Ninth was so clingy—his separation anxiety must be especially severe.
Chu'he couldn’t imagine the impact it would have on him if she "disappeared without a word." She struggled fiercely, "Let me go back!"
Her thrashing made it impossible for Black Goose to carry her steadily while using qinggong to speed through the trees. Black Goose and White Dove had no choice but to land. Chu'he immediately jumped down from Black Goose’s back.
As she turned to leave, White Dove grabbed her hand.
"Miss Chu, most Miaojiang people are treacherous and cunning. They’re covered in poison and kill without hesitation. Are you sure you want to return to that Miaojiang man’s side?"
Black Goose chimed in, "And I’ve heard they love using people as test subjects for their poisons, turning them into mindless puppets. Have you ever considered that if you upset him one day, he could torture you in a thousand ways?"
White Dove added, "And how can you even be sure your feelings are your own? What if you’ve already fallen under his love gu without realizing it?"
Black Goose nodded. "You’re a sheltered young lady, unfamiliar with the ways of the martial world. You might not even understand how terrifying Miaojiang people truly are."
Throughout their journey, Chu'he had noticed how people avoided Ninth like the plague. Even if she was ignorant of the world, she could tell that to the Central Plains folk, Miaojiang people were like wolves or beasts—something to flee from, not approach.
Yet Chu'he countered, "I won’t deny that some Miaojiang people are bloodstained killers, but just as there are hypocrites among the Central Plains elites, does that mean we should label an entire group as evil because of a few rotten ones?"
Black Goose and White Dove exchanged a glance and took a step back, whispering to each other.
Black Goose: "Oh no, she’s got love sickness."
White Dove: "What, you got a problem with love sickness?"
Black Goose stiffened. "That’s not what I meant."
White Dove: "Sure sounds like it. If I hadn’t been lovesick, would I have eloped with you?"
Black Goose: "Now you’re twisting things! Your father came at me with a blade—three slashes! If I hadn’t taken you away, would I even be alive?"
White Dove: "So now you regret it? You shouldn’t have eloped with me?"
Black Goose: "Where did that come from? When did I say I regretted it?"
White Dove: "You didn’t say it, but your eyes did!"
Black Goose: "Can you be reasonable for once?"
White Dove stood on her toes to yank his ear. "You’re the unreasonable one!"
To keep her from straining, Black Goose bent down to accommodate her, pleading, "Fine, fine, I was wrong. Spare me this time, alright? We’ve got a mission to focus on!"
White Dove snapped back to attention. "Maybe we should just knock her out and take her back. Whether she stays with that Miaojiang man is the Chu family’s problem. Wait—where’s Chu'he?!"
The couple looked around—only darkness greeted them. Chu'he, a full-grown woman, had vanished without a trace!
The night was thick, occasionally broken by the rustling of animals, adding an eerie chill to the air.
Chu'he relied on instinct to retrace her steps. She didn’t know where the bounty hunters had taken her, but she needed to get back fast.
A faint creak—footsteps.
"Shh—Yan'er, be quiet, don’t make a sound."
A disheveled woman hid behind a tree, clutching an infant to her chest, her hand muffling the child’s mouth as she trembled. Peeking out, she spotted four or five shadowy figures drifting nearby.
They weren’t quite human—more like monsters.
Their bodies were unnaturally gaunt, skin stretched over bones as if all flesh had withered away. Their eye sockets were hollow, their faces featureless except for a thin layer of skin stretched over their skulls.
Behind them stood a man draped in a black robe, his face hidden behind a white mask. In his hand, he held a dark-red drum bell, its chimes directing the movements of the skeletal figures.
"Find that woman and child—now!" the masked man barked impatiently.
The woman ducked back, tears falling as she looked at her child. The baby, miraculously calm, reached up as if to comfort her.
No—she couldn’t give up. She had to escape!
Gritting her teeth, she tried to stand and find a better hiding spot, but her foot snapped a twig.
The masked man’s head whipped toward the sound. The grotesque figures lurched forward.
Then—thud—a noise from the opposite direction.
Alerted, the masked man shook his drum bell. The figures bolted toward the disturbance.
A hand clamped over the woman’s mouth before she could scream.
"Don’t speak. Run this way."
Chu'he kept her voice low, pulling the woman up and sprinting in the opposite direction. She’d thrown a rock as a distraction, hoping to buy time.
But the pursuers moved like beasts, leaping through the trees, closing the distance in seconds.
The masked man spotted Chu'he. "Another fool seeking death. Take the child alive—kill the women."
The monsters lunged from the branches—only to be forced back by a whip’s crack and the flash of a blade.
Black Goose’s segmented whip hissed through the air. "Didn’t expect to find a disciple of the Eternal City of Yunhuang here."
White Dove hefted her oversized modao, its blade gleaming. "A bounty from Canghaizhou for their heads—worth every penny!"
The couple fought in perfect sync—Black Goose’s whip keeping enemies at bay, White Dove’s modao cutting them down. Even surrounded by skeletal slaves, they moved with lethal grace.
Bones clattered to the ground as the figures collapsed.
The masked man snarled, "You dare?!"
His drum bell rang violently. The earth trembled, fissures splitting open as skeletal hands clawed free, dragging rotting corpses from the soil.
Back-to-back, Black Goose muttered, "Damn—this is a mass grave. He’s got the advantage. Still fighting, love?"
White Dove tightened her grip. "Fight first, flee if we must." Then she shouted, "Miss Chu, run!"
Chu'he didn’t hesitate, dragging the woman away.
The masked man tried to pursue—until White Dove’s modao impaled his shoulder. Blood sprayed as he staggered back. The blade withdrew, sweeping toward him again. He barely dodged.
White Dove stood tall, weapon ready. "Cut the head off the snake!"
"On it!" Black Goose landed beside her, his whip shattering another skeleton mid-lunge.
The injured masked man gritted his teeth and said, "How much longer are you going to stand there watching? Don't forget the City Lord's grand plan!"
