Meng Yinuo simply strode forward, ignoring the man's question completely.
The white-robed cultivator waved his sword defensively, careful of his every move. His partner was just killed so easily by Yinuo that he wondered if she was a master who was just hiding her cultivation. His earlier courage was no longer present, his heart was beating fast, and his nerves were sharpened to the limit.
"I'm warning you, whoever you are, you wouldn't fare well facing my blade!"
"..."
When Meng Yinuo continued to close the distance between them, the man felt danger. In a flash, he waved his sword in a complicated path. An illusion of three more swords appearing alongside his thrust was reflected in Yinuo's eyes.
"[Phantom Blade: Quad Thrust]!"
With complete confidence, the man was assured of his victory. Given the distance between them and the speed of his sword, it was already too late for Yinuo to do anything to dodge. Well, that is if she's dodging anyway.
"...!"
A magnificent scene, rarely seen nowadays, spread before his eyes. Yinuo, using her index and middle fingers, caught the real blade without breaking a sweat. The man was surprised, and scared, as when he tried to pry away his sword, Yinuo's two fingers were clamping at it tightly, not budging an inch.
"Damn it! Don't you dare look down on me!"
At that instant, his Qi rapidly expanded, covering his sword along with his entire body. When seen from afar, it would seem like his entire body was burning in a yellow flame, but it was nothing but an illusion caused by his raging Yang Qi.
"I am the finest disciple of the Kang Sect, Gu Tian! In the name of the Kang Sect, I'll take your life!"
"Kang Sect?" Yinuo's voice echoed shakily. "Did you just say... Kang Sect?"
Seeing how shaken Yinuo had become, the man believed that Yinuo had heard of, and was scared of the Kang Sect. They were an infamous sect, one that would play their hands in anything that would be profitable, after all.
"That's right! Too bad, it's too late for you to apologize!"
Gathering his Qi to the tip of his blade, he then waved it as if drawing a line bisecting Yinuo horizontally. "Take this! [Phantom Blade: Sun Beam]!"
A bright flash of light exploded from the tip of the blade, enough to blind anyone seeing it directly for a brief moment. Yinuo didn't even blink, her eyes taking in the flash in its full splendor. However, rather than feeling pain, she was still muttering words to herself.
"The Kang Sect... the one who razed our family in the past... You're saying you're one of them?!"
*CRACKLE!*
With a brief cracking sound, the light faded. The man from Kang Sect, Gu Tian, was frozen in place, standing behind Yinuo with a confident smile on his face. He was frozen eternally, along with his soul, without even realizing it.
Yinuo sighed, her breath a pure white fog as her lips cracked from the biting cold. Despite her injuries, she still strode forward, reaching Xiyadie's side, who was still hung on the X-shaped torture apparatus, The Cross. For some reason, even though the entire room was frozen solid, only the area around Xiyadie remained as is. A testament to the astoundingly precise control that Meng Yinuo had.
Her hands were cuffed, but with a single touch, the clasps broke open, releasing Xiyadie and causing her to fall toward Yinuo. After doing the same with the clasps holding her ankle, Xiyadie was finally free.
Yinuo took off her Hanfu's outer layer, wrapping it around Xiyadie. It was fortunate that she was still alive, but thinking about the possibility of her being late and something bad happening to Xiyadie in the process, she couldn't help but feel anger.
"Quinlan...!"
Of course, nobody but the other person controlling her body was the only one she could blame. If Quinlan had only watched over Xiyadie carefully, then such a thing wouldn't have happened.
The time for the switch was running out. To ensure their safety, Yinuo ran at the fastest speed she could without harming Xiyadie, jumping over the roofs and reaching the main road in a few minutes.
Just as she let go of Xiyadie, the system window's notification popped up.
[Warning! The Effect of the Switch Card will run out in 10 seconds.]
Seeing that she no longer had time, Yinuo stared at Xiyadie's face one last time. Her eyes blurred from the tears gushing out like a clear stream. "Xiyadie, don't worry. I'll make sure you recover completely."
There were only a few seconds left, and using that remaining time, Yinuo clapped her palms together, causing a resounding echo. "[Forbidden Technique: Life Transfer]!"
A peaceful, bright blue light covered the two, but Yinuo's face started to twitch from pain.
Xiyadie's body was recovering rapidly. Her wounds healed, like a video being played in reverse. Instead, the wounds started to appear all over Yinuo at the exact same locations previously on Xiyadie's body. It was as if she was taking Xiyadie's injuries in her stead.
Just as the technique concluded, the Switch Card ran out of time. Yinuo's vision darkened once more.
---
Turning back time a little, just before Yinuo used the Switch card, Quinlan was having difficulty breathing. Right after she went radio silent, the bulky man sent another punch to Quinlan's gut, practically crushing his internal organs if not for the trace amount of Qi protecting them by default.
"Kha kha! Look at you, a puny woman trying to struggle against me! Nothing gets more futile than that!"
The large man went and grabbed Quinlan by the face, holding him in a vice grip. "Arrrgh!"
Pain ran through his entire body, enough that his consciousness almost faded. However, at that instant, a blue window appeared within his view.
[Warning! Meng Yinuo is activating the Switch Card. You will switch bodies in 3 seconds!]
'Switch Card!'
The sound of this unfamiliar item, whose function was easy to guess, made Quinlan realize three things. One is that you can claim the reward in advance. Two, Quinlan and Yinuo's rewards aren't exactly the same thing. And three, "You guys are dead!"
Just as he left those words, his sight darkened.
When his vision returned, the first thing that he saw was a devastated hospital room, with random things scattered all around the place. Quinlan quickly glanced around him and noticed the girl who had fallen and fainted, leaning against the wall with a bloodied forehead.
"Is that... the chairman's daughter?"