One died, but there were still two pests left.
The harmless-looking pincushion in the shape of a little human girl sighed woefully. One by one, she plucked off the poisoned needles from her small body.
As soon as she pulled out a needle, the wound emitted cold qi before it immediately closed up.
It looked like a miracle!
In fact, the sight was indeed miraculous!
Yin's white skin looked so plump, soft and delicate it seemed like water could be squeezed out of it, but the cracked ice surrounding the poison needles told otherwise.
Once the first perfection, the Undying Ice attribute, of the Absolute Yi Physique was activated, her entire body became as solid and impenetrable as a continental glacier, invincible against powerful sword attacks, let alone puny steel needles, no matter how fast they were thrown.
Unless one had the ability to thoroughly destroy her fleshly body, she could endlessly regenerate and heal her wounds.
This was the main reason why Yin was not afraid of any enemy and had promised Third Princess Zhi Ruo that she would be Ye Mo's life-saving talisman. She had the confidence because she had the ability.
Right now, Yin leisurely kept the poisoned needles inside her spatial pouch as she waited for the two hidden pests to act. Or react. Or whatever they should be doing.
Would they simply watch?
Eh, that would be too boring.
Or, or, would they deem to attack as well?
Not that she minded another fight. However, she was worried that too much death qi in the air might alarm the cultivators in the area. She wouldn't want to disturb Bro Hua and Sis Xuan'er's lovey-dovey time in the room next door.
Who could have imagined that the eldest daughter of Primordial Chaos would end up resorting to passively receiving a sneak attack because she was way too nice not to drive people with ill intent away?
Wasn't she too kind-hearted?
Wouldn't she now turn into a Buddha with this amazing accumulation of good merit?
Hmm, do Buddhists accept cute girls inside their secluded temples? If they do, in a few more years, wouldn't her beautiful face be too much of a temptation to those poor monks...?
It seemed like her stay in the underworld had made her bloodthirst and battle instincts rusty; it was the shame of an era that a once-glorious battle deity now had turned into a kindhearted and virtuous lady.
She is now pure, ah, too pure!
Suddenly, Yin felt that one of the pests had leaked killing intent towards the young couple in the room beside hers.
Huh.
With a yawn, she lazily stretched out her short limbs before hopping off her bed. However, a flash of dense killing intent could be seen in her still-sleepy eyes.
"Ooh, the third one," she drawled, instantly attracting the aggression of the pest who was third to arrive tonight. "I thought you weren't gonna come."
If someone attacked her, at most she would kill the person. But targeting those she acknowledged? Those two were her precious playmates!
Wasn't this pest basically signing a torture contract of his own accord? In this instance, on 'her' own accord?
"Hee hee, wanna play with Little Yin?"
Though Yin wasn't fond of using hidden weapons, she knew a few thousand ways of playing using the poison needles she just acquired.
"Aiya, don't play deaf. Why don't you tell me why you came?"
After saying a few more casual lines—and before she could actually throw some of the ingenious and unheard of insults she just created— the third pest stepped out from the shadows.
Clothes entirely in black, she looked gloomy but stupid.
Yes, black was a thing for assassins and scouts... like it was a unanimously-agreed and universally-accepted uniform; it was basically an unwritten rule all authors use in every book and story.
But against the whiteness of the night's snow, weren't black clothes like bright spots screaming 'I am here!'?
Like a drop of black ink in a pure white paper. Damn, it exists to be spotted!
So what if those assassins and scouts had amazing stealth? Black could never camouflage as white.
If they weren't stupid, who would Yin call stupid?
The second pest had more common sense than the first and the third. At least, he was in a plain white robe.
"Little girl sure is gutsy. Are you not scared?"
The third pest, a female cultivator much stronger than anyone Yin had met in Leaf City, spoke in a monotone.
Just listening to that dull voice could make people yawn, so Yin yawned.
The third pest took it as her response. A very subtle, almost non-existent, delight could be heard in that monotone.
"How about you follow this older sister out of this nasty place?"
Yin raised a brow. Did this woman think she's so gullible as to say yes to that out-of-nowhere offer?
"My Master, the strongest necromancer in this land, is very, very interested in you. I was ordered to pick you up and bring you back, no matter the cost."
Inside her room, the third pest took one more step closer to her with her arms open, as if she was about ready to carry Yin with or without her agreement.
"Once you become my junior martial sister, Little Miss Yin will be able to stay in a room much grander than this, eat any kind of delicious food you like... and ensure that everyone in this little place will be unharmed."
A combination of benefits and threats. This woman had basically ensured the object of persuasion would not be able to say no.
However, who was Yin? Not even an offer of food created from heavenly ingredients would make her follow this pest of a stranger.
Before she could respond, the second pest, the one she praised to have common sense for wearing white, let out a fierce whistle three times.
It must have been some sort of signal because Yin could feel a handful of cultivators more powerful than Ye Mo approaching at fast speeds. Their levels of cultivation were inferior to this black-clothed woman, but their numbers were more or less sufficient to hold her down.
"I say, the One-Eyed Berserker sure had guts to send a beloved disciple of his in a place where delegates from the Imperial Capital are staying," the second pest, a man with a stern voice, said in disdain. "I do not know if this is him throwing you in a life-and-death situation because you offended him, or if this is him ordering you to do a suicide mission because he basically thought you are not good enough to receive his teachings."
People's hearts are unpredictable. Even Yin was not an exception.
With those words alone, she immediately erased the 'pest' tag on him. Surely, no one that sounded as badass as him deserved to be called pest.
The woman made an eerie-sounding laugh. A saber appeared in her hand and with a 'clank', a black blade as thin as cicada's wings was unsheathed. Ghost wails seemed to accompany every swing of the blade.
"A dog of the Qing only at the late Divine Ascension Stage dare bark? Are you not worried that I will pull out that tongue and cut it?"
The white-robed man sneered.
"Why would a living person worry about what happens after she dies?"