Chapter 16
Last night’s erotic dream had faded without a trace. Su Jiu stood at the gate with her head drooping, utterly listless. Having the little white rabbit smother her face had felt great...
Looking over at Bai Qianyu, who had changed into casual clothes and looked full of energy, Su Jiu felt a little bitter.
But keeping her up all night, getting her all worked up, and then not letting her touch anything—that was a major offense!!
As if she noticed Su Jiu’s resentful gaze, Bai Qianyu turned around, her ponytail swishing back and forth. Remembering what had happened last night, a blush crept over her face. She said softly, “Sis Jiu, even between girls, we can’t touch each other there...”
Su Jiu replied with dead-fish eyes. So it was fine for you to press that place against my face all night?
Doesn’t your conscience hurt?
“Be careful on the way. I’m off to work.”
Bai Chen’s voice came from outside. He was wearing a helmet and sitting astride an old motorcycle. He waved, then drove off.
At that, Su Jiu surreptitiously took out the map Bai Chen had quietly given her just yesterday, then glanced at the emergency flare in Bai Qianyu’s hand. Without a word, she tucked the map into her skirt pocket. She had a feeling it was a hint.
It meant she could take half the dragon egg in there as payment, but had to leave the other half for Bai Qianyu.
That was what Su Jiu had planned anyway, so she didn’t dwell on it. She checked the dagger clipped to the garter on her white-stockinged thigh, then followed Bai Qianyu toward the creek they’d come to find.
“Splash! Splash! Splash!”
Soon, the sound of water striking rocks reached their ears. A little creek flowed down from the mountainside. Bai Qianyu said softly, “We’re here.”
Su Jiu stepped forward first and filled half her canteen. Holding it up to the sunlight, she saw that the water really did glimmer, as if it contained some rare substance.
Then Su Jiu took a small sip. In an instant, she felt her strength slowly returning, and her mind growing clear and refreshed.
That’s right.
“Let’s head to this spot upstream.” Su Jiu took out the map, studied it for a moment, then pointed to a region marked with enormous rocks.
She wasn’t choosing at random. According to the novel, the male lead had searched for a long time before finding the shattered dragon egg in a rocky area.
The two followed a moss-covered path farther upstream. As the forest grew more and more verdant, the birdsong and cicada calls gradually—and strangely—grew quieter. Su Jiu pulled the dagger from her garter, her expression turning increasingly grave.
This was the first stretch of forest along their route, and Bai Chen had marked it as a place where demon beasts appeared.
After a year of thoroughly studying the Demon Encyclopedia, Su Jiu knew exactly what was going on.
“What’s wrong?”
Bai Qianyu hadn’t yet been through the crucible of war against demon beasts. Seeing Su Jiu take a dagger from beneath her skirt, she was startled.
“Territory! We may have accidentally entered a demon beast’s territory. From what Uncle Bai said last night, this could very well be a Dark Night Tiger’s territory.” A chill radiated from Su Jiu as her enhanced blue pupils swept across their surroundings. Finding nothing, she added, as if to reassure Bai Qianyu,
“But a Lord probably wouldn’t show up in a place like this. It should just be an ordinary Dark Night Tiger.”
“Transformation! I’ll help you.”
Hearing this, Bai Qianyu didn’t ask any questions. She immediately used Transformation, and her pupils turned into vertical slits like Su Jiu’s, though hers were amber-colored.
“You have no experience fighting demon beasts. Focus on protecting yourself,” Su Jiu said gravely.
Then she slowly bent at the waist and quieted her breathing. The Dark Night Tiger had probably already taken them for prey that had trespassed into its territory. All they could do was wait for it to reveal itself first.
“Snap...” Suddenly, a faint twig-breaking sound came from ten meters behind them. Su Jiu spun the dagger in her hand and shot forward like an arrow.
“Found you, kitty.”
Bai Qianyu was still stunned by how fast Su Jiu was.
“Roar!” A thunderous roar sounded behind her. As a top student, Bai Qianyu was quick to react. She leaped several meters back, then turned to look.
Su Jiu darted around a huge black tiger like one of the ghosts from the Assassin’s Hall. The Dark Night Tiger’s prized rapid-strike claws battered at her, but each swipe either missed or scraped against her dagger, sending up dazzling sparks.
“Whoosh! Clang! Whoosh!”
The huge tiger claws, wrapped in some kind of black mist, once again tore through the air with a sharp whoosh. Bai Qianyu estimated they weighed at least three thousand catties. With only a Transformation skill, she couldn’t get involved at all.
“This is already a fight at the Intermediate Warrior level.”
She looked at Su Jiu with concern, the emergency flare clenched tightly in her hand and her palm slick with sweat. But when she saw how calm Su Jiu looked, she couldn’t help relaxing a little.
Looking at the Dark Night Tiger, which was over three meters long, Su Jiu scoffed. She dodged a strike imbued with dark energy, twisted in midair, and landed beneath its belly. Frost instantly surged over her dagger.
“Rip!”
Without changing expression, Su Jiu plunged the dagger straight in. A moment later, her pale hand was smeared with blood. She drove her arm forward, opening a long, chain-shaped gash across its belly.
The Dark Night Tiger froze in surprise. A second later, it crashed to the ground with a “thud.” Blood sprayed like a fountain onto Su Jiu’s stockings, lending her an eerie air as she wiped off her dagger.
Against a demon beast of this level, she didn’t need a technique like Drawn Blade Slash.
Nothing but practice.
“I-it’s dead? Just like that?” Bai Qianyu stammered, feeling as if she were dreaming. Her deskmate had taken down a Dark Night Tiger with such ease—a demon beast that could even give college students trouble.
Could it be true when she said in class that she’d taken down a Blazing Wolf with a single slash?
“Don’t just stand there. Let’s get to the riverbank upstream and wash the blood off. It’ll attract other demon beasts if we don’t.”
Su Jiu slid her dagger back into its garter and returned to looking like an innocent, cheerful little girl—if you ignored the blood on her white stockings and shoes...
They continued on for who knew how long. Along the way, they ran into a few unranked lesser demon beasts, and Su Jiu had Bai Qianyu deal with them herself while she offered advice from the side.
Su Jiu had no interest in keeping the male lead’s younger sister cooped up like a canary.
After another three or four hours, a grassy clearing came into view, and Su Jiu took a deep breath of fresh air.
According to the map, they’d reached a place where people used to gather. It had once been a popular destination for outings, with roads leading here from every direction. But demon attacks on the human world had become more frequent in recent years, and the place had fallen into disuse.
“Someone’s come out here for a picnic? They must have a death wish.”
Just then, Su Jiu spotted several jeeps ahead. Tents covered the lawn not far away, and she could even faintly hear singing and laughter.
She was about to leave, but turned to look at Bai Qianyu, who was in a bit of a sorry state. After the fight, her lips were slightly chapped. Su Jiu sighed softly and said,
“I’ll go get us something to eat. Little Bai, rest for a while.”
Su Jiu planned to go in and buy some food. She’d barely taken a few steps when she saw a familiar face radiating loser vibes, and froze.
“Su Xiaoyu? What are you doing here?”
“Sis?”