Chapter 3: Putting Away the Weapons
1121 Words
Standing at the Edge of the Cliff
A man in black stood at the edge of the cliff, his gaze sharp as it fell on the slender hand gripping his ankle. The hand was delicate, the skin fair—clearly not the hand of someone trained in martial arts. Yet, the grip was firm and unyielding. Judging by the size of the hand, its owner couldn’t be older than fifteen. The man found this surprising and crouched down, intending to help her up.
But—
This person was climbing up too quickly!
A shadow flashed towards him!
As the man crouched down, the two collided head-on.
Rong Jiu cursed under her breath, "Damn it."
The man’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise as he reached out and grabbed a withered branch on the edge of the cliff. But in her panic, Rong Jiu grabbed his hand, disrupting his action!
Both of them were dragged downward!
"Ah!"
They tumbled down the cliffside, their screams piercing the air.
"My Lord!" a voice shouted in alarm from above.
Their bodies continued to plummet, out of control.
The wind howled in their ears, the speed of their fall increasing.
In the midst of the chaos, Rong Jiu managed to grab onto a broken branch on the cliffside, slowing their descent.
But the combined weight of the two of them caused the old branch to creak ominously. Rong Jiu felt herself losing her grip, her hands clutching even tighter. She had just come back to life, and now, after not even a day of truly living, she was going to die again by falling off a cliff?!
She refused to accept this.
She hadn't even avenged the original owner's death!
Rong Jiu quickly assessed whether there was any chance of survival. Even if they were to fall again, she needed to find something to break the fall—otherwise, the grass below wouldn’t be enough to cushion her weight.
Just then, she felt something tighten around her waist. An arm pulled her closer to a stranger's chest!
Rong Jiu’s face was pressed against the man's chest, and she didn’t move.
"Screech!"
Suddenly, the sound of metal scraping against stone filled the air.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rong Jiu saw a sword tip creating a trail of sparks along the cliffside. The force of their descent stopped, and the two of them were now hanging in midair.
Thud, thud.
A strong, steady heartbeat.
It pulsed against her cheek.
Rong Jiu remained still. Any struggle on the cliffside could disrupt the delicate balance and lead to unintended consequences, so she didn’t resist. Once her toes found a foothold, she moved away, coldly saying, "Don’t disturb me."
The man raised his eyebrows slightly.
Rong Jiu took a deep breath, using both hands to continue climbing upward, without so much as glancing at the man suspended in midair.
After a moment, she heard the man behind her begin to move as well, cleverly using his dagger to ascend the cliff.
In the silence of the cliffside, the two climbed in silence, one ahead, one behind, without interfering with each other.
A flash of green flickered at Rong Jiu's waist, unnoticed by anyone. When they finally reached the top of the cliff, several guards suddenly rushed forward. Rong Jiu planted her hand on the ground, flipped over the encirclement, took a step back, and swiftly grabbed one of the guards by the neck, demanding, "Who sent you?"
Was it Rong Yuqing?!
The guards barely had time to process her swift movements before seeing one of their own already in Rong Jiu's grasp. Without hesitation, they drew their swords and glared at her.
Rong Jiu remained unfazed.
She had already analyzed their positions in her mind: five men, standing at a thirty-degree angle to each other. With the encirclement broken, they no longer posed a significant threat. She calculated a 60% chance of escaping by eliminating three of them. It was worth a try.
As the tension escalated, the man who had been hanging below finally climbed up.
"My Lord!" the five men called out in unison.
Rong Jiu’s gaze calmly fell on the man. By the light of their torches, she could now see him clearly.
He was tall, and Rong Jiu estimated that her height barely reached his shoulder. His features were sharp, as if chiseled from stone, with an air of coldness that kept others at a distance. His calm eyes seemed to pierce through everything with their sharpness.
He was very good-looking, but also not someone to be trifled with.
Not that she was afraid.
"Put away your weapons," she said coldly.
Ye Tianlin observed the young girl before him—dressed simply in white with a red sash, her appearance was rather disheveled, even bordering on bedraggled. Yet, despite having swords pointed at her, she showed no sign of panic. Her calm eyes conveyed an absolute control over the situation. He believed that even if he hadn’t climbed up, she would have been capable of handling everything on her own, possibly even killing his men.
"Put them away," Ye Tianlin ordered.
At his command, the guards sheathed their swords. Their disciplined obedience hinted at their military training.
These men were soldiers.
Du Jiu had dealt with police before and was highly attuned to the aura of such people. They were the most troublesome and stubborn individuals to deal with. It was clear they weren’t sent by Rong Yuqing.
Not wanting to waste any more time, she released her captive and honestly said, "You’ve got the wrong person."
The freed guard, Xia Mu, panted heavily, relieved by her words. "It’s a good thing it was a mistake. Otherwise, I’d be dead at your hands."
Rong Jiu smiled. "Not necessarily. Didn’t you have a hidden dart in your hand?"
Xia Mu froze, awkwardly rubbing his nose.
How did she know that? It was as if he had seen a ghost.
Ye Tianlin’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he listened to his subordinate’s conversation with her. Just as he was about to say something else, she was already walking away.
She left swiftly, without a trace, just as she had appeared.
"My Lord, that girl was incredible," Xia Mu marveled.
"Yeah, the way she flipped herself up from the cliff was amazing. One moment she was in front of us, and the next, you were already in her grip."
Xia Mu felt frustrated. He had assumed it was their lord who had climbed up first.
Ye Tianlin gazed in the direction she had gone, which was also toward Liu'an City.
It seemed they would meet again.
But Ye Tianlin had no idea how soon that would be.
- Writer
