The Reluctant Rescue

The corner of Han Li’s mouth twitched as he cursed inwardly. Despite his reluctance, he was forced to open his tightly shut eyes.

Though he was nearly fully recharged, the approach of someone else meant he could no longer afford to sit and cultivate so brazenly, especially when he had no idea who the newcomer was.

“Is there a senior brother here? Please, save me!”

A woman in yellow stumbled out from the nearby woods and ran directly under Han Li’s tree. With a panicked expression, she looked up into the canopy and cried out for help, as though she were certain her savior was hidden within. Not far behind her, a white figure strolled leisurely forward, his unhurried pace a stark contrast to the woman’s frantic desperation.

Taking in this scene, Han Li rolled his eyes. He felt considerable irritation at this female fellow disciple for bringing trouble directly to his hiding spot, though he was not particularly surprised that she had been able to locate him.

Before their departure, all Yellow Maple Valley disciples had been subjected to a guiding technique by Sect Leader Zhong Lingdao. This technique allowed disciples to sense the location of their fellow sect members within a certain range—though it only remained active for ten days. Its purpose was to encourage mutual support among sect disciples, greatly increasing their chances of victory.

It was said that the disciples of other sects had also been granted similar spells.

Left with no choice, Han Li glanced at the woman. He recognized her—she was the female disciple who had been with Junior Sister Chen. Aside from her rather enticing figure, her features were utterly ordinary.

After observing her desperate pleas for a moment, Han Li did not recklessly leap down from the tree. Instead, he peered through the tiny gaps between the leaves and carefully studied the white figure that followed behind her.

Whether he would save her or not, he first wanted to gauge the depth of the approaching man’s magical power. He had no intention of throwing his life away for a woman he did not even know.

If the white figure’s power was average, Han Li would naturally not hesitate to strike him down and play the role of a “hero saving a beauty.” But if his magical power was deep and formidable, Han Li would have to weigh his options—either join forces with the disciple below to repel the enemy, or flee immediately.

As a precaution, he reached into his storage pouch and retrieved his magical artifact, “Golden Beetle Mother and Child Blades,” along with defensive talismans. He also deftly wrapped his nearly transparent thread around his fingers.

“Tsk tsk, what an ugly run! Are all the female disciples of Yellow Maple Valley so useless? After running all this way, you go crying to some other man for help. What, is the one in the tree your lover?”

The white figure drew closer, revealing its true form—a young woman in flowing white robes. Her face had a certain charm, but her brows were slightly raised, giving her a fierce, murderous expression.

Though her words were directed at the yellow-clothed woman beneath the tree, her eyes, brimming with killing intent, constantly flicked upward toward the canopy. Clearly, she was not as arrogant as her words suggested. She still harbored some wariness toward Han Li, who remained hidden.

“Twelfth-layer technique.”

After easily discerning the depth of his opponent’s power, Han Li breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Still, he was a bit puzzled. The female disciple beneath the tree also appeared to be at the twelfth layer, so how had she been chased so miserably? Could it be that her opponent possessed some special technique or a particularly powerful magical artifact?

As Han Li puzzled over this, the white-clothed woman let out a cold snort. Suddenly, she flicked her sleeves, and two streaks of white light shot out from within, flying straight toward the yellow-clothed woman.

“Senior Brother, save me! My artifacts are all destroyed—I can’t defend myself!” the yellow-clothed woman cried out, her face pale with alarm.

As soon as the words left her mouth, two beams of golden light shot down from the tree canopy, intercepting the white light mid-course and engaging it in combat. Han Li had activated his Golden Beetle Mother and Child Blades; the two golden beams were two of its child blades.

The yellow-clothed woman’s face lit up with joy as she finally steadied herself.

Han Li had chosen to intervene for two reasons. First, he judged that the white-clothed woman was nothing to fear—he could handle her. Second, he wanted a companion for the road ahead, to avoid fighting alone. After all, a fellow disciple at the twelfth layer could prove useful in future battles.

“Finally willing to show yourself! I thought you planned to play deaf and dumb forever,” the white-clothed woman mocked, her face showing no surprise whatsoever. With a casual wave of her hand, a massive ball of fire shot straight toward the tree canopy.

With a thunderous roar, the upper half of the tree blazed with crimson light and turned to ash in the blink of an eye. Yet still, no one appeared. This gave the white-clothed woman pause.

“What a formidable Great Fireball Talisman. You really didn’t hold back, miss,” came a voice from behind the half-charred trunk. Han Li stepped out, a faint, unreadable smile on his face.

“Eleventh layer?”

The white-clothed woman was momentarily stunned, then immediately broke into a sneer.

The yellow-clothed woman’s brief relief quickly turned back to panic. She had originally thought the hidden figure was one of her sect’s skilled senior brothers, only to find he was a junior disciple whose power was even weaker than her own.

“If you had just stayed hidden and minded your own business, I might have been in a good enough mood to let you go. But since you’ve chosen to interfere, you can both die together as a pair of star-crossed lovers!” The white-clothed woman’s brows raised sharply as she spoke in a chilling tone. Her once somewhat attractive face twisted into a menacing scowl.

Han Li smiled faintly and, without saying a word, directed his golden blades in their ongoing skirmish as he casually walked toward her.

“Stop. What are you doing?”

The white-clothed woman snapped alertly. She raised her hand and slapped a defensive talisman onto herself, summoning a light shield.

By this point, Han Li was only twenty-some zhang away from her. He felt a pang of regret.

Ever since he had used his nearly transparent thread to effortlessly kill that Heaven’s Fortress disciple, he had grown quite fond of this tactic. While still up in the tree, he had noticed that the white-clothed woman had not raised a defensive barrier, and an idea had struck him—he wanted to replicate that earlier success.

Unfortunately, the woman was far too vigilant. She had sensed something was off and patched the hole in her defenses. Han Li could only sigh to himself. Women truly were more cautious than men.

Since subtlety would not work, he would have to rely on brute force.

Disappointed but not deterred, Han Li wasted no words. After raising his own defensive barrier, he gave the mother blade a gentle flick. Six more identical golden blades flew out from his storage pouch and charged viciously at his opponent.

Seeing that Han Li’s artifact seemed quite impressive, the yellow-clothed woman, who had been on the verge of giving up, found a spark of hope. She immediately threw out a talisman of her own, which transformed into a long, fiery serpent that shot forward.

The white-clothed woman let out a cold laugh. Her delicate hand produced a palm-sized mirror.

She aimed the mirror and swept it lightly. A spray of cyan light shot out, enveloping the incoming golden blades and the fire serpent. They froze in midair, spinning uselessly, as though they had been bound by a restraining spell.

Han Li’s eyes went wide. What kind of artifact was this? How could it be so utterly absurd? It could immobilize both artifacts and spells—how was he supposed to fight against that?

“Don’t worry, Junior Brother,” the yellow-clothed woman quickly reassured him, seeing his shock. “That artifact can only lock down one area at a time, and it only lasts for about half a quarter-hour. After that, she has to recall it.”

Han Li felt some relief at this explanation. But the woman’s next words sent his heart right back up into his throat.

“However, this vicious woman is a descendant of some elder from the Moon-Masking Sect. She’s been gifted many strange artifacts. You’d better be careful, Junior Brother!”

Han Li was speechless.

“No wonder this senior sister, also at the twelfth layer, was defeated so miserably. So the other side is a ‘multi-treasure girl.’ If I had known, I never would have jumped out to play the hero,” Han Li lamented inwardly, now deeply regretting his decision. It was looking more and more like he would have to fight for his life again.