“All right,” Yao Tang replied calmly. “I’ll give them to you if you come closer.”
Her nonchalance was almost alarming, especially given the immediate threat staring them in the face.
It piqued the man’s interest. He studied Yao Tang’s ethereal appearance and the faint aura emanating from her body. He felt a slight tug at his heart.
It might not be such a bad idea to have a good time once he had the item in his possession.
The man didn’t even bother glancing at Yu Chen, who was cowering behindYao Tang. What danger could he possibly pose, when he had to hide behind a slip of a girl in this situation?
The foreigner was on a treasure hunt as well, and he just happened to run into the cave.
As he surveyed the area, he discovered traces of excavation. He proceeded to use his equipment to probe the land and finally detected the existence of rare metal substances.
Unfortunately, all he had left were traces. These substances had already been dug.
The minerals inside were also missing.
He had been to other potential sites, too, but the items were never pure enough, and the quality was significantly inferior to those found in the cave.
After considering his options, the foreigner had touched the disturbed soil and realized that the excavation was still fresh.
Whoever had dug up the site had probably done so just a while ago, and couldn’t have gone far yet. And so, the man tracked them down and followed them down the trail, making sure he kept out of sight.
In truth, he was quite surprised to find his targets to be a tender young girl and a feeble, older man.
His first instinct was to get rid of them and take the treasure for himself.
But with this current development, it was obvious to him that they had purposely led him into this forest.
The man was puzzled, to be sure, but his greed won over whatever sense of caution he possessed. Those rare metal substances cost a fortune, after all.
“Believe me, Little Sister, I am not a bad person. If you hand over what I want and comfort me for a little while, then I’ll let you get out of this mountain in one piece. As for your companion, I’m afraid he will have to die either way.”
The man walked over with a smirk, his eyes glinting with malice.
To his credit, he hadn’t discarded all of his wits just yet. He carefully angled his left arm. A silenced pistol was hidden in his sleeve, ready to be pulled out when needed.
All he needed were a few shots, and the two people in front of him would fall like flies.
They wouldn’t even make a sound.
Yu Chen was getting antsy. He could tell that the foreign man had evil intentions toward them.
His anxiety only increased with every step that the stranger took closer to them. He knew that Yao Tang had excellent martial arts skills, but at the end of the day, she was still just a girl. She was no match for this hulking man.
Just when Yu Chenfelt like he might faint from panic,Yao Tangmade her move.
She stepped forward and met the man head-on.
Her pace seemed steady enough, but before either man knew it, she was already in front of the foreigner.
Then, she raised her leg and kicked the man’s arm, sending the gun in his sleeve tumbling into the ground.
The man didn’t even get the chance to react before he was sent flying back with a punch. He sailed into the air and hit the trunk of a huge tree with a loud, cracking sound.
He fell on his belly and coughed out a mouthful of blood.
It splattered on the ground around him.
The man braced himself and was about to get up, but Yao Tanglunged forward and mercilessly sliced his throat. He died there and then.
It all happened so fast that Yu Chendoubted a full minute had passed.
Yao Tang moved at an incredible speed, disposing of their enemy in a matter of several breaths.
She glanced at Yu Chenonce before walking over to the stream to clean her dagger.
She held it under the flowing water, and soon, the blood stains were washed away, and the blade was restored to its former pristine condition.
Yu Chen could only stare blankly at her, even as a storm raged in his heart.
He patted himself on the back for being wise this time around. He had always been the type to refuse defeat, but he had fortunately relented to Yao Tang.
If he hadn’t, he might have met the same fat as the man lying in his own pool of blood.
It seemed that he would have to curry favor with this god of death he had chanced upon.
Judging by her fierce and decisive actions, he reckoned that she already had a lot of blood on her hands.
“Let’s go!”
Yao Tang called out after sheathing her dagger.
Yu Chen nodded eagerly like the lackey that he was. He made sure to look harmless and submissive, lestYao Tangmade an example of him in the near future. There was nothing wrong with being extra careful.
“Sister, do you think those rescue teams are just for show or what? They can’t even do their job properly. How could they let a foreign smuggler into this land, and in the middle of a disaster, too!”
Yu Chen chattered on, desperate to build some rapport withYao Tangand earn her approval.
Unexpectedly, his words made Yao Tangpause and peer at him. “How did you know that he was a smuggler?”
