Chapter 363: How to Low-Key (2/2)
”Okay, okay. Let me search for the right tool,” Zhu Qiao laughed as she leisurely brought out a grey talisman from her cleavage.
”What's that?” Stilling ignoring the bandits, he turned his back to his enemies to look at the odd talisman.
CLANK
CLANK
CLANK
The same bandit continued hitting Miaomiao's back with his saber. He also added yang essence and earth Qi to his weapon, hoping to injure or cut this young man.
However, his weapon broke before he could do anything to Miaomiao!
The other bandits also noticed the odd reactions of Miaomiao and Zhu Qiao. They yelled, ”Attack together! Kill them before they use that talisman!”
The other nine bandits rushed at Zhu Qiao, reaching for her grey talisman.
But Zhu Qiao tore it. She also revealed the item's name, ”Life Brand Dispelling Talisman. It's useful when you want to assassinate an asshole without letting their bosses or backers know of your face and name.”
As soon as the talisman was torn, the ten bandits felt like something inside them was yanked out their bodies. Behind them, small tattoos were ejected through the clothes and disintegrated into dust.
One of the bandits had a brand tattoo on his chest. As soon as his life brand came off from his skin, he was shocked.
”H-HOW!?”
While the bandits were still in shock, Zhu Qiao tore another square paper.
”What's that?” Miaomiao looked at the torn square paper in curiosity.
”Wind Element Attack Spell. It generates a wind blade storm and attacks my enemies around me with the power of a 6th-stage cultivator. It's a common-grade item, though.”
”Oh?”
The sky suddenly became dark and the cloud began rotating. Three seconds later, the dark cloud flashed, revealing the lightning forces within them, after which a large wedge of a tornado descended from the spinning cloud.
Miaomiao and Zhu Qiao didn't move from the spot as they were in the eye of the tornado. Meanwhile, the strong wind dragged the 10 bandits with the power of wind element Qi and the wind speed.
”HEEELPPPP!!”
”NOOOOOO!!”
”SAVE MEEEEEE!!”
Their desperate death screams and painful cry was muted by the sound of the windstorm. Sharp wind blades at the size of small razor blades cut their limps and flesh, torturing them before they got suffocated and died by the wind choke.
The grey wind left behind trails of red liquid for a moment before the wedge of wind tossed their militated corpses to the sky.
The storm subsided a minute later.
Zhu Qiao and Miaomiao, who had been staying at the eye of the storm, were unaffected by the wind blades. They blankly stared at the aftermath.
A portion of the ground was leveled by the storm. Although the mountain range still stood tall, the trees and structures nearby were gone.
”What a cheating ability you have,” the corner of Miaomiao's face twitched.
”Humph! Aren't you glad that I'm your wife-in-name now? Now, let's proceed! I don't want my mom's goons in the area to find me.”
Zhu Qiao looked east with the corner of her eyes. Had she gone in that direction, she would have reached Guangling City, the new home of Zhu Clan. She didn't want to linger in this area for too long.
”That's what you get for running away from home,” Miaomiao snickered, mocking her.
”Pfft. You will have to confront my mom later if she brings her army to attack your town with Yuan Shaoqing. It's you who will need to think of a good excuse.”
”It's you who has to come up with a good excuse. The first thing a parent will ask their runaway child is what the fuck were you thinking?”
…
Far west of Blind Eagle Mountain Range was a province-sized city, aka Wancheng City, which was the home of Yuan Shaoqing's cousin, Yuan Shu.
The city was decorated in lavishing streetlights and luxurious lamps as if they were in a festival. The people and low-level cultivators in the city were the major populations as all experts had already migrated and joined other clans.
Still, many 6th-stage cultivators remained in the city, serving Yuan Shu as guest elders of Yuan Shu's Family. They were in charge of protecting Wancheng City.
At the core of this city, tall walls separated another small town within the provincial capital city.
It was the residence of Yuan Shu, the city lord.
Among ancient-designed wooden buildings, the grand hall of Yuan Shu's Family was a temple without a monk or a statue of Buddha.
The one sitting on the elevated ground and the sole cushion within the temple was a thin middle-aged man, who looked to be in his late 40s. He had a short goatee beard and messy long dark hair.
While sitting and meditating in his favorite temple hall, one of his soldiers, who dressed in metal armor, entered the temple hall and knelt.
”Lord Yuan Shu! We've received an urgent report!”
Without opening his eyes, the small man, whose height was merely 140cm, continued to meditate. He muttered in a half-asleep tone, ”I'm cultivating. This is better be important.”
”Our agents that we've sent to scout Blind Eagle Mountain Range have perished!”
”Ah,” Yuan Shu shrugged. ”They must have entered the mine. I already told them to rob the passerby, not entering the god-forsaken place. Well, who killed them? The rumor dragon?”
The soldier sweated profusely, afraid to look up. He reported as he kept staring at the marble floor, ”Their Life Brands have been forcefully removed before their life tokens shattered. We don't know who killed them.”
”Pfft, figured,” Yuan Shu slowly opened his eyes and stared at the soldier. ”Send another batch of agents to replace their duties.”
”A-Are we not going to investigate the killer, sir?”
”The only ones who can neutralize a mortal's Life Brand are immortals! Do you want me to provoke a powerful expert!?”
”N-No, sir!”
”Just relay my order and move on. It's not like a naïve upstart brat suddenly shows up and kills those fools. They probably run into a true expert and get themselves killed. Leave them be.”
Yuan Shu shooed the soldier away and closed his eyes, continued meditating.
…
Unbeknownst to Zhu Qiao or Miaomiao, they had just avoided a conflict with the cousin of Yuan Shaoqing by removing the Life Brands before they killed the bandits.
The overdone cliché, aka protagonists self-defended against a local hoodlum and provoked a big shot in the area, didn't happen here.