“Alright!” Wu Yong retracted his blade without hesitation. “Miss Bai shows great loyalty; we’ll keep our word and make sure this young man is sent down the mountain to receive medical help.”
“Xiao Bai…” Mu Fan struggled to get up but was stopped by Wu Yong’s blade.
“Don’t touch him!” Bai Shuo shouted, stepping forward and pushing Wu Yong’s sword away from Mu Fan. “I’ll give you what you want!”
She reached into her sleeve, and the forest fell into silence as everyone, including the untrustworthy donkey, fixed their gaze on Bai Shuo.
With a metallic clang, a flash of golden light lit up the woods, forcing everyone to close their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, they couldn’t look away from the pile of gleaming gold at Bai Shuo’s feet. Spread out before her was a small mountain of gold leaf, enough to make anyone drool with greed. Zhang Chao swallowed, his face filled with unrestrained avarice.
“This is it?” Wu Yong’s expression grew strange as he stared at the pile of gold leaves, momentarily dumbfounded.
“What do you mean, ‘this is it’? This is all I have in the world, in exchange for his life!” Bai Shuo raised her head and stepped protectively in front of Mu Fan, looking straight at Zhang Chao. “Leader, this amount of gold is enough to feed your Mu Family Village for ten years!” She turned and glared at Wu Yong. “I know you won’t let me leave Mount Mu Xiao, but he’s not from the capital. If you send him back to the borderlands, he’ll keep quiet about everything that happened today!”
Zhang Chao hadn’t expected Bai Shuo to guess his plan so accurately. He narrowed his eyes, studying Mu Fan on the ground with a trace of hesitation.
“Leader, I know you’re a man of principle. I’ve kept my word and given you what you wanted; I only ask that you spare my Brother Mu.”
Behind her, Mu Fan looked quietly at Bai Shuo, his gaze dark and thoughtful.
Could it be that he was mistaken about her last night? That Bai Shuo really was just an ordinary mortal? Perhaps she hadn’t awakened Long Yi (Dragon One), and there was no trace of Long Er (Dragon Two) on her either…
Meanwhile, at the hidden entrance to Mount Mu Xiao, Fu Ling stood silently with Chong Zhao and his guards.
Chong Zhao’s vacant gaze was fixed on Fu Ling, as if he was waiting for her command. Finally, one of the guards noticed something was wrong and softly called out to him.
“Master? Shall we enter the mountain?”
“It’s not time yet,” answered Fu Ling instead.
The guards looked up and saw that Fu Ling had slowly turned around, her eyes a strange, demonic red with a blooming flower mark on her forehead.
“You…!” The guards’ expressions changed in alarm, and as Fu Ling waved her hand, a red light swept across them, turning the branches of the surrounding trees into sharp wooden spikes.
“Demon! She’s a demon!” The guards’ eyes filled with terror as they began to back away.
“A demon?” Fu Ling scoffed, curling her lips. “Well, you’re not wrong.”
As she turned, the wooden spikes hovered in midair before flying forward and impaling the guards’ chests.
A collective scream rang out as blood splattered, and a blood-drenched sigil formed in Fu Ling’s palm, growing into a large charm that floated skyward.
Simultaneously, at various points in the mountain, the Chong family guards who were waiting for orders were each struck by a flash of purple light that sliced their throats. They fell instantly, blood spraying into the air. The purple light took the shape of masked figures in violet robes, each conjuring the same blood-drenched sigil, which then rose into the sky.
* * *
At that moment, Zhang Chao looked at Bai Shuo and let out a loud shout, “Fine! As you wish!”
As the leader of the camp, Zhang Chao couldn’t go back on his word in front of his men, especially since his intention had always been to keep Bai Shuo, not Mu Fan. With all this gold, the Mu Family Village could leave the mountains and never return to banditry!
“Boss!” Wu Yong couldn’t believe that Zhang Chao had made up his mind over a bag of gold leaves.
“Enough! When I say something, I mean it! Take this young man down the mountain!” Zhang Chao ordered.
Wu Yong seemed about to protest but held his tongue, silently stepping back. Two of the bandits stepped forward and lifted Mu Fan, dragging him toward the base of the mountain. Zhang Chao eagerly stepped forward to gather up the gold leaves, stuffing them into his coat.
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