"Uncle Wu... please... save me..." Ling Er sobbed again, her voice trembling.
"Shut up," Su Xiaobai laughed, his voice light with amusement.
It was absurd, really.
Any one of these men could probably kill him if they tried hard enough, but the thrill of seeing them so tense—so powerless—sent a shiver of excitement through him.
There's nothing quite like playing with your life.
With one arm wrapped around the princess's waist, he felt the softness of her body, delicate and fragile, her frame as light as a willow leaf.
He grinned to himself, knowing how close he held her fate.
Wu Jian's analysed instantly, his thoughts frantic. 'He's calling for reinforcements.' The red smoke wasn't just a bluff—it was a signal, a way for Su Xiaobai to buy time.
But how could he get out of this situation without endangering the princess?
He cursed himself for letting Su Xiaobai get so close in the first place.
If he had been just a little more alert, Su Xiaobai wouldn't have been able to surprise them so easily.
But now, they were all caught in his schemes.
Wu Jian had no choice but to wait, bide his time, and look for an opening.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hei, who had been silently munching on her rabbit, finally lifted her head.
Her eyes flicked from Su Xiaobai to the guards, observing them without a hint of concern.
There were seventeen guards total, excluding Wu Jian.
Six of them were Nascent Soul cultivators, the rest in Core Formation—all of them now pointing their swords at Su Xiaobai.
Xiao Hei's once soft face twisted, her eyes going cold as her hands stiffened into razor-sharp claws.
The forest seemed to hold its breath as she shot forward like a beast.
Puchi!
The first Core Formation guard barely had time to scream.
Blood sprayed in a violent arc as Xiao Hei's claws tore through his throat, his body collapsing to the ground with a thud.
His comrades, still processing the horror before them, blinked in disbelief.
"What the—?!"
Before the guards could react, Xiao Hei was already on the next one.
Puchi! Puchi!
Her claws ripped through flesh and bone like they were nothing.
One guard's head went flying, his eyes still wide in shock.
Another guard's chest was torn open, his ribs shattered as his body fell in a twitching heap, blood pooling around him.
"W-What the hell is she?!" one of the remaining guards screamed, stumbling back in sheer panic, his sword trembling in his hands.
His breath came in ragged gasps, terror written across his face.
"She's a demon! A fucking demon!" another shouted, his voice breaking as he tried to rally the others.
But it was too late—fear had already taken root.
The guards, supposed to be trained warriors, were frozen in place, their minds unable to comprehend the nightmare before them.
They had heard tales of monsters, but nothing had prepared them for this.
Xiao Hei moved like a shadow through the panicked chaos, her eyes gleaming with a bloodthirsty smile.
Puchi! Puchi!
Another two guards fell, their bodies slumping lifelessly to the ground, their heads rolling across the dirt.
The once lush forest floor was now stained red, littered with the twitching remains of warriors who had been torn apart in seconds.
Even Wu Jian, with all his years of battle experience, couldn't hide his horror.
His hands trembled on the hilt of his sword as he tried to keep his eyes on Su Xiaobai, but the sheer brutality around him was too much to ignore.
"Stay together!" he barked, his voice breaking slightly, though he tried to regain control. "Form a line! Protect the princess! Block that girl!"
But the Core Formation cultivators were already dead, their bodies scattered like rag dolls, their faces twisted in eternal terror.
The six Nascent Soul experts tried to move into formation, but even they couldn't fully track Xiao Hei's movements.
"Fuck! She's too fast!" one of the Nascent Soul experts gasped as he narrowly dodged a strike, only for Xiao Hei's claws to rake across his side, tearing through his armor and leaving a deep, bloody gash.
"Arhghhhh...."
His scream echoed through the forest as he stumbled backward, clutching his side.
"Retreat! Fall back!" another shouted, his voice quivering as he swung wildly at the air, missing Xiao Hei completely.
Su Xiaobai tightened his grip on the terrified Princess Ling Er, his eyes watching with surprise.
The princess, pale as a ghost, trembled in his arms.
The guards who had once been her protectors were now nothing but bodies strewn across the ground.
Blood was everywhere—splashing against trees, pooling beneath lifeless forms, dripping from severed limbs.
Hands, still twitching in their final moments, lay scattered like discarded pieces of meat.
Heads rolled, their blank eyes staring up at the sky as if questioning how they had ended up in such a hellish fate.
"This... This is a demon!" one of the guards screamed as he backed away, his sword falling from his hand, fear overriding every instinct he had left.
Swoosh!
Xiao Hei landed on top of the carriage with an acrobatic backflip, her small form drenched in the blood of her victims.
Her crimson eyes gleamed, and her lips twisted into a faint, almost innocent smile as she stared down at the remaining guards, as if daring them to move forward.
Su Xiaobai was hers to kill; how dare they think they could steal her prey?
Wu Jian's knew they were doomed if he didn't think of something fast. "Stand your ground!" he shouted, but the fear in his voice betrayed him.
He had initially wanted to take Xiao Hei as a hostage to turn the situation around, but now it was impossible
Su Xiaobai let out a hearty laugh, "She's doing a fantastic job, isn't she?" He glanced over at Xiao Hei, still standing gracefully atop the carriage like a demonic queen surveying her domain. "The little Nizi is even more useful than I thought… not a bad decision at all..."
His words sent a fresh wave of terror through the remaining guards.
The Nascent Soul experts tried to regroup, their eyes darting between Su Xiaobai and Xiao Hei, knowing that this situation was spiraling beyond their control.
Meanwhile, Ling Er whimpered, her entire body trembling. So much blood. So much death.
The once proud guards were nothing but broken bodies, their blood painting the ground.
"Uncle Wu, please... save me, she is scary!" she sobbed, her voice barely more than a whisper, her entire body frozen in terror.
"Shut up," Su Xiaobai laughed, tightening his grip around her waist.
The thrill of seeing the once-confident guards reduced to trembling cowards was intoxicating. "You're next if they don't figure something out."
Xiao Hei, perched above, tilted her head slightly, her crimson eyes scanning the scene below.