As their eyes met, Yi Jiang felt a shiver down his spine. And to make things worse, he couldn't help but blink and the red eyes were no longer there. But even then, he knew now who did it.
"It was the woman! The woman was the expert all along!" he shouted.
The others looked at him with surprise but after hearing her voice, they knew to trust him.
"Shit! Was she just hiding her strength all along? Was it all just a game to her?"
The thoughts raced through his mind as his eyes darted around, trying to spot those red eyes once more. Even then, he couldn't find them anymore. No matter where he looked, those red eyes were gone now.
Gulping down, he took a deep breath. slowly waving his sword around.
"Come out of here!" he shouted, "We know who you are!"
Despite his words, there was nothing in response. All that he could hear was the rustling of leaves and grass.
And it was dark.
With how thick the brush was, barely any moonlight was coming through. They could hardly see their surroundings and that made it so much worse for them.
"Where could she be? Where?!"
Yi Jiang and the others had their eyes wide open, just waiting for something to happen. With how quiet things were, they could hear their own heart beating loudly. That very sound made them tense up, the drumming just pounding in their ears.
But then, something cut through all of that noise, it was... crying?
All of them perked up, listening ever so closely to the sound of a woman's cries. It was soft but all of them heard it, so full of sadness and despair, haunting even.
"She's there."
With Yi Jiang leading the way, the four quickly moved, sprinting towards the source of that crying. Perhaps it was a trap, bait to lure them in but it didn't matter in their eyes. Trying to escape would lead them to the same fate as their comrades, at the very least, fighting would give them a chance to survive.
"Do not hesitate and do not even think for a second, about sparing her. The moment you see her, you kill her."
His words came out coldly and as calmly as he could muster. His men nodded, adjusting and tightening their grip on their weapons. The closer they came, the louder the crying became until it suddenly stopped.
And then a figure shot out of the darkness!
All that they could see were the glowing red eyes as one of their comrades was taken.
"Wha- no!"
They screamed out, waving their sword around as Xue Lan grabbed him by the neck and escaped into the darkness. What followed was the chilling sound of a neck snapping and bones cracking. There were muffled screams and then nothing.
"Stay close! Cover each other's backs!" he shouted.
The remaining three put their backs against each other.
"Shit, shit, shit, was she an expert? Someone from the Spirit Realm?! Why? Did someone offend her?"
Thoughts continued to race through his mind, trying to make sense of the situation. But such thinking was interrupted as laughter echoed out, reverberating through the trees. It was as if she was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Their eyes were wide open, darting around as fear began to grow within them. Their will could only endure for so long.
"Ehehehehe, ahahahahah! Come! Weren't you looking for me?"
Xue Lan's voice rang out, causing them to panic even more.
Yi Jiang held tightly to his sword, looking for her. Not a moment later, his eyes stopped as he finally saw two glowing red eyes. They were completely still, piercing and almost enchanting even. But he wasn't going to fall victim to them so easily.
"Ragh!"
Gathering his power, he swung his sword out, shouting as he sent off a flying slash of lightning!
It was bright and swift, illuminating everything in its path as it headed straight for Xue Lan's location. But she was no longer there. Instead, she sprinted forward revealing herself to them!
"There, attack!"
Yi Jiang charged forward as his remaining men followed, charging straight for her.
As both sides were about to clash, he raised his sword to attack only to miss as she completely ignored him. Xue Lan went for the ones behind him instead.
Raising both hands, she grabbed the two men by the face, dragging them off and slamming both of them into the tree trunks. A sharp crack could be heard as their heads were turned to mush. Just like that, their bodies turned limp before falling to the ground after she released her grasp.
Now it was just her against him.
Yi Jiang looked at her back, there was nothing but shock on his face as he just stood there. Just that show of brutality had caused him to freeze but when she turned around to look at him, he truly felt fear.
There was something unsettling about those eyes of hers. Glowing red and wide open, it did not help that a grin was on her face and blood splattered all over her.
He looked at her, taking a good look now.
"It's her, it really was the woman all this time", he muttered crazily to himself.
Her hair was untied and let loose, somewhat messy from the chase. Aside from that, she had the golden breastplate, the robes, the trousers, and the black nail guards on her hands.
On one end, he recognized her from the reports and the drawings but on the other hand. she seemed completely different from what he had read.
Yi Jiang just couldn't believe it.
"It was you all along."
Suddenly, he shook himself out of that trance and held his sword tightly, pointing it at her.
Seeing him take a stance at her, Xue Lan continued to stare at him with a smile on her face. Walking up to him, she did so casually, as if to show that she wasn't worried at all. As tightly as he held that sword, the man trembled in fear.
How could he not?
"Y-you... who are you? Why would you do this?" he asked her.
The woman stopped, tilting her head ever so slightly at his words.
"What do you mean? Weren't you looking for me? Didn't you want to find me? Isn't that what you wanted?" she replied, taking each step slowly.
He began to back off, keeping the distance between them the same.
"But this... this is too much... This is insanity. Yo- are you an evil cultivator?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, Xue Lan immediately closed the gap, walking right up to him. The grin was gone, replaced with a frown coupled with a powerful glare.
"What about it? Is there a problem?!" she questioned.
He flinched, trying his best to look away but her eyes would not let him do so.
"N-no."
His voice came out meekly. A warrior such as him had suddenly been reduced to such a state, a coward of a man. Xue Lan narrowed her eyes as she looked down at him, she towered over him, standing nearly a head over his.
"Tell me, why are you searching for me? Who sent you?" she asked.
"I- it's because of what happened days ago. When the... city prison had been stormed in by an evil cultivator named 'Shen Yuan'."
"Shen Yuan? That was his name?"
Xue Lan thought back to the person she killed. Because of them, she had become one of them.
"After causing trouble and running off, one of the guards saw that you came out with him. Under the command of the City Lord and the Four Noble Clans, an investigation was put underway. Hence we began to track everything we could to find out what happened."
"The City Lord and the Four Noble Clans..."
"Yes, yes! But part of our group has been sent back! Everyone thinks that some passing expert had dealt with them. They've probably put a stop to the investigation now. If yo- if you were to let me go, I can return and tell them that there is nothing left here! I can close the investigation and no one will be coming after you!"
He spoke quickly, trying his best to reason with her.
"You'd do that?" she asked him.
Her look softened up and that was a sign for him to push forward.
"Yes! Of course! I promise you that I can end the investigation! You won't have to be worried about getting chased off or killed. I mean, no one knows what exactly happened here so, you'll be safe. I can guarantee it."
She was quiet for a moment, pondering the option that he gave her. Her eyes shifted away from him before going back, smiling as she leaned forward.
"As great as it sounds, you're much more useful to me like this."
Yi Jiang's smile suddenly vanished as his body froze, he looked down, seeing a hand pierced right into his chest. He could feel it, his heart was in her grasp.