Mercenaries. The word came to Wu Jian’s mind in a flash. These were obviously the mercenaries who had been hired by Tian Hao, the lady alchemist who wanted him to become her plaything. What were they doing here, though? Had they followed them into this forest, or was this just a case of bad luck?

“You have business with us, do you?” Wu Taohua said in a voice so cold it could have frozen lava. “What kind of business? Speak now.”

“Ooooh, yer a feisty one, eh? I like that in a woman.” The big man licked his lips. “Name’s Li Lang. I’m the boss of this here mercenary company. My employer said yer an eyesore and asked us to get rid of you. We’re to kill all of you, ‘cept that brat. I was asked to bring him along with me.”

“You’re being awfully forthcoming with your plans for a mercenary,” Wu Taohua said as she stepped closer to Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu as though to protect them.

“I’m hoping to solve this peacefully.” Li Lang spread his arms wide as if to show he meant no harm, but the fact that he was hired to kill the girls meant peace was out of the question.

Hearing about what this man intended to do caused Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu to close ranks with Wu Jian. Were they afraid?

He expected Hou Jingshu, at least, to be panicking, but she surprised him by remaining perfectly calm. That made him remember that she was the princess of the Shang Kingdom. It was highly likely this wasn’t the first time someone had tried to kill her.

She must have had numerous attempts made on her life already. Her emotional and mental strength is something to be admired, though it makes me sad to think of the reason she acquired such strength.

Wu Meiying pressed something smooth and round into his hand. He closed his fist around it and watched the proceedings. What would Wu Taohua do now? Would she try to fight these men?

He hoped not. That was suicide. They had the advantage in numbers, and while he couldn’t gauge their strength, he wouldn’t be surprised if at least their leader had a cultivation base similar to hers.

“You dare lie to me? If you wanted to solve things peacefully, you would have said you’d let us live if we give you Wu Jian. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but it would have been a smarter approach,” Wu Taohua said.

“Ah. Guess I messed up there,” Li Lang said with a chuckle. His lips peeled back into a feral grin. “See? Just the thought of fighting you has me all pumped up. Nothing beats seeing the blood of my enemies stain the ground crimson. It’s what I live for.”

The tension filling the air seemed to explode in that moment. Wu Jian reacted quickly, throwing the object in his hand at the ground at the same time that Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu did the same thing.

Smoke exploded and spread through that section of the forest. It was so thick and cloying that Wu Jian couldn’t see a single thing, which was just fine as it meant their enemies also couldn’t see anything.

“Damn it! A smoke screen!”

“Shit! Feng! Get rid of this smoke!”

“You got it, boss!”

Wu Jian recognized they only had a few seconds to act. He grabbed Wu Taohua’s shirt and tugged on it, signaling which way to go, then ran forward. Their first order of business was escaping the smokescreen before their enemies did.

A figure appeared before him. Big, hulking, a massive blob of fat adorned in armor and wielding a rusty axe. The man seemed surprised to see him, which meant he was a second too slow to do anything as Wu Jian leapt up and smashed a knee into his face.

A loud crunch echoed around the clearing.

“Guagh!!!”

Blood and a tooth flew from the man’s mouth, but Wu Jian barely paid attention as he landed on the ground. His knees jolted. He bent them to absorb the impact and prevent injury.

The man hit the ground with a loud whumph. Checking behind him, Wu Jian spotted Wu Meiying, Wu Taohua, and Hou Jingshu all following him. Good. While he hadn’t been worried about Wu Meiying since she would obviously know what he wanted her to do, he hadn’t been so sure about the other two.

Seconds after they raced away, a large gust of wind blew through the clearing—a wind technique? The smokescreen dispersed, but by that point, Wu Jian and the others were already racing through the trees.

“Grraaaaa! Damn it! Come back here! I’m gonna teach you not to mess with the Wolf Gang Mercenaries!!! You’ll be calling me your honored father by the time I’m through with you, you damn braaaats!!!”

Does this idiot really expect us to come back just because he told us to? Moron.

Neither he nor the other three stopped running. They raced through the forest as swiftly as their legs could carry them. They didn’t travel in a straight line either, but instead made sure to travel in abrupt turns to make their path more unpredictable.

Wu Jian realized this wouldn’t stop the mercenaries from finding them. He and his companions were leaving a trail behind them, but it would at least keep them from being able to catch up quickly.

Well, that was his hope.

“We need a plan to deal with them,” he said as they ran. “We can’t keep running like this.”

“You are right. We’ll eventually run out of energy if all we do is run. Then we’ll be sitting ducks,” Wu Meiying said.

“But what can we do?” asked Hou Jingshu.

What could they do indeed. That was the question.

They were outnumbered and overpowered. The only reason they had been able to escape was because they had been underestimated. That was unlikely to happen a second time.

“The first thing we should do is find a safe place to hide. You kids keep going. I’m going to cover our trail so they don’t find us,” said Wu Taohua.

