the girl was saying—languages between the forces of Light and Darkness were mutually unintelligible, and this girl spoke with a Western accent, resembling Russian more than any English he knew. Even if he wanted to communicate, he doubted he’d get much from her.

Once everything was gathered, his men placed the spirit coins and other loot before him. Curiously, among the coins, copper pieces, and silver ingots was something resembling an ancient Chinese scroll. At first, Li Mingxing thought it might be a map, but upon opening it, he discovered it was a mercenary handbook, recording the squad’s name, members, and rank, as well as a mission slip.

The mission slip, written in red, read: “Escort the Rakshasa Ghost Maiden Aisha through three teleportation gates. Do not bring her back. After passing through three gates, the reward will appear automatically.”

After reading the mission, Li Mingxing looked at the girl huddled under the tree. She must be Aisha. The name alone suggested she was no true noble—though who cared, it had nothing to do with him.

Without a second thought, Li Mingxing tore the mercenary handbook in half with both hands. After all, it was of no use to him.

He hadn’t expected that, as the scroll was destroyed, a string of characters appeared before his eyes. Though he couldn’t read them, he understood their meaning: “Only one teleportation gate traversed; only one third of the reward granted.”

Immediately, Li Mingxing felt more than seven hundred points of experience pour into his body, and a ring fell out of the scroll. He transferred the experience to his Sovereign Aura, then examined the ring. Aside from noting it was made of jade, he found nothing noteworthy.

“Put this away for me,” Li Mingxing told Yin Haitao. As the ring was stowed, Li Mingxing made up his mind—after this mission, he’d ask his mentor if there was a spatial pouch or something similar he could use.

With the situation resolved, Li Mingxing glanced at the sky. It was around midnight. The darkness suited him better, so he didn’t let his men rest, but picked a direction and set off.

He had no idea that, after they left, the girl who had been cowering under the tree made a decision. She rose and began to follow them from a distance.

If Li Mingxing slowed his pace, so did she. If he sped up, she hurried to keep up, always maintaining a distance of twenty or thirty meters. More than once, Li Mingxing was tempted to go over and ask her what she was doing, but every time he approached, she would shrink into the bushes or shadows, motionless, eyes fixed on him.

Seeing this, Li Mingxing felt a twinge of sympathy and decided to leave her be. Sometimes, when she was exhausted, he would even slow his pace so she wouldn’t be too worn out.

The girl, for her part, would hide somewhere relatively safe whenever Li Mingxing and his men fought enemies or beasts, making sure the creatures didn’t notice her.

In this stop-and-go manner, they traveled for nearly a day until the girl, too tired to go on, collapsed on the ground in a faint. Only then did Li Mingxing stop and order his men to rest.

He walked over to the unconscious girl and studied her carefully. Throughout the journey, he had noticed oddities about her, but since she wouldn’t let him get close, there had been no way to investigate. Now, things were different—she had fainted, and he could examine her as he wished. So Li Mingxing knelt beside her, scrutinizing her from head to toe.