The plan they had conceived to deal with the mercenary threat was relatively simple. Wu Jian would reveal himself at the camp, get the mercenaries to chase him, then Wu Taohua, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu would each ambush one of them. Wu Taohua would obviously take on their leader.

It was simple, but simple plans were sometimes the most effective.

Finding the mercenary camp was easy; all they had to do was search for the firelight between the trees. The only real issue they ran into was finding their way through the dark. It was night now, which meant visibility was low.

Voices reached their ears when they finally found the camp.

“I can’t believe that fucker, Feng, let himself be killed. Damn it. Now we’re down to just the four of us.”

“He really underestimated that woman. I’m surprised there’s someone so talented in the killing arts all the way out here in the sticks.”

“Hmph. Doesn’t matter if that woman is a trained killer or not. I’ll cut her open with this axe of mine next time. Heh heh. I’m gonna enjoy painting this forest with her blood. It’ll be a work of art.”

Wu Jian closed his eyes and took a deep breath to retain his calm. He had never dealt with mercenaries before, so the crass way they spoke bothered him.

I can do this. I can. Just take a deep breath, center yourself. Come on, Wu Jian. Don’t chicken out now.

When he was sufficiently calm, he opened his eyes again, looked at Wu Taohua and the others, nodded, then began walking. He stepped out from behind several trees and into the firelight. The mercenaries didn’t notice him at first, but they soon stopped talking and turned to him. He made sure to widen his eyes in “surprise” before bolting back into the forest.

“Shit! Was that the kid we’re after?! Fuck! Go after him!”

The sound of stamping feet echoed behind Wu Jian. He put on a burst of speed as he leapt over a root, darted around a tree, and raced past the spot where Wu Taohua was waiting. If the plan worked as it should, the mercenaries would be struck by an ambush before they knew what hit them.

A scream of surprise echoed back to him seconds later. He turned around to see Wu Taohua already engaged in combat with Li Lang, who was in the process of yanking several needles from his neck.

“Fucking bitch! I’m gonna murder you! Daddy’s gonna teach you a lesson!”

“Unless your lesson is how to speak crassly, I doubt there’s much you can teach me,” Wu Taohua said, her voice cold enough to freeze a person’s blood.

The other three mercenaries looked uncertain. They were wondering if they should help their boss. Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu decided to take that decision out of their hands as they leapt out from behind a pair of trees and attacked. Meanwhile, Wu Jian rushed the one closest to him and tried to clobber him before he could react.

Unfortunately, while this mercenary was only at the Body Forging Realm like him, it was clear that he had more experience in life and death battles. His instincts were honed to a razer’s edge. He backstepped just as Wu Jian attacked, avoiding the blow, then swinging his dao in a wide arc that almost cut Wu Jian from left shoulder to right hip.

That was too close! How can he swing that thing so quickly?!

Rolling across the forest floor, Wu Jian skipped back to his feet and—almost found himself impaled upon the man’s dao. He gritted his teeth and awkwardly dodged to the side. Having lost the initiative, he found himself being forced to backpedal as the older and more experienced man attacked with a series of slashes and thrusts.

Fighting this man was nothing like sparring or fighting in a competition. Every attack was meant to maim or kill. A palpable bloodlust emanated from his opponent and made it hard for him to focus. It reminded him vaguely of that time he fought Wu Fei, but not even Wu Fei could emit killing intent and bloodlust like this.

He ducked underneath a swing and tried to retaliate with a punch, but his fist met empty air as the man dodged, then returned his attack with another swing of his sword. It was so fast the very air was cut.

Wu Jian was only just able to scramble out of the way. However, a stinging sensation on his left arm let him know that he hadn’t been completely successful. He looked down. Blood ran from the cut drawn across his forearm.

“You’re pretty good for a brat! But let’s see how you deal with me when I get serious!” shouted the mercenary.