There were many things Wu Jian could have said. He could have asked her if she’d be okay on her own, demanded she not take any unnecessary risks, or even ask her if she planned on fighting those mercenaries herself. He did none of that.

“Be careful,” he said instead.

Wu Taohua offered him a polite smile. “I will.”

The only adult among them split off from their group, leaping into the trees and disappearing from sight. Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu continued running through the forest.

They had completely lost themselves in the sea of trees. None of them knew where they were going anymore, but they eventually reached a cliff face, so they must have been traveling along the border of the mountain.

Wu Jian looked up at the cliff face to find a steep ledge several dozen feet above them. He looked at the wall. There were several areas that looked like they could be used as hand holds.

“Are you thinking we should climb?” asked Wu Meiying.

“Yeah. We might be able to hide up there,” Wu Jian nodded.

He walked over to the cliff and placed his hands against the stone. It was warm and rough. Digging his fingers into one of the handholds, he lifted himself up, placed his right foot into another hold, then began slowly scaling up the cliff.

Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu glanced at each other before following him, copying his movements. Neither of them had trouble climbing. They might not have done his insane strengthening exercises, but they still trained hard and were very strong.

They soon reached the top of the small cliff. A ledge appeared before them. It was bigger than Wu Jian expected, though not big enough for them to safely hide. However, there was a small cave located against a rock wall that ascended even higher up the mountain.

“I think this will make a good place to hide,” Wu Jian said.

“It’s kinda small, isn’t it? I don’t know if it will fit all of us.” Hou Jingshu looked at the cave with a small frown.

Wu Meiying grinned. “It will if we all snuggle together real close.”

“S-snuggle?!”

“Come on, you two. Let’s get inside and wait for Wu Taohua.” Wu Jian led the way inside the small cave. He needed to crouch to get inside. Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu followed him, and then just like Wu Meiying had said, the three of them snuggled close to fit inside.

Wu Jian found himself sitting with his legs straight out in front of him. Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu sat on either side and placed their legs on top of his. The warmth of their thighs made him squirm a bit.

“This is nice,” Wu Meiying commented.

“It’s kinda cramped though,” mumbled Hou Jingshu.

“But now you have an excuse to get closer to Jian. Aren’t you happy?”

“O-of course not!”

“You don’t have to lie to yourself like that.”

“I’m not lying!”

“I know you two enjoy bantering, but you should probably keep it down. There’s no telling if one of those mercenaries will stumble upon this area by accident. The more silent we are, the better,” warned Wu Jian.

Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu both agreed with him and grew silent. Wu Jian closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. He was very aware of Wu Meiying’s and Hou Jingshu’s presence beside him, of the scent of their sweat lingering in his nose and the heat of their bodies. As a young man in the beginning throes of puberty, he couldn’t help but be distracted by the two pretty girls next to him—even though he recognized how dangerous their situation was.

Hours seemed to pass in silence. Wu Meiying eventually fell asleep, leaning her head on his shoulder as she hugged his arm to her chest. Not even being chased by mercenaries seemed to phase this girl. On the other hand, Hou Jingshu was wide awake, though she was staring outside of the cave as though worried the mercenaries would pop up any second.

“You don’t think Wu Taohua was caught, do you?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Wu Jian shifted to get more comfortable; the action resulted in Wu Meiying shuffling even closer to him. The scent of her hair addled his mind for only a moment before he shook his head.

“I won’t say it’s impossible, but Wu Taohua is a trained assassin. Her stealth skills are top notch. I really doubt a couple of roughneck mercenaries would be able to find her if she really wanted to disappear.”

“I guess so. Still, I’m worried. It’s been hours. Look. The sun is already going down.”

It was true. It had been midday when they descended from the mountain, but now sunset was upon them, the sky lit up in brilliant streaks of reds, purples, and pinks.

He wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t worried about Wu Taohua, but he also had confidence in her abilities. On a more important note…

“Where did you get those smoke bombs?” he asked.

“Aunty prepared them,” Wu Meiying suddenly said.

“So you’re awake.” Wu Jian turned just his head to look at her.

“I woke up just now.” Wu Meiying looked like she was about to stretch, but they didn’t have enough room in the cave, so she settled back down with her head on his shoulder. “Aunty prepared them for us. She placed them in our medical kit. I guess she thought there was no harm in being prepared.”

“I am glad Mother had the foresight to be cautious. It would have been harder to escape from that situation without those smoke bombs,” Wu Jian said.

“I agree.” Hou Jingshu nodded. “Your mother knows how to prepare.”

Wu Jian turned to Hou Jingshu. “Speaking of mothers, I don’t think you ever told us about yours.”

“I would be more than happy to tell you about my mother if I could.” Hou Jingshu gave him a somewhat sad, somewhat strained smile. “My mother died when I was really little. I don’t remember much about her.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Wu Jian looked down in shame.

