On an official road, over a dozen guards, armed with long blades, were locked in a fierce battle with a pack of wild wolves, and on the ground lay more than twenty mangled corpses.
Behind them, four female family members huddled together, screaming repeatedly.
"Protect the Young Lady and leave!"
The leading man roared, cleaving a charging wild wolf in half with a single strike.
"Awoo…"
Under the moonlight, a robust, grey-furred giant wolf burst out of the secret forest.
Gusts of wind blades swirled around it, slashing towards the dozen or so guards ahead.
"Oh no, it's a mutated Wind Wolf!"
The leading man's face changed, and he decisively retreated, shielding the four female family members.
The wind blades whistled past, and the dozen guards were all cut into several pieces, falling into a pool of blood.
The remaining leading man fought desperately, but was still struck on the shoulder by a wind blade, sending him tumbling to the ground.
At the same time, a Wind Wolf darted out from the side, bit the nearest woman, and dragged her towards the secret forest.
"Ah! Young Lady, save me! Save me!!"
Crack, crack—
The sound of bones being crushed, and the screams abruptly ceased.
At this moment, the faces of the three remaining female family members were ashen, and their bodies trembled incessantly.
The leading man shakily stood up, gripping his blade with both hands and staring intently at the wolf pack ahead, "Young Lady, I'll hold off these beasts, you all run!"
But no sooner had he spoken than wind blades once again swirled all around, sealing off all space.
"It's over!" The leading man's face was ashen, and he quickly shielded the three female family members with his body.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Just then, sounds of something tearing through the air rang out.
The four of them suddenly opened their eyes and saw streaks of sword qi crisscrossing, as Wind Wolves one after another fell dead under the sword light.
"Awoo…"
The Wind Wolf let out a loud howl, leading the remaining Wind Wolves to flee into the secret forest.
Whoosh—
A streak of sword qi appeared, all the trees ahead were destroyed, and a dozen Wind Wolves, including the wolf king, were all cut in half by the sword qi.
"Such powerful sword intent, could it be a cultivator?"
The leading man muttered softly, then stood up and bowed towards the group: "Thank you all for your assistance!"
"No need to be polite." Li Taibai said softly, his expression unchanged.
Among the three female family members, the beautiful woman in the middle secretly glanced at Li Taibai, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes, and she murmured in her heart: There is actually such an ethereal man in this world.
"This humble one is An Ran, thank you all, my saviors." The woman clasped her hands over her abdomen and performed a deep curtsy towards everyone.
Fang Yuan lightly nudged Sun Yiyi beside him with his elbow and whispered, "Learn from her, this is what a lady looks like."
"Go away!" Sun Yiyi turned her head and glared fiercely at him.
"Let's find a place to sit down and talk first." Qin Hao suggested.
Soon, everyone made a bonfire near a stream.
As soon as she sat down, Huo Sichun leaned close to Li Taibai and transmitted, "Old Bai, that girl is not right; she has a corpse aura about her."
"I sensed it too." Li Taibai replied.
But when it came to Fang Yuan and the other two, the style changed.
At this moment, the three of them were stealthily hiding behind a large tree, whispering, "Hey, did you guys feel it?"
"The corpse aura from that girl?" Sun Yiyi whispered in response.
"No, I felt a dungeon aura." Fang Yuan said excitedly.
"How so? Should we kill the others, then hang that woman from a tree and interrogate her about where the boss is?" Qin Hao made a throat-slitting gesture.
Fang Yuan showed disdain, squinting at him and saying, "You, why are you always fighting and killing? Can't you be civilized like me?"
"Ptooey~" Qin Hao didn't speak, just quietly spat at Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan tilted his head to dodge the spit attack, then looked at Sun Yiyi and said, "Old Sun, do you have any ideas?"
"Me?" Sun Yiyi placed a finger on her lips, looking thoughtful.
"Twist her head off, then tie it to a stick. If anyone comes to kill us, they're with her."
Fang Yuan stared at her blankly, then couldn't help but give a thumbs up, "Well said, don't say it again next time."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Sun Yiyi grumbled.
"First, we need to figure out if she's human or a corpse. If she's human, we'll use 'protecting her home' as an excuse to see what's going on."
"What if she's a corpse?" Sun Yiyi asked curiously.
"That's simple. Beat her up first, then leave her with one breath and let her go. Then we'll follow the clues to find her main base."
"Not bad, I didn't realize you had a brain on your head."
"If you can't speak, please donate your mouth." Fang Yuan rolled his eyes at Sun Yiyi.
"Then how do we tell if she's human or a corpse?" Qin Hao asked.
"Easy, use a honey trap." Fang Yuan chuckled, revealing a lewd expression.
"Are you a handsome man?" Sun Yiyi looked at him disdainfully.
"Hey, what kind of look is that? I'll poke you!"
Fang Yuan extended two fingers, acting as if to poke Sun Yiyi's eyes.
"Try poking me?"
"I'll poke!"
"Fine, just don't sleep too soundly tonight!"
"I won't sleep!"
Qin Hao was a bit speechless on the side, turning his back to the two and coldly snorting, "Let's talk about serious business."
Fang Yuan rubbed the back of his head, "Let Old Bai go and seduce her, didn't you see that girl's eyes practically melting when she looked at Old Bai?"
"You might as well not have said anything. With his quiet personality, how could he possibly do something like that?"
"We can't persuade him, but someone else can."
"You mean..."
Sun Yiyi and Qin Hao blinked, then showed a look of sudden realization.
"That's right, let Xian Ge handle it."
Fang Yuan chuckled, immediately sending a message to Chu Huaian, briefly explaining the situation here.
After a good while, Chu Huaian's reply finally came.
Xian: 【I have informed Li Taibai. You all handle it cleanly.】
"Hehe, Xian Ge wants us to kill them all."
"Let's go, let's see how Old Bai does it."
The three of them poked their heads out from behind the tree, their eyes slightly gleaming.
At this moment, Huo Sichun and the others were sitting around the bonfire, chatting idly with the young woman.
Li Taibai, on the other hand, was leaning against a tree trunk with his spirit sword in his arms, resting with his eyes closed.
A notification sound suddenly rang in his ear.
He opened his eyes and curiously opened the interface.
After seeing the information on it, his eyes paused, and his gaze involuntarily turned towards An Ran.
Perhaps sensing Li Taibai's gaze, An Ran turned her head and met Li Taibai's eyes.
The next second, An Ran's eyes became a little flustered, and she quickly turned her head away.
She felt her heart pounding wildly.
"Could it be that Young Master Li is also interested in me? Does he like me?"
An Ran lowered her head, her peripheral vision glancing at Li Taibai.
"Ah, he's walking towards me, what does he want to do? What should I do?"
Just as she was distracted and fantasizing, Li Taibai walked up to her and said softly, "Miss An Ran, would it be convenient to talk alone?"
"Ah?" An Ran's face flushed slightly, appearing even more vibrant under the candlelight, as if she were drunk.
"Is it convenient?" Li Taibai repeated.
"Oh oh, okay."
An Ran stood up flustered, holding her skirt as she followed behind Li Taibai.
At this moment, all sorts of possibilities flashed through her mind.
Pitch black night, a single man and woman, in the wilderness...
"Hey hey, they're heading towards the stream, quickly follow them!"
Fang Yuan and the other two showed excited expressions, crouching low as they followed behind the two.