Shu Yue bit her nail, then lowered her hand and clenched her fist.
For some reason, she thought back to when she had just crossed over, in that dim mountain castle, day after day grinding medicinal herbs, listening to that Scabby-headed Master’s tireless recounting of how he made his fortune.
Stealing, robbing, stopping at nothing.
He said that the path of transcendence was selfish, self-interested, and self-centered—using one’s own power to define this world.
Only extreme selfishness could achieve transcendence; mortal emotions were a burden on the path to heaven!
As a model youth of the new era, Shu Yue could not agree.
It wasn’t that she had a submissive mindset.
She just didn’t want to show the ugly, despicable face like her Scabby-headed Master, didn’t want to become a person obsessed and insane on the path of transcendence.
So she needed emotions, needed connections with people.
Perhaps deep down she still held a trace of…
Fantasy toward others?
Silver Fire flashed in Shu Yue’s hand for an instant.
If the Star Tempering Art were in the hands of a madman, it would become a terrifying forbidden technique.
She was not a madman, nor did she want to become one.
Shu Yue was still wearing a gray robe.
The Northern Frontier had many mountains and forests, and the ground here was covered year-round with needles.
The trunks of the gray giant pines were also gray, so this outfit provided camouflage.
As she got closer to the place mentioned in the letter, she became more cautious.
She cast a basic spell, Shadow Hide, reducing her presence somewhat, and crept to nearly a hundred meters away.
Soon she saw figures of people.
It was a small camp that had just been set up, with only three tents.
Shu Yue took a rough look and identified five or six people stationed on the perimeter.
Although they weren’t wearing armor, each was equipped with a standard-issue longsword.
‘So organized and disciplined. They can’t be outland adventurers.’
‘These people don’t look like bandits roaming the Outlands. Instead, they seem like guards specially trained by some power. Although they’re all Tier 0 combat power, they are at the Official Apprentice level.’
‘An Official Apprentice-level warrior can take on nine normal adult men. Their strength already far exceeds the limits of ordinary people.’
Suddenly, Shu Yue’s gaze froze.
She clenched her teeth, and at the same time, a frosty expression quickly spread across her face.
It was because a blood-soaked man was hanging from a tree.
His sturdy body was broken and tattered, blood nearly drained.
No more dripped onto the coagulated stains below.
Hanging by chains, he showed no sign of life.
Shu Yue’s vision was excellent.
Even from a hundred meters away, she could make out details.
The man was hanging by two chains.
One end of each chain was hooked onto a thick branch of a gray giant pine, and the other end connected to iron hooks that pierced his collarbones.
The man’s forearms were missing, and the treatment of the stumps was extremely crude—the cloth wrapped around them was thick with sticky crimson.
The man’s legs were severely deformed.
His clothes were covered in dark red and torn marks.
All these wounds told anyone that this man had suffered terrible torture.
Mundo…
Shu Yue’s eyes reddened.
Mundo was a very quiet guy, always looking honest and simple.
Every time there was danger, he charged to the front, protecting her and Anna behind him.
After spending some time together, Shu Yue had come to see Mundo as a big brother.
Now seeing him like this made her heart feel choked.
She wanted to immediately go and take Mundo down, but reason told her she couldn’t act recklessly, or she would also fall into danger.
Suppressing her impulse and anger, Shu Yue took a deep breath and began to think of a plan.
Walk over and negotiate with them?
That was never an option in Shu Yue’s consideration.
What you couldn’t get through battle, you certainly couldn’t get through negotiation!
Shu Yue didn’t think the other side really wanted to talk.
That letter was just a trap to make her walk right into it.
They were certain that Shu Yue wouldn’t be a coward who abandoned her teammates and would come to save Mundo and Anna.
‘Negotiation is definitely not an option. I need enough leverage.’
‘I could capture their leader, then exchange hostages, and figure out a way to escape with Anna and Mundo.’
‘Of course, there’s a third option—kill them all.’
‘Those Official Apprentice guards aren’t hard for me to handle, but the other side definitely has Tier 1 combat power. I can use Bloodline Manifestation to kill Tier 1 easily.’
‘The real difficulty is that they outnumber me, and there might be one or two Tier 2 fighters hiding behind them!’
‘So the best way is to first find their leader. Since these guys are guards, that means the leader is valuable enough to use as a hostage for exchange.’
Having settled on a plan, Shu Yue continued to creep forward.
The ability of Shadow Hide was to reduce one’s presence in the shadows, not true invisibility.
If she got too close, she would be seen.
She tried to stay behind trees as she approached the camp.
She stopped at about fifty meters; any closer and Shadow Hide’s effect would be too weak.
Shu Yue reached for the small pouch at her waist.