“It’s okay. It happened so long ago, and I really don’t remember it, so it’s not something that makes me sad or anything. I guess the most I feel about it is… a sense of loss.” Hou Jingshu tightly clutched her pants, wrinkling the fabric as she stared at the sunet with a distant look in her eyes. “Everyone else I knew had a mother. I always remembered watching people playing with their mothers and envying how lucky they were. I remember wishing I had a mother who would kiss my scrapes, scold me when I did something wrong, and hold me when I had a nightmare.”

As the only daughter of Emperor Hou Jun, Hou Jingshu had grown up both incredibly spoiled and very sheltered. Her father gave her almost everything she wanted. It was that same doting nature of his that led him to sending her all the way out here to the sticks. He wanted to keep her from being used as a pawn in the political games his sons were playing.

Of course, while it was probably nice being doted upon like that, Wu Jian was sure a part of Hou Jingshu wanted a mother figure who would scold her when she did something wrong.

Other kids might have called her lucky. Wu Jian felt bad for her. It must be tough to grow up without a mother.

“Well… it might not be the same, but since we’re getting married, you can just think of my mother as your mother too.” He reached out and placed a hand on her knee.

Hou Jingshu looked startled, but then her eyes watered ever so slightly as she smiled at him. “Thank you… Jian.”

He smiled back.

A bit more time passed, but Wu Taohua soon found them. She ascended the cliff and knelt before the cavern. The relief he felt at seeing her was palpable.

“This was a good hiding spot. It took even me a long time to find it. Anyway, come on out. We need to come up with a plan,” she said.

The three of them emerged from the cavern—only to gasp in shock upon seeing Wu Taohua.

Her body was covered in injuries. Blood ran down her left arm, which she kept in a makeshift sling against her torso. Her right eye was black and swelling. It looked like she had been hit with something very hard.

“W-what happened to you?!” asked a shocked Wu Jian.

Wu Taohua grimaced. “I ran into one of the mercenaries while I was covering our tracks. It was the wind user. He was at a half-step into the Anima Realm. I didn’t expect him to be so strong. He caught me by surprise and managed to injure me before I took care of him.”

“By take care of him, you mean…”

“I mean he’s dead.”

“Right.” Wu Jian nodded. Of course, she would kill someone who was a threat to their lives. That was only natural.

“We need to heal your injuries. You won’t be able to accomplish much if you're in such bad shape.” Wu Meiying came over with the medical kit, set it on the ground, and rummaged through it. She eventually pulled out several salves and bandages.

“You have my thanks.” With a sigh, Wu Taohua sat down with her legs crossed and allowed Wu Meiying to tend to her.

“If you managed to take care of one, that means there are only four left.” Hou Jingshu bit her thumb in thought. “How powerful are the others? Do you know?”

“I do. I did some reconnaissance while erasing our tracks. That was actually how the wind user found me out.” Wu Taohua paused to shut her swollen eye as Wu Meiying began rubbing a salve over it. She didn’t so much as hiss when the salve began doing its job. Once the salve had been applied and Wu Meiying stepped back, she continued. “Their leader, Li Lang, is at the second subrealm of the Anima realm, which means he’s just a little weaker than me. The others aren’t even at the Hunger Realm.”

“So they’re not cultivators,” Wu Jian said with a nod.

Cultivators were not rare, but they also weren’t common either. Only about one out of every one hundred people had the aptitude to become cultivators. This was just a rough estimate, but suppose there were 2.5 million people living in the Shang Kingdom; only about twenty-five thousand of those people were cultivators, give or take.

With cultivators being such an uncommon commodity, it was only natural that the kingdom would take a great interest in training anyone who possessed the talent to cultivate, though because the kingdom possessed limited resources, those who were cultivators but lacked talent would be cast aside. The cultivators who became mercenaries were often those who failed to join a sect or the Imperial Academy for one reason or another.

In other words, they were small fry.

Of course, even small fry like Li Lang were still too powerful for someone like Wu Jian to confront.

“I think the three of us can defeat the regular mercenaries,” Wu Jian tapped his chin. “We’ve trained hard, and we’re very strong even though we’re young. However, we’ll need to separate them from their leader. Do you think you can take on their boss?”

Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu looked at Wu Taohua. It didn’t matter if they could defeat the other three if she couldn’t beat Li Lang. So they stared at her and waited for the woman to answer. After thinking about it for several moments, she slowly nodded once.

“I believe I can—provided I catch him by surprise.”

“Then let’s come up with a good plan, then go find those mercenaries.” Wu Jian stood up.

Wu Meiying, perhaps the only one who could remain upbeat in this situation, grinned. “It looks like it’s time to show you how strong I’ve become.”

“I will also help out. I’m not weak anymore. I’ll show you two that I am just as strong as you,” said Hou Jingshu.

Wu Taohua looked at the three of them, then smiled as she got to her feet. “Very well. I know where they are. They’ve created a base not far from the forest’s edge. Let’s come up with a plan as we travel there.”

The four ascended the mountain under the now crimson sunset.

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