Qin Yining had just fallen asleep when she was urgently shaken awake. With a start, she opened her eyes, her heart pounding like thunder.

Sakurai’s face was filled with anxiety. In her panic, she couldn’t speak the Great Zhou language again and couldn’t express herself clearly. She could only pull Qin Yining up and gesture toward the outside.

Qin Yining quickly