The four had initially headed north to search for An Jiu but lost their way within a quarter-hour. After aimlessly wandering, they stumbled upon a marked grave without knowing their location.
They immediately recognized it as the dagger symbol from the map. Mei Tingjun, who had the complete route, wanted to retrieve the dagger. But since they couldn’t determine their direction, they weren’t sure which map this dagger belonged to. Mei Tingzhu tried to grab it first, resulting in a fight with Mei Tingjun.
Mei Tingyuan and Mei Tingchun attempted to intervene but, being weaker in martial arts, were caught in the crossfire.
“Mei San!” Mei Tingjun shouted angrily, “You dare compete with me!”
Mei Tingzhu sneered, “What, embarrassed now? Why should all the good things be yours?”
“Sister, calm down. He’s our brother,” Mei Tingyuan said anxiously. “Even I can see this is a trap, a test set by the Old Madam. You’re usually so clever, how can you not see it?”
“Who says I don’t see it?” Mei Tingzhu replied. “Since you know it’s a test, can you guess the answer?”
The answer was simple – absolute obedience to orders.
An Jiu had followed this countless times, even in her final moments of life.
“It’s to complete the mission at all costs,” Mei Tingzhu stared at them, enunciating each word. “In the Crane Control Army, there’s only moving forward, no retreat. If you’re not prepared for this, don’t throw your lives away!”
She shifted her stance slightly, “Come on, whoever wins gets it!”
Mei Tingchun pressed his lips together, stepping back. “My martial arts are poor. I… I quit.”
Mei Tingzhu looked at Mei Tingyuan, “What about you?”
Mei Tingjun and Mei Tingzhu were evenly matched in martial arts, far surpassing their peers. Mei Tingyuan was no match, but she didn’t want to lose her chance to enter the Dark Academy.
“It’s all Mei Shisi’s fault!” Mei Tingyuan’s eyes reddened as she stomped her foot and turned to stand beside Mei Tingchun, also giving up. But she couldn’t help adding, “If Mei Shisi hadn’t taken those two map pieces, we could all pass!”
What a bunch of useless fools!
An Jiu couldn’t help but make this assessment in her heart upon hearing Mei Tingyuan’s words. If the four of them had put their map pieces together, they could easily deduce that the piece in her possession was the southernmost part. Within two hours, they could have found it even by searching each grave one by one!
An Jiu was wrongly accusing them. Mei Tingzhu had also thought of this point. However, there were no directional markers here, and people without specific training in orientation could easily get lost.
“Big Brother, forgive me!” With these words, Mei Tingzhu whipped out a long whip from her sleeve, aiming straight for Mei Tingjun’s neck.
Feeling the force of the attack, Mei Tingjun didn’t dare confront it directly. He swayed slightly, unsheathing the flexible sword at his waist and spinning it into a flower-like pattern to counterattack like an agile snake.
The whip struck the opposite grave mound with a loud crack, sending dead grass flying everywhere. Soil from the graveyard rained down on the dry grass, and even An Jiu, ten zhang away, was affected.
An ordinary whip couldn’t possibly have such force; it must be related to the so-called inner strength. She grew increasingly excited.
Meanwhile, Mei Tingjun’s sword approached within three inches of Mei Tingzhu’s body. She dodged sideways while simultaneously launching another powerful whip attack.
Mei Tingzhu, usually quiet and seemingly gentle, wielded the soft whip with the sharpness of a long sword.
Mei Tingyuan clenched her fists tightly, shifting her feet anxiously. Mei Tingzhu rarely used weapons, yet now she was wielding a whip, showing her determination to obtain the dagger.
“Time’s almost up,” Mei Tingchun furrowed his brow, looking back at the marked grave. Like the others, it was overgrown with weeds, and it was unclear where the dagger might be hidden.
“Indeed!” Without a moon or timekeeping device, Mei Tingyuan could only estimate that time was running short.
Dead grass continually flew up from Mei Tingzhu’s whip wind, drifting down from above.
Seeing the two locked in combat, their forms indistinguishable in the night, Mei Tingchun said, “Let’s look for the dagger first. Otherwise, by the time they settle their fight, none of us will pass.”
Mei Tingyuan gave him a suspicious look.
“What’s that look for? I can’t even beat you, I won’t run off with the dagger!” Mei Tingchun said angrily. “All three of you siblings came, and if none pass, won’t others laugh at us?”
Hearing this, Mei Tingyuan agreed it made sense. “Alright.”
With that, they began carefully searching the grave mound.
How big could a grave mound be? Even searching inch by inch wouldn’t take long. The two searched thoroughly twice but found nothing.
“What’s going on?” Mei Tingchun said. “Do we need to dig up the grave?”
Mei Tingyuan replied, “That seems unlikely. The burial ground is so large, it took us a long time just to find the marker. We didn’t have any tools, and we couldn’t dig up a grave before dawn. The Old Madam probably wouldn’t set such an unreasonable task.”
“Let’s keep looking,” Mei Tingchun continued to search.
Mei Tingyuan muttered while carefully feeling from top to bottom. When she reached the bottom, she noticed her left foot sinking into something soft, different from elsewhere. Her heart leaped, and after a moment’s hesitation, she bent down to feel without calling Mei Tingchun.