Despite claiming he was about to get serious, he didn’t actually get stronger, faster, or better. He just became more reckless. If Wu Jian had to guess, he would have said the man was losing patience. That could only be a good thing. Instructor Jin had once said that an impatient opponent was prone to making mistakes. All he needed to do was wait for the appropriate opportunity to capitalize on.

That moment soon came when Wu Jian backed into a tree, waited until the man thrust his dao forward, and ducked. The dao impaled the tree behind him all the way to the hilt. Of course, it would take a second for the man to pull it out, and he used that moment to step into the man’s guard.

He spread his feet wide, tucked his fist into his torso, then thrust it forward. He rotated both his fist and body to increase the power of his punch. A loud yell echoed around the forest as he threw everything he had into this attack.

“HHAAAAAAH!”

His attack hit the man right in the sternum. A loud crack echoed around him. The man screamed as he stumbled back, dropped his weapon, and reached out to touch his chest.

Wu Jian grabbed the hand. He yanked the man down until he was on his knees, then grabbed the back of his head and slammed him face first into the tree. A loud thunk rang out as the man crumpled to the ground. A large dent and a bloody smear was left on the bark.

“Haaaah… haaaaah…”

Wu Jian took several deep breaths. His body was full of adrenaline. He looked down. The man he had attacked was unconscious.

I… I did it. I really did it.

Wu Jian didn’t celebrate his victory for long. Turning, Wu Jian looked at Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu’s battles.

Wu Meiying was doing excellent. She wove around her opponent’s attacks as if she knew what would happen before her enemy did, then launched several swift strikes to his torso. None of her attacks seemed to really hurt the man. He continued swinging his jian at her with all his strength, but as the seconds passed, his strength soon began to wane.

Wu Jian understood why.

While none of Wu Meiying’s attacks did much damage on their own, each punch hit the same area. The damage was accumulating. One ant bite might not hurt too much, but what about a hundred ant bites? A thousand? It would eventually add up.

The man’s swings became sluggish. Wu Meiying sidestepped the last attack, grabbed his outstretched arm, and used his own weight to throw him to the ground. As the man gasped and wheezed for breath, she struck him in the temple with a hard kick that rendered him unconscious.

Hou Jingshu was having a bit more trouble with her opponent, but he would say she was still doing a good job. Unlike him and Wu Meiying, she was using a pair of butterfly knives, and she wielded them with incredible skill. Her opponent had a spear, which gave him greater reach. As he thrust his weapon forward, she would tilt her body and use one of her knives to knock the weapon further away.

Sparks flew between the two as they clashed. The man looked like he was becoming angry. His face was turning red.

“Little bitch! Why are you so hard to kill?!”

Hou Jingshu didn’t say anything as she focused on deflecting each attack he sent her way. She couldn’t get in close. He wasn’t letting her. So she was playing defensively, waiting for her opponent to tire himself out before launching a successful strike.

That moment came a moment later when the man overextended himself. He thrust too far forward, lost his balance, and stumbled. Hou Jingshu released a battlecry as she made to punch him. However, she must have gotten her timing off. Instead of punching him, her fist flew past his hand and the knife in her hand split open his throat.

“Oooh…”

A surprised exclamation escaped Hou Jingshu’s lips. She backed away from the man in stunned silence as he fell face first onto the ground. She blinked several times. Her eyes were wide as she looked on in horror at what she had done.

Wu Jian and Wu Meiying walked up to her.

“Jingshu?” he asked.

“I… oh… no… I didn’t mean to… he just fell into it… um…” Hou Jingshu tried to explain herself, but she was clearly messed up inside. He didn’t blame her. She had just killed someone on accident. This was probably the first time she had killed anyone as well.

He pulled her into a hug.

“It’s okay. That person was after our lives. You only did what needed to be done to protect us. Everything is okay.”

Hou Jingshu dropped the butterfly knives and clung to him. She didn’t cry, but several sniffles emerged from her, muffled only slightly by her face pressed against his chest. Now that he thought about it, this was also the first time she had hugged him like this. He wished he could have enjoyed the moment.

Loud shouts and curses echoed from afar. The battle between Wu Taohua and Li Lang was still ongoing. They could see the battle taking place when they turned their heads.

