Chapter 137: One Move
Harboring doubts, Shang Wan followed in the direction the man had left.
Every certain distance, she could see several small animal corpses; except for a few that were killed by sharp blades, the rest had all died from poison.
Shang Wan’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter as she softly instructed Yuan Yuan, “Good cub, no matter what you see in a bit, don’t make a sound first.”
Yuan Yuan raised her small hand to cover her mouth and nodded her little head vigorously.
“Such a good girl.” Shang Wan lowered her head and kissed her forehead. The little one immediately smiled until her eyes curved, but her small hand still covered her mouth tightly, ensuring not a single sound escaped—not even her millet teeth showed.
The closer she got to the destination, the more cautiously Shang Wan moved; she knew these people were not ordinary, with extremely high vigilance.
The mother and daughter approached silently, lurking in the shadows like a wildcat, peering ahead through gaps in the branches and leaves.
This place was very familiar to Shang Wan—it was right by the pool where she often came to bathe.
At this moment, two black tents were pitched by the pool, and six men in black sat around a bonfire, roasting meat.
Judging by Shang Wan’s excellent sense of smell, the meat was not tasty—one fish was even burnt.
If these people knew there was a big fellow under the pool, who knows if they would still choose to camp here.
The weather was getting hotter; the big fellow might want to come out for some activity.
Shang Wan crouched quietly like a cat, listening to the group talk. From their conversation, she could tell they were the assassins chasing Chu Xu.
It really was no effort to find what she was after.
She had concealed her aura extremely well, while Yuan Yuan didn’t need to conceal hers at all.
The little one had roamed this mountain forest for so long that her aura seemed to blend into the mountain forest, like roadside flowers and grass, a tree, or a little bird flying by.
Even if Shang Wan didn’t focus, she couldn’t detect her—let alone this group of assassins.
The assassins had no idea someone was spying from the shadows, and their conversation was not secretive.
“That little bastard is as sly as a monkey. He led us on a chase in these mountains, and just when we were about to catch up, he dared to jump off a cliff. Once I find him, I’ll chop off his head and use it as a ball to kick!”
“Too bad we couldn’t stab him to death with one strike.”
“We’ve searched plenty of places and combed the area below the cliff, but no trace of the kid. Do you think he might’ve been dragged off and eaten by a wild beast in the mountains?”
“Impossible. Wild beasts eat meat but don’t gnaw bones; there should at least be some bones, clothes fragments, and such left behind. With no traces at all, that kid is definitely still alive.”
“Could he have been saved by someone entering the mountains?”
“Possible. We’ll search this area again tomorrow. If we still can’t find him, we’ll check the nearby village.”
“Should we keep poisoning then? That water will flow down to the village below; the poison is potent—if someone drinks it, they’ll die too.”
“I don’t care if they live or die! Stop showing mercy here. If we fail the mission and can’t report back, with Master’s methods, we’ll all die when we return.”
“Exactly. In our line of work, we carry our heads on our belts every day—where’s all this mercy coming from? As long as we complete the mission, so what if two people die? Best if we poison that little bastard too!”
The group’s complaints all fell into Shang Wan’s ears.
Hearing the words “poison,” a dark glint flashed in Shang Wan’s eyes, and a wisp of killing intent leaked from her body.
Like ink dropped into clear water, this strand of killing intent, forged from battling in zombie hordes, instantly caught the assassins’ attention.
“Who’s there?”
The moment the shout rang out, one black-clad assassin had already leaped up, sending a palm strike toward this side.
The palm wind shook the branches and leaves, snapping them crackling to the ground.
Yet behind them was empty, no sign of anyone.
The assassins scanned their surroundings, all using their skills to ferret out the eavesdropper.
But aside from startling a flock of sleeping birds, they didn’t even see a human shadow.
The square-faced assassin twirled the long saber in his hand and spat on the ground. “Damn, could it be an illusion?”
“Impossible—there was definitely someone just now.” The assassin with a goatee on his chin retorted, gripping his long saber as he vigilantly scanned around.
One person might be mistaken, but they had six, and all sensed it—absolutely no mistake.
“No one in the trees.” The narrow-eyed assassin jumped down from a tree, reporting the situation.
“Searched everywhere around—no one. Those animal corpses haven’t been touched either.”
The assassin who had gone to check multiple times slapped the mosquito off the back of his hand, scratched the itchy spot with his finger, and muttered, “Weird—where’s the person?”
The goateed assassin said, “This visitor means trouble. Everyone, come over and huddle together.”
The six stood back-to-back, gripping their weapons tightly, eyes vigilantly scanning around, not daring to relax.
“Snap!”
The crisp snap of fingers rang out in the silent night.
A pleasant female voice came from above. “Hey, why don’t you look up?”
The six were startled and looked up in unison, squinting to see clearly.
Warriors’ eyesight was much better than ordinary people’s; they could barely make it out.
Under the moonlight, a slender figure stood on a treetop nearly twenty meters off the ground, her fluttering skirt hem like a bird’s wings. If not looking closely, one might think it was really a bird or some uniquely shaped branches and leaves.
Besides, who normal could stand that high?
The assassins exchanged glances, sensing the visitor was formidable. The goateed assassin called out, “Who are you? Why eavesdrop on us?”
The female voice was icy. “Dead men don’t need to know names.”
“Arrogant!” The square-faced assassin was hot-tempered; he kicked off the ground, dashing up the tree trunk, intent on slashing Shang Wan under his blade.
Shang Wan leaped down like a flying bird, her right foot stomping heavily on the square-faced assassin’s head, dropping rapidly with irresistible force.
“Bang!”
The green grassy ground instantly gained a puddle of meat mush—indistinguishable blood or flesh things, like spilled tofu pudding, snaking across the ground.
Shang Wan lightly hopped away, not even a drop of blood staining her skirt hem.
Yuan Yuan instinctively covered her two big eyes, burying her little head in her mother’s neck.
Mother said cubs can’t look, so cub won’t look.
The night wind whistled by, and this small space gradually filled with a thick smell of blood, churning stomachs and inducing nausea.
The assassins gripped their weapons stiffly, still not recovered from the earlier shock.
One move instant kill—not even drawing a weapon, just a light step, and the square-faced assassin was dead.
The suddenly appearing beautiful woman even had a faint smile on her lips. Just looking at her relaxed demeanor, it was as if she had merely crushed some roadside flowers and grass, not a fresh life.
A lotus face doing the King of Hell’s deeds.
Shang Wan’s killing intent surged like thick black ink, no longer restrained, making even these blade-living assassins shudder involuntarily, a urge to retreat rising in their hearts.
Shang Wan coldly swept her gaze over the five. “Come at me together—finish you off so I can go home and sleep.”
Her own disobedient fox definitely wasn’t asleep.
Staying up late really harmed the body; she should hurry and settle this, then go back to hug her fragrant fox and sleep.