Brushing aside the grass and top layer of loose soil, Mei Tingyuan touched something cold and soft.
Her hair stood on end, but curiosity compelled her to explore further.
Suddenly, the thing moved violently, grabbing her wrist tightly and pulling her in. The entire grave mound began to rustle and shift.
Mei Tingyuan was so frightened she forgot to call for help. By the time she reacted, half her arm had been pulled in.
“Fifth Brother! Fifth Brother! Save me!” Mei Tingyuan’s voice broke, her shrill screams piercing the silent night.
Mei Tingchun jumped up, rushed over to assess the situation, and immediately grabbed her arm to pull her up.
“It hurts!” Mei Tingyuan cried out. “My arm’s going to break!”
Mei Tingchun, just a teenager himself, panicked and quickly shouted, “Second Brother, Third Sister, stop fighting and come save Seventh Sister!”
Hearing the cries for help, Mei Tingzhu and Mei Tingjun exchanged a glance, both seeing the determination in each other’s eyes. Not only did they not stop, but they even began using lethal moves.
From An Jiu’s angle, she couldn’t see what danger Mei Tingyuan was in, nor did she care. She only hoped Mei Tingjun and Mei Tingzhu would continue fighting.
The two indeed didn’t disappoint her, each move more fierce than the last. Their movements were fast, but An Jiu’s keen eyes could see clearly. As she watched, she tried to breathe and circulate qi as Mei Yanran had taught her. After a while, she faintly felt a small point of warmth gathering in her dantian.
Inner strength was something An Jiu needed to improve, so she stopped watching the two fight and focused on circulating her qi.
The sounds of fighting and Mei Tingyuan’s cries couldn’t distract her in the slightest. She could feel the qi in her dantian growing. If it had felt like a sesame seed before, now it was at least the size of a soybean.
An Jiu concentrated on gathering qi, lowering her sensory awareness. By the time she guided this warm flow to slowly circulate through her meridians, she noticed breathing very close by!
She steadied herself, discerning that the breathing was about ten times per minute, even and calm, remaining in one place. Determining it wasn’t an immediate threat, she slowly guided the warm flow throughout her meridians. Feeling light and comfortable all over, she opened her eyes to look towards the source of the breathing.
The person was crouching beside her, wearing a sapphire blue robe with a long tear across the chest. His handsome face glowed like an ancient moon, full of excitement, bright eyes fixed on her. “Noble lady…”
An Jiu swiftly covered his mouth with her hand, glaring coldly at him in warning not to speak.
His warm breath tickled her palm, sending a tingling sensation up her arm and throughout her body.
The young man understood her meaning and nodded immediately.
An Jiu released her hand, staring oddly at his mouth for a moment.
The young man touched his lips, thinking, There’s nothing there!
An Jiu glanced towards the others, seeing they were still busy. She grabbed the young man’s collar and dragged him away.
After walking a hundred zhang, An Jiu threw him to the ground. “Get lost.”
The young man moved his lips to say something, but An Jiu cut him off, “I’ll count to three. If you’re not gone, I’ll kill you.”
Before she finished speaking, a dagger was at his throat.
The young man hadn’t even seen when she drew the dagger. He concluded he must have encountered a martial arts expert practicing here. “Noble lady, I’m lost.”
“One.”
“My family is a great house in Bianjing. If you guide me out, we’ll reward you with ten thousand gold taels.”
Even the imperial court’s disaster relief rarely exceeded ten thousand silver taels. He offered ten thousand gold taels right away, which would make any ordinary person realize his family was no common wealthy household. Unfortunately, he was now dealing with someone who had no concept of money.
An Jiu once had vast wealth, yet ate only the simplest food provided by her organization. She never had anything she needed to buy. “Two.”
The young man’s eyes widened as he declared grandly, “My surname is Hua!”
An Jiu’s hand suddenly increased pressure, frightening the young man into hastily retreating. However, blood still welled up on his neck.
An Jiu turned to leave.
“Noble lady, save me! If you abandon me, I’ll die!” The young man clutched his neck, face pale, carefully following her.
She stopped, turning to look at him coldly. “If you want to die now, keep following.”
The young man stood rooted, watching her leave resolutely. When she was out of sight, his face fell, and he said angrily, “Enchantress.”
Whack!
A stone the size of an infant’s fist accurately struck his head, instantly raising a large bump on his smooth, jade-like forehead.
The young man covered his forehead with one hand and his neck with the other, not daring to speak further. His dark eyes stared in the direction An Jiu had gone.
He recalled the plum blossom embroidered on the girl’s shoes, his eyes brightening slightly.
He had seen many women claimed to be peerless beauties, but none compared to this girl. Her beauty was neither too bold nor too plain, with a long neck and a figure just beginning to show grace. Her appearance was otherworldly, incomparable. Even her killing intent had a unique charm. Most striking were her eyes, incredibly clear, showing nothing but that killing intent.
The young man pondered for a moment, then ran eastward, clutching his neck—if he didn’t bandage it soon, he really would die!