“Hey young lady, do you think you’re in the position to order me?” one of them inched forward. He lifted Ji Xiaoli’s chin with his hand.
Ji Xiaoli’s expression turned dark. She swung her hand, that was holding her fan to slap the man’s hand away. However, her wrist was caught before she could deal any damage to him.
“How about if we teach her a lesson a bit so that she’ll obey us?”
“Don’t harm the face. It’s a valuable asset.”
“Don’t worry.”
The third man took out a knife and played it in his hand. His mouth curled up to form a cruel smile. “The clothes should be enough, right.”
Ji Xiaoli’s face darkened. If people were to see her with tattered clothing, she knew that her reputation would go to drain. She would be seen as an immoral woman who didn’t know how to take care of herself properly.
“No! Let go!”
“Be good.”
Stab!
Just as the man’s knife was about to reach Ji Xiaoli, a sword stabbed his hand. His eyes widened, but all he saw was a shadow as a dark figure moved. The last thing he saw was the glint from the surface of the sword before everything turned into the darkness.
“Who are you?”
The men were stunned when they saw their friend died so suddenly. Wei Liuying had arrived out of nowhere. Her purple robe was dark in color, making it harder to differentiate her within the darkness. The only thing they could see was the sword on her right hand that reflected the light.
Ji Xiaoli was even more surprised. She was sure that no one would be here at this time, which was why she chose to escape from this direction. With the men stopped her, she knew that her attempt would fail as the guards would reach her in no time. She didn’t expect to see a stranger save her first.
Wei Liuying didn’t reply. She was watching the men before her as she asked, “Are you alright?”
Hearing that high pitched tone, Ji Xiaoli was even more stunned. She was now certain that the one who helped her must be a young girl. The girl was nearly a head shorter than her, but she was brimming with power.
The men’s face was dark. “Get them! Don’t harm the faces but the rest are fine!”
“Yes!”
Clang!
Since Wei Liuying was still holding onto a sword, they all charged with swords on their hands. Their expression changed when they saw Wei Liuying blocked their attack properly. Before they could react, they saw Wei Liuying moved and swung the sword on her hand towards the closest man to her.
The sharp edge cut through the layer of clothes and skin as blood spurted out of the wound.
“Aaaaaaa!”
The man bore with the pain as he pressed forward. Wei Liuying looked at them coldly as she changed her stance to block the attack. There were four men in total, excluding the leader who was watching from the back. Even for her, this was a number that she couldn’t defeat easily.
“Stop yelling, idiot!” the second man barked as he twisted his body.
Wei Liuying noticed him coming at her as she changed her stance. Behind her, Ji Xiaoli was still standing while holding a fan. She couldn’t run because if she did, there would be some people who chase after her. It might not sound pleasing, but she had to stay in her place to light up Wei Liuying’s burden.
Clang!
The sword perfectly blocked the attack. Another man was trying to sneak an attack from the side, but Wei Liuying kicked a pebble near her legs to the man’s hand while twisting her body. Her sword moved once more to the men’s direction.
Slash!
This time, it slashed oh the man’s chest. The sword easily pierced through the thick clothes and blood spilled out.
“You…” The leader was stunned when he saw two of his men died just like that. He stomped his legs on the ground to accelerate and rushed forward to attack. His forceful movement knocked his other men.
Clang!
*cough*
Wei Liuying blocked the attack, but she could faintly see the crack on the sword as it forcefully withstood the leader’s force. Her expression turned solemn as she called out, “Xiao Qing!”
“Yes!”
Xiao Qing was silently circling around the area without alerting them. She dashed forward and held the princess’s hand.
“Go back to the guards,” Wei Liuying ordered.
Ji Xiaoli frowned at that sentence, but she chose to obey. Her attempt to escape today was too foolish as she instead put herself into danger. After taking one more look to the back, Ji Xiaoli allowed Xiao Qing to carry her away.
With Xiao Qing’s movement’s speed, she could easily bring Ji Xiaoli away. The only problem left was the weight. Xiao Qing was not used to carry someone who was far heavier than her Miss. It seemed that because Ji Xiaoli was much taller, it increased her weight too.
