After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, the leader of the guards gave out some proper orders. “Start from the stove room where the cauldron was located and spread out to search from there. Make sure you’re checking all the bushes and trees too!”
The other guards immediately moved to carry out his command, carefully sifting through each and every piece of foliage in the backyard.
Su Xi-er frowned. If this continues, I will undoubtedly be caught. Even now, there were a few guards making their way in her direction, forcing her to move further away and behind a tree trunk.
I should take out their leader first in this case. Su Xi-er’s eyes gleamed as one of the guards closed in.
Su Xi-er made a deliberate movement and allowed a guard to spot the corner of her fiery red dress. Just as he was about to call the other guards over, Su Xi-er quickly snuck up on him and knocked him out. As expected, though the sishi were brave and skilled, they lacked strategy and thinking skills needed to gain the upper hand in a fight like that. With how she had been focusing on nourishing her body recently, she was no longer as frail as she once was, and was able to accomplish this easily. Such a quick takedown was necessary, since there was no way that she would be able to fight hordes of sishi on her own.
Su Xi-er’s reactions were almost on par with Pei Qianhao’s, allowing her to quickly seize the sword from the guard’s scabbard as he fell. Though a few of his fellows heard the sound and came rushing over, they only saw a reddish shadow fly past in the darkness like a spirit.
In the end, it was the leader of the guards who barely managed to unsheathe his own sword in time to parry the attack that was aimed towards his neck.
Their weapons clashed briefly before the two began to exchange blows at a breakneck pace, sending the sound of crashing metal howling through the courtyard. Many of the guards tried to come forward to assist, but were impressed all the same. How could a woman be this skilled?!
Just as these guards were about to make their move, a female voice made its way into their ears. “Ganging up on me? Should I be disappointed in how much you look down on your leader, or flattered by how impressed you are by me?”
Though he was a sishi, the leader still had his pride, and he quickly yelled to the soldiers, “Follow master’s orders and retreat. Leave her to me!”
The other guards hesitated for a brief moment before looking at each other and nodding as they retreated. None of them noticed the smirk on Su Xi-er’s face.
