The blade pressed tightly against Xiang Laner's fair neck, already marking it with a bloody trace; the slightest loss of control could cause the pale flesh to burst into a wide gash.

His other arm was wrapped tightly across her chest, hugging Xiang Laner close—a textbook hostage situation.

Thus, Xiang Laner's back was pressed tightly against his front, and they could both clearly feel each other's body heat and contours. However, Shi Chun was in no mood to appreciate her warmth and curves; what he sensed was the imminent approach of danger.

A furious blush of shame surfaced on Xiang Laner's face. Though she came from a brothel, she never sold her body and had never been held so tightly by a man.

Even the impulsive embraces of Bian Weikang would be quickly diffused by her.

What embarrassed her most was that this scoundrel's arm was squeezing her chest so tightly, turning her face red with anger and shame. She believed Shi Chun did it on purpose, aiming to violate her under the pretext of a robbery.

She herself didn't understand how she could have been mysteriously captured like this.

Had they engaged in an open fight, she was confident that, combined, they wouldn't be a match for her. Yet, these men had easily captured her.

To prevent her from raising an alarm, they had even sealed her mute point. She couldn't even make a sound to warn anyone, forced to endure their lewdness, practically enraging her to the point of spitting blood.

The group was also confused by Shi Chun's reaction, not understanding why he seemed to be on high alert.

Glancing around, the group saw nothing out of the ordinary. Cen Futong, puzzled, said, "Brother Chun, what's wrong?"

Shi Chun urgently shouted, "Jinliang."

The two had been bloodied partners for many years. Wu Jinliang quickly caught on and swiftly moved to Shi Chun's side, equally on high alert for their surroundings.

Only then did Shi Chun warn the others, "Be careful, everyone. This woman may have reinforcements."

He offered this warning purely because Xiang Laner's response had been too unusual. He didn't know if he had guessed wrong, nor did he know the potential strength of anyone who might appear.

But whether they existed or not, and regardless of their strength, the first priority was to use the hostage as a shield—that could never be wrong.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Laner was somewhat surprised. Her eyes darted left and right. Unable to see the person behind her, the sensation of her chest being tightly squeezed remained, and she was already calculating how to make this thief beg for life but seek death in vain.

The group of masked people also remained vigilant for a while, but all was quiet around them—they could hear insects crawling and see birds preening on the branches, but there was no sign of anyone else.

Cen Futong didn't dare to be careless and called out, "Guys, check the surroundings."

His three masked accomplices whistled and leapt into the trees, dispersing to carefully investigate the surroundings and soon disappearing from the sight of Shi Chun and his companions.

Cen Futong looked around and asked, "Brother Chun, are you perhaps overthinking things? Why would this woman bring help? To anticipate us coming and confront us?"

As he finished speaking, a large tree on the nearby hillside suddenly rustled violently, but no other sound followed, making Shi Chun and the others even more alert.

Suddenly, a figure shot out from the forest and called out in panic as it leaped through the air, "Run!"

It was one of the masked men from before.

Cen Futong hurriedly called out, "What happened?"

Swish, swish; two sharp breaking sounds shot through the air.

A slender shadow flashed past so quickly it was hard to make out what it was. It struck down in mid-air amidst a shower of blood and a painful scream—a scream that came from the same masked man who had just leapt into the air.

Before they could see what happened, the following slender shadow splashed another burst of blood on the masked man's body. Then a large tree shook violently, and the masked man was pinned to the trunk, his body convulsing as blood dripped to the ground below.

A thick branch had nailed him to the tree trunk. Only then did the others realize what that fleeting slender shadow was—a tree branch.

There was a hole in his chest, pierced by the first slender shadow.

Cen Futong shivered with fear and stammered, "Brother Chun, my brother has reached the High Martial Upper Realm in his cultivation. Who exactly have you provoked?"

What he meant was clear: a High Martial Upper Realm practitioner didn't even have the chance to fight back. The attacker lurking in the shadows must at least have reached the High Martial Great Success Realm, and if not quite at the Human Immortal Realm, they were just a step away from becoming a true Human Immortal.

Shi Chun had no idea who he had offended. "I haven't provoked anyone. Don't be scared. We have a hostage. If it comes to it, we'll all perish together."

He spoke loudly, making his intention clear to the hidden assailant—that they were prepared to risk mutual destruction.

In his heart, he was also urging himself to get nervous, to get tense, hoping that the magical ability of his right eye would once again trigger, allowing him to lock onto the location of the hidden enemy.

Damn it, the more he reminded himself to be tense in his consciousness, the less he was able to tense up.

Laner, who had been taken hostage, had a sneer on her face. Despite claiming he wasn't afraid, the subtle tightening of his grip around his chest betrayed his terror, making her breathing somewhat difficult.