The leader’s face changed. He was about to turn around when he sensed danger.
Swish!
The leader’s face changed. He was about to turn around when he sensed danger.
Swish!
The tip of the sword barely bypassed him. The leader’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the small child in front of him. She was clearly alone, but she didn’t show any fear, and her movement could catch up to them.
Wei Liuying’s eyes were cold. She twisted her body, evading the attack from the other three men who tried to catch her. Their blades barely passed by her body as a lock of her hair was cut. However, her sword was ready as she trusted forward.
Jleb!
The man nearest to her had died.
“Boss?”
The leader had the chance to chase after Ji Xiaoli, but he stood there. His two men were stunned when they saw their leader didn’t make any more.
“Stop.”
With that order, the two of them moved back.
Wei Liuying frowned. She did learn qigong to enhance her movement’s speed, but if the three of them were to go different ways, she wouldn’t be able to chase them. Besides, the leader’s martial arts were quite scary. Her borrowed sword was cracked, but it was still holding on well.
The leader looked at Wei Liuying and lowered his weapon. “Do you know that lady, Miss?”
“I know.”
“Would you like to stop this here now?” the leader asked.
Wei Liuying’s eyes flashed. “Alright.”
The leader nodded. He scrutinized Wei Liuying from top to bottom before he waved his hand. His two subordinates were confused what made their leader suddenly wanted to compromise. However, they didn’t have the time to ask as they quickly carried their friends’ bodies and ran away.
‘As a leader, he’s smart too.’
Wei Liuying threw the sword away and dashed to the direction where the guard was located. She had ordered Xiao Qing to directly leave after delivering Princess Ji Xiaoli as it was too troublesome if they knew their identity. Luckily, it was dark in the forest, so their identity shouldn’t be known so easily.
She hoped that there wouldn’t be a day when she would meet with the bandits again.
Even if the chance was slim, she didn’t want to risk getting recognized by those people because it would surely tarnish her reputation.
Reputation was extremely important here, especially for unmarried ladies who were searching for potential husband. If they didn’t have good reputation, it was hard to say whether they would be able to find good marriage partner or not.
She frowned slightly when she arrived near the entrance to the alley where they first came. Her eyes made out a figure who made her way to her direction.
“Miss,” Xiao Qing said as she rushed over.
“Did you deliver her?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Xiao Qing was stunned. Did her Miss only want to help the princess without asking for anything? Getting a connection with the Imperial Family would be very beneficial for her as it meant that she had a huge backing. However, she could see that her Miss genuinely didn’t care about this, so she refrained from saying anything else.
…
Ji Xiaoli saw the guards not long after Xiao Qing brought her away. Xiao Qing didn’t approach the guards, but she let Ji Xiaoli down on the ground.
“Princess, please go by yourself.”
“Wait, who are you?”
Xiao Qing patted Ji Xiaoli’s shoulder. “There’s no need to know who we are. Miss only wish that you won’t act so recklessly again.”
“You…” Ji Xiaoli turned around, but Xiao Qing had left. She furrowed her brows, but she was not that knowledgeable about the servants. As for the Miss, she didn’t see the face and only the small back.
In this kingdom, there were countless young lady who were still between 10 to 15 years old. It would be hard to find them. And testing them all for martial arts were clearly impossible because many of them might end up getting injured because they have weaker body like her.
They would only end up hating her.
Besides, hiding martial arts would be easy as they could just pretend to not be able to dodge. As long as they could evade and let themselves got wounded, who would suspect them?
Ji Xiaoli frowned as she understood how tricky this situation would be if she tried to search for that mysterious helper.
“Princess!” A man called out when he saw Ji Xiaoli. “Why did you run away? Everyone is worried about you!“
Ji Xiaoli looked at the man with a placid expression, keeping her usual aloof expression. “You should have known that I don’t wish to return back, Commander Huan.”
Commander Huan was stumped. “Anyway, I can’t possibly leave you here. What if there’s someone who want to take advantage of you, Your Highness?”
“A friend helped me on the way here. Check over there.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