Li Lang was a fire user. As he swung the axe above his head, the weapon caught fire, and when he slashed the weapon down like he was cleaving something in two, a blaze of flames burst from its edge and soared toward a tree.

Wu Taohua leapt from the tree before the fire struck, threw several needles that stabbed into Li Lang’s skin, and landed on the ground. Her enemy grimaced as he removed the needles and tossed them aside. He gripped the handle of his axe with both hands and swung once more. Fire erupted from the weapon and raced forward to incinerate Wu Taohua, but she deftly evaded the attack by using the trees for cover.

This was Wu Jian’s first time seeing a true fight between cultivators. Wu Fei might have been at the Hunger Realm, but he had only just broken through and hadn’t stabilized his cultivation when he tried to kill Wu Jian. This battle reminded him of the one between his father and the Spotted Snow Lion.

It was awe-inspiring.

“Haaah… haaah… bitch… fuck… stop… running around… and face me… for real…” Li Lang said, his voice rasping. His shoulders heaved with every breath.

“Hmph. This is how I fight. If you don’t like it, then too bad,” Wu Taohua said.

With an enraged grunt, the man lifted his weapon above his head and prepared to bring it down, but then he stumbled forward, the weapon falling from his fingers. Blood surged from his throat and spilled onto the floor as he fell onto his hands and knees. He gasped as the veins on his forehead, neck, and arms bulged.

“This is… poison?! When did you—those needles!”

“I’m surprised you figured it out, but it’s too late now. Now kindly die and never darken our days again.”

“Bitch! I’m… not gonna… let it end… like thiiiiiiis!!!”

With one last surge of strength, Li Lan stood to his feet and rushed at Wu Taohua. His opponent just looked at him with cold eyes. Even though she only had one hand to use, she remained calm, waited for him to get in close, then dodged left. At the same time, she removed a butterfly knife from her sheathe and slid it across the man’s neck. More blood spilled out of him, drenching his front. With a strangled gurgle, Li Lang pitched forward. His body twitched a few times, but then it stilled as the life drained from his eyes.

Wu Taohua took a deep breath, released it, then turned to them.

“I see you three managed to defeat your opponents. Are they dead?”

“One of them is,” Wu Meiying said, glancing at Hou Jingshu. “The others are just unconscious.”

Hou Jingshu flinched at the reminder and gripped Wu Jian’s shirt tighter. He pressed her head against his chest and listened as she took several deep breaths.

“Then go ahead and kill them,” Wu Taohua ordered coldly. “We cannot leave them alive, and this is the best opportunity for you to understand the weight of taking a human life.”

Hou Jingshu shuddered against Wu Jian. While Wu Meiying frowned at Wu Taohua, he realized she was right. Now might be the only time they could safely get their first kill. He wasn’t too thrilled about it, but he understood that it was better to deal with this in relative safety than it was to deal with it later and have a panic attack.

He let go of Hou Jingshu, handing her off to Wu Meiying, and picked up one of the knives she had dropped. Walking over to his opponent, Wu Jian rolled the man onto his back, knelt, and stabbed the knife directly into the man’s heart. It was instant. The man’s eyes opened wide, then went slack as he died.

I… I did it. I killed him. Was it… supposed to be this easy?

Wu Jian felt sick to his stomach, though he didn’t throw up. He just cleaned the knife, walked back over to the others, and took Hou Jingshu back into his arms so Wu Meiying could end her opponent. 

He buried his nose into Hou Jingshu’s hair. She smelled of sweat, but he didn’t mind. Her scent calmed him.

Wu Meiying had reached her opponent, and as he watched the girl walk over to the person she had been fighting, he wondered if this was the right thing to do, but he already knew the answer.

In a world where strength controlled everything and mercy was a weakness, killing an enemy so they could not come after you again was the only logical choice. He wondered if he would ever get used to killing. He wondered if he wanted to get used to it.

High above his head, the stars shone brightly on the bloody scene below.

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