Wūyā (Crow) never in a million years expected a top-tier expert like Dugu Jian to be by Ye Shishi's side. He had made a fatal mistake from the very beginning.
Had he known that Dugu Jian was with Ye Shishi, Wūyā would never have chosen to reveal himself in this manner.
Now, Wūyā had become prey in Dugu Jian's eyes, and with someone like Dugu Jian targeting him, Wūyā's chances of escaping were virtually zero.
However, "virtually" was the key word. Wūyā had no intention of surrendering; he would make a final struggle.
"Beep, beep, beep—"
Just as Dugu Jian gripped his heavy sword and swung it down with immense force, he blocked his right arm in front of himself. To everyone's surprise, Wūyā's right arm was a mechanical prosthetic, akin to Iron Man's arm.
Yet, even such a mechanical arm was instantly severed in two when struck by Dugu Jian's sword. Wūyā himself was swept away by the powerful sword energy hundreds of meters, finally crashing heavily onto a stone tablet, cracking it with countless fissures. He spat out a large mouthful of blood.
"Not bad. To be able to dodge two of my swords, he can indeed be considered an expert."
Looking at Wūyā, who was coughing up blood and whose pupils were dilated, Ye Shishi smiled at Dugu Jian and said, "He's the first person who hasn't died after you've drawn your sword twice, right?"
"Two swords?"
Dugu Jian heard her and replied indifferently, "If I truly intended to kill him, he wouldn't have been able to dodge even the first sword. I spared his life for a moment so you could know who wanted to harm you."
"Thank you—"
Ye Shishi expressed her gratitude to Dugu Jian with a smile, then turned her gaze to Wūyā and asked, "Who sent you?"
"Ye Shishi, do you think I would tell you?"
Wūyā's internal organs had been shattered by Dugu Jian's terrifying sword energy, and he was barely clinging to life. Facing Ye Shishi's question, Wūyā let out a cold laugh. "Ye Shishi, I truly underestimated you. I never expected a bank owner like you to have an unparalleled expert like Dugu Jian protecting her. I should have investigated your background thoroughly before making a move."
"You didn't underestimate me; you overestimated yourself."
Ye Shishi smiled. "In Nanling, I have many rivals, but none of them would dare to attack me. We are engaged in commercial competition, not to the point of infringing upon each other's personal safety. Therefore, I suspect you weren't sent by my business rivals, but by my romantic rival, correct?"
"Gu Qinghan's disappearance from the wedding is something I've always been curious about. I had no clue at first, but now I do. It was you, wasn't it, who made Gu Qinghan disappear?"
"She is my good sister. Although we don't always see eye to eye, it doesn't mean others can harm her."
Ye Shishi looked at Wūyā, her smile vanishing abruptly. "Tell me Gu Qinghan's whereabouts, and I'll grant you a swift death. Otherwise, before you die, you will be sliced into a thousand pieces."
"If you want to know Gu Qinghan's whereabouts, you've come to the wrong person, because I don't know where she is either."
Wūyā's smile was chilling. "I thought I was certainly going to die, but now, it seems I won't, because my companion has come to save me."
"What?"
Hearing Wūyā's words, Ye Shishi's expression changed. At that moment, thousands of white birds suddenly flew out, attacking Ye Shishi with extreme ferocity.
"Miss, be careful."
Seeing so many birds attacking Ye Shishi, Dugu Jian shouted and moved in front of her. With a swing of his greatsword, the thousands of birds were instantly crushed.
This process was not long, not even five seconds. But during the brief moment Dugu Jian was protecting Ye Shishi, a woman in white appeared before Wūyā. After quickly stuffing a white pill into Wūyā's mouth, she looked at him and fled.
The white-clad woman's Qinggong was incredibly refined, and her speed was astonishing. In the blink of an eye, she was hundreds of meters away.
"You think you can just leave like that?"
Dugu Jian looked at the woman's retreating back, a cold smile gracing his lips. The long wooden sword at his waist shot out rapidly and, in a flash, pierced the white-clad woman's chest from behind.
Logically, with such a severe injury, the white-clad woman should have been unable to escape further.
However, to the surprise of both Dugu Jian and Ye Shishi, the white-clad woman did not stop. She looked at Wūyā and escaped the scene.
"Such a waste of a wooden sword. What a shame."
After the white-clad woman disappeared, Dugu Jian said regretfully, "Looks like I'll have to carve another one myself."
"A Jian, can you tell their background?"
After Dugu Jian finished speaking, Ye Shishi walked over and asked with a smile.
"I can't. Because they didn't reveal any of their abilities in front of me, I can't tell what organization they belong to just by observing their moves." Dugu Jian replied. "Both of them have already reached the mid-stage Earth realm in their martial cultivation, and they achieved this without taking any forbidden drugs. They have considerable backing. However, for your safety, I could only let them leave."
"Among your romantic rivals, there are people who can casually dispatch two mid-stage Earth realm experts to deal with you?"
Ye Shishi sighed upon hearing this. "I can't guess who they belong to either. I was just testing Wūyā earlier, but I believe I'll find out soon enough."
"A Jian, I must thank you today. If not for you, I would have met with misfortune by now."
Dugu Jian heard her and said calmly, "You don't need to thank me. You should thank Shen Lang, because it was he who pinpointed your location and asked me to come and save you."
Upon hearing this, Ye Shishi unconsciously smiled tenderly and said no more.
At the same moment, Wang Yuyan, who was waiting at home for Shen Lang to return for dinner, received a phone call.
"Miss, I apologize. The mission failed."
Wang Yuyan answered the phone, and Wūyā's weak voice came from the other end. "I'm severely injured. My internal organs were shattered, and Bai Niao (White Bird) was also pierced through the chest by a sword while saving me. If not for 'Hope', we would be dead by now."
"Oh? To have both of you injured to this extent, it seems the other party is no ordinary person. Is there a master by Ye Shishi's side?" Wang Yuyan asked nonchalantly with a smile.
"Yes, Miss. Dugu Jian is by Ye Shishi's side." Wūyā replied. "Her sword is even more terrifying than rumored. If she hadn't been protecting Ye Shishi, Bai Niao and I would have been decapitated. Miss, you must be careful of this person."
Wang Yuyan's expression remained calm. She smiled and said, "Dugu Jian, I've heard of her. I didn't expect her to make both of you retreat in defeat. It seems the first step to clearing the obstacle that is Ye Shishi is to deal with her."
"Wūyā, although you failed the mission this time, I don't blame you. I can only blame myself for not understanding Ye Shishi's background thoroughly. Rest well, and don't worry about what happens next. I will find an opponent for Dugu Jian."