She had prepared some weapons for the upcoming fight.
The quality was just passable.
Drawing a longsword, she stopped suppressing the magic power in her body.
Her figure turned into a swift shadow.
The longsword traced a silvery white arc, bringing out fresh red blood.
Covering fifty meters in an instant, before the Official Apprentice-level guard could react, she slit his throat and dashed to the tree where Mundo was hanging.
After killing two guards, Shu Yue leaped high and cut the two taut chains with one sword strike.
She landed quickly and caught Mundo.
She laid down his broken body, confirmed he was still breathing and not dead, and breathed a sigh of relief.
But seeing Mundo tortured like this, rage boiled in her heart.
She turned to glare at the man who walked out of a tent.
“Beland Leicester!”
“Long time no see, Liya… no, I should call you Shu Yue?”
Belang still wore that gentle smile, showing no reaction to the anger in Shu Yue’s eyes.
Shu Yue didn’t respond to his words.
She stared hard at this man, using her body to shield Mundo.
One hand went behind her back, secretly casting Holy Radiance Healing Spell on Mundo.
The healing light fell into the broken body, providing precious vitality to a life that was like a candle in the wind.
But Mundo had suffered too many injuries.
The fact that he had held on this long was a testament to his strong vitality.
Anyone else might have died long ago and wouldn’t have lasted until Shu Yue arrived.
“You, a lowly commoner, dared to impersonate a noble. That crime alone is enough to kill you ten times over. But this young master is kind-hearted. If you are willing to submit to me and work under my command, I can spare you and even heal the guy behind you. What do you think of this deal?”
“…”
“Heh, Shu Yue, right? I know your secret.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Don’t play word games with me. I have two Tier 1 peak warriors under my command. I know you have some strength, maybe considered decent combat power in the Outlands, but compared to elite warriors trained with the resources of a noble, you’re nothing. If you really want to know what a gap in power means, feel free to try.”
As he finished speaking, two imposing men stepped up beside Belang.
One was tall, one was fat, both with stern expressions.
They were all very confident!
Shu Yue frowned.
‘This isn’t what I expected. Shouldn’t there be at least one Tier 2? And that Tier 2 should be at least mid Tier 2. Dragon Maiden Shu Yue is not weaker than early Tier 2. She could fight mid Tier 2, just needs more time. She doesn’t know about late Tier 2. Why do you only have two late Tier 1?’
Shu Yue still did not reply.
She was stalling for time.
When she had saved Mundo earlier, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he had no strength to speak.
As vitality continued to flow in, his severely damaged body improved a little.
Although he still looked battered on the outside, Mundo’s hazy consciousness cleared slightly.
Mundo’s broken train of thought started to function again.
He entered a memory and saw the first time he met Shu Yue…
He had always liked Anna back then, but Anna didn’t respond to him—neither rejecting nor accepting.
After Shu Yue arrived, Anna changed a lot.
She became gentle and considerate, but only toward Shu Yue.
Anna wanted Shu Yue to be her man, Mundo knew in his heart.
Because Shu Yue was good-looking, the type Anna liked.
Mundo didn’t hate Shu Yue because of that.
When Mundo looked at Shu Yue, he thought of the little girls stolen from villages.
They were very small, but raised by big men, to become wives or wives for their sons.
Mundo didn’t know if that was right.
Anna was doing the same thing.
But since it was Anna doing it, he thought it was right, because he liked the way Anna smiled.
Anna always wore different faces, but what never changed was that she was harsh with him and gentle as water with Shu Yue.
Anna said they had to leave, and he followed without hesitation.
Anna met a noble young master and told him Shu Yue’s secret, and told Mundo to listen to her.
Mundo, who always thought Anna was right about everything, felt that this was wrong.
Mundo pretended to agree, then found an opportunity to sneak away and tell Shu Yue.
But Anna had already seen through his act; his acting was too bad.
Mundo suffered terribly because of this.
He found that Anna had changed.
The face she had stolen was beautiful, but it made him feel hideous and terrifying.
Mundo’s eyes focused.
He looked at the youth standing in front of him, back turned to him, who had come to save him even at the risk of danger—that smart and kind kid.
He felt he couldn’t betray a brother for a woman…
That thought rose in his mind.
Mundo used all the vitality Shu Yue had poured into him, took a deep breath, and shouted in a hoarse voice, “Run, Anna betrayed you!”
After shouting this, Mundo’s eyes dimmed.
The wish that had kept him going was fulfilled.
The vitality in his body drained rapidly.
No matter how much Shu Yue used healing spells, it was useless.
Mundo was probably dead.
Shu Yue stared blankly at Mundo.
There was a glimmer in her eyes.
Her heart felt an indescribable pain.