Wu Jinliang's Adam's apple bobbed incessantly, holding the knife in his hand. Not afraid, my foot. He had never crossed hands with a High Martial Realm expert in the Land of Exile, let alone one from the Great Achievement Realm, three realms above him. The guards from Zhixu City were beginners in High Martial, but he had no right to spar with them.

Cen Futong turned to leap towards Shi Chun, seeking the warmth of numbers, but a whoosh sounded and the ground beneath his feet exploded with stones. A tree branch landed near his foot, clearly warning him not to move.

Cen Futong stood there stupefied, yelling, "Misunderstanding, friend, we must have some misunderstanding here. My uncle is Cao Puqing from Zhaotian City, do you know him?"

Clearly, he was trying to use connections to save his own skin.

Shi Chun nervously said, "It's better to resolve enmities than to deepen them, causing a big scene won't do any good, you wouldn't want Bian Weikang to see this, would you?"

Before the incident, when Laner wanted to eat wild fruits, their wish inadvertently sent Bian Weikang away. If even now, he thought it was "inadvertently," then his brain was really waterlogged. Obviously, Laner had intentionally sent the man away, for the same reason they did, not wanting Bian Weikang to see it.

But as soon as these words fell, a figure drifted out from the woods, a black-clothed, masked person. Underneath the robe, her curvaceous figure was evident, clearly a woman. She landed lightly, holding someone in her hand—it was none other than Bian Weikang, whom Shi Chun had just mentioned.

At the moment, Bian Weikang's limbs were limp, and he swayed as if he were unconscious.

The masked person casually threw him to the ground, her voice feminine, "Do you still need to worry about him hearing or seeing anything?"

A blatant face-slapping act.

However, the voice sounded vaguely familiar. Thinking it was someone allied with Laner, Shi Chun was shocked, and Wu Jinliang, who had been looking around, was the first to shout, "It's the madam from Cloud Building."

Shi Chun stared at the masked person, spitting each word, "Feng Chi!"

The masked person raised her hand, pulling down the mask, and indeed it was Feng Chi, the madam of Cloud Building.

This action made Shi Chun even more aware of the danger. Showing you a secret means she knows you no longer have a chance to reveal it.

But Cen Futong's courage surged, he shouted vehemently, "Feng Chi, what do you want to do? Dare to touch a hair on me, and my uncle will not spare you!"

He was also a regular at Cloud Building and was used to giving orders in front of this madam, thinking his status would intimidate her.

Shi Chun was speechless, cursing the fool.

Sure enough, Feng Chi twisted her toe on the ground, and something that resembled either a tree root or a vine attached to a large stone beside Cen Futong suddenly ripped away, sweeping violently like lightning. Cen Futong jumped in shock to evade, but it was too late.

Bang!

The whip shadow swept passed, and Cen Futong's shins broke cleanly, blood burst forth, and only a little flesh kept his feet dangling. A sharp, piercing scream rang out in midair; he fell to the ground wailing, unable to stand, collapsing on the spot.

Wu Jinliang was terrified out of his wits, thinking that they had really made a mess of things now.

Shi Chun had no sympathy for Cen Futong. The stronger the opponent, the more vigilant he had to be, holding the life of the hostage on a knife's edge, forcing the opponent to not act rashly.

Quickly, he drew a small dagger from within his clothes and again wrapped an arm around Laner. The blade's edge pressed against Laner's rib under her armpit, piercing her garment and skin, ready to slice at any moment, while the big knife remained pressing against Laner's neck.

Seeing blood on both the Holy Daughter's neck and armpit, Feng Chi was both shocked and angry, yet helpless. The kidnapper had taken such thorough precautions, his methods were extremely experienced, and she had no way to rescue Laner without risking serious injury, a price she couldn't afford to pay.

"Miss, I was delayed by those few masked individuals, they were skulking about up ahead, and I didn't dare to approach recklessly. By the time I got closer, you had already been taken hostage. I was afraid that any commotion from me acting would attract Bian Weikang, so I decided to knock him out."

She felt the need to elaborate her position, to show it was not out of negligence, but that the situation had been beyond her control.

She couldn't quite understand it. Although the Holy Daughter was still young with a lower cultivation than herself, she should have been more than capable of dealing with such a group and shouldn't have been taken hostage.

So she was puzzled; even without any clandestine help, the Holy Daughter should have been able to handle these two men with darker skin. Sending additional help was meant to minimize the Holy Daughter revealing her strength, and also to capture these two for interrogation.

Was she just letting herself be taken captive to avoid exposing herself?

And why was this Shi Chun so keen on using the Holy Daughter as a hostage from the start, not leaving any opening for her to exploit, not giving her even the slightest chance to snatch Laner away?

Laner couldn't speak but made clear through her eye movements to Feng Chi her intention to kill the man behind her, yet Feng Chi dared not make a move.

Hearing the other party's words, Shi Chun knew that the lives of the other two masked individuals were probably gone.

Cen Futong continued to wail on the ground.

But Feng Chi abruptly called out, "Come out!"

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