"Very bold!"
Qiu Xue Mei's eyebrows raised in anger as she scolded, and she violently flicked the broad bean she was holding with her chopsticks.
Clack—
The bean hit the Little Knife with precision, the shell exploding apart, causing the Little Knife to veer off suddenly.
Hualalala—
The sound of the rain outside the window seemed to abruptly intensify.
Having missed her strike, Little Ling's body already plunged to the ground.
Qiu Xue Mei inwardly cursed the situation.
The opposite window lit up like successive flashes of lightning.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh—
Within moments, the glint of cold steel flashed chaotically, and the sounds of slicing through air filled the room.
Countless Hidden Weapons enveloped Qiu Xue Mei like a net, swiftly descending upon her.
Qiu Xue Mei let out a fierce shout as her hand suddenly grasped her whip. "Huohuohuo," her whip danced like a Tornado, sweeping away the incoming Hidden Weapons, which clanked and scattered across the floor.
However, the very next moment, an abnormal noise sounded from behind her. Qiu Xue Mei's heart skipped a beat, ready to change her move instantly.
But a pitch-black Little Knife, like a ghost in the darkness, had already flashed by, striking her in the back. A metallic vibration sounded as it penetrated.
Qiu Xue Mei violently clutched the wound with her hand, her eyes wide, her whip barely managed to sweep beside her body before it softened and dropped to the ground with a "putong."
Her eyes wide open, she stared deathly at the dark night outside the opposite window, listening to the sound of the rain, symbolic of her ebbing life force, fading away rapidly.
A question bubbled up from the depths of her heart.
"Who was the one who drew the knife?"
Bright crimson blood quickly dyed her moon-white robe a sauce-red.
Downstairs, the innkeeper and the waiter had their ears covered by the sound of the rain, merely wondering why the music from above had stopped, not realizing a life had already been lost.
A figure grasping onto the window's eave outside now bent at the waist, flickering into the inn.
It was none other than the robustly built Jiang Dali, wearing a conical bamboo hat.
He glanced at Little Ling Murong Qingqing who had just gotten up from the ground, then walked towards the body of Qiu Xue Mei.
Looking at this middle-aged woman with a beautiful name but a plain appearance, whose crow's feet at the corner of her eyes seemed like the marks left from roaming the Martial World.
"Qiu Xue Mei..."
Jiang Dali's eyelids drooped slightly as he crouched down, reaching out as if to close her eyes for her.
"Be careful!"
Murong Qingqing opened her mouth to warn.
But at that moment, a black shadow flew out from Qiu Xue Mei's sleeve like a chopstick, fiercely stabbing straight toward Jiang Dali's wrist.
"Die!"
Qiu Xue Mei who should have been dead suddenly opened her eyes wide, filled with murderous intent, her left hand blooming like a lotus as she snapped her fingers with a clear popping noise toward Jiang Dali's throat.
"I knew you weren't dead!"
Jiang Dali sneered coldly suddenly sidestepping the snapping fingers coming at him, his face and entire body's skin and muscles suddenly showing a blue-black tinge, bulging like little broad beans with a fierce surge.
With a squelch, the shadow abruptly bit onto Jiang Dali's wrist but couldn't make a mark. Instead, it was repelled by the swelling sinew, like a tendon bouncing back, and it broke off, fleeing in a panic the moment it hit the ground.
"Iron Cloth Shirt!"
Qiu Xue Mei's face drastically changed, ready to rapidly change her techniques.
A thick arm entwined with bulging veins and tightly knotted muscles was already fiercely barreling toward her.
Hum—
The air trembled mightily.
Qiu Xue Mei's hand hurriedly parried, but in that instant, swoosh swoosh swoosh—
Fist shadows, as if suddenly erupting from all Four Directions, transformed into four ferocious wolves pouncing to kill, making the air seem suffocating in an instant.
Four Directions Fist.
Crack crack crack—
Before she could blink, Qiu Xue Mei's forearm that she used to block was snapped by the blow. Her body laid on the ground too late to avoid it, as a ferocious punch landed squarely on her left chest.
Bang-crack—
It sounded as if a sharp weapon was forcibly piercing through a metal apparatus.
Qiu Xue Mei screamed miserably, her mouth and left chest gushing out blood, her eyes wide open, staring dead at the man in front of her, wearing a conical bamboo hat as if trying to see his face through it.
But in the end, blood bubbled up and flowed out from her mouth.
A streak of white light that only Jiang Dali could see flickered into existence.
"Killing Inner Power Realm martial artist, Gale Whip Qiu Xue Mei, granting over-leveled killing rewards: 60 Potential Points, 30 Cultivation Points, and 30 reputation points in the Martial World."
Jiang Dali exhaled lightly, only after making sure that she was completely void of breath and pulse, and that her heart wasn't beating anymore, did he turn her body over.
The other side was soaked in blood.
A black Little Knife had been thrust through the golden silk armor by the force of his punch, piercing her body, leaving only the hilt exposed.
Disputes of the Martial World are settled within the Martial World; its sons and daughters age within the Martial World.
But in the Martial World, how many actually manage to grow old peacefully?
He looted the travel expenses and spoils from Qiu Xue Mei.
Another prompt appeared.
"Harvested 21 taels of broken silver, one Copper Coin, a third rank Sharp Weapon, one Green Python Whip (slightly worn), and a First Grade protective gear, one piece of golden silk armor (slightly damaged)."
"As expected of an Inner Qi Realm expert, to think she would carry such good items, though unfortunately without any secret martial arts manuals. That's fairly normal; while this world lives up to being somewhat like a game, it's only to an extent. Secret martial arts manuals aren't something everyone just carries around..."
Jiang Dali glanced at the prompt, having completed his assassination task, he could now return to Qingyi Building with his conquests.
In the lingo of the Martial World, "snake" referred to the weapon in a beggar's hand.
In the Martial World, one never lets go of their "snake."
For without it, one loses their life.
Taking Qiu Xue Mei's "snake" meant he had truly killed her.
"Hero, thank you for helping Qingqing avenge the murder of her parents. I honestly don't know how to repay you."
Just then, Murong Qingqing approached, her eyes red as she looked at Qiu Xue Mei's corpse with a feeling of cathartic pleasure in her gaze as she thanked Jiang Dali.
She too was a sufferer of the world's cruelty. Four years ago, her parents were killed by Qiu Xue Mei, and she had resolved to take revenge.
But without Jiang Dali's help, even if she'd used herself as bait, it would have almost certainly been impossible.
Conversely, without Qingqing's assistance, taking down Qiu Xue Mei, who had some notoriety in Yuanzhou and was a disciple of an ancient tomb sect, wouldn't have been easy for Jiang Dali either.
Little Ling sized up Jiang Dali, whose face was shaded by the silk net hanging from his conical bamboo hat, and spoke, revealing her pearly teeth, "Qingqing has taken her revenge, yet I still do not know the name or the true face of the hero."
"You have helped Murong Qingqing achieve her revenge, receiving 20 Cultivation Points, 10 Potential Points, 500 favorability points from Murong Qingqing, and 50 favorability points from the Sky Zither Sect."
"Murong Qingqing's favor toward you has reached the level of respect (Note: When favorability from the opposite sex passes the friendly stage, a lifelong union is possible)."
"The Sky Zither Sect's favor toward you has reached the level of indifference (Note: When favor from the Sky Zither Sect passes the friendly stage, you can receive some assistance from the sect)."
"The favor from the Sky Zither Sect and the rewards of Cultivation Points and Potential Points aren't bad.
As for this Murong Qingqing, I hadn't heard of this woman in my previous life, so her favor probably isn't too useful."
Jiang Dali thought to himself, pointed to his Green Clothes, and said indifferently, "We had no destiny with each other, it was all due to Qiu Xue Mei. The path of the Martial World is long; take care of yourself. If you see this man in Green Clothes in the future, Miss Qingqing, you'd better avoid him."
After speaking, Jiang Dali heard footsteps on the stairs; it seemed that the tavern owner and the waiter below were coming to investigate.
He immediately sidestepped and withdrew, leaping out the window and disappearing before Qingqing's stunned and forlorn expression.
The Mountain Village task was complete. As long as he went back and reported it, he would likely be able to break through to the Inner Qi Realm.
And by that time, those players who were like a plague of locusts would begin to make their entrance en masse.
A new round of bloody rain in the Martial World and endless strife was about to unfold...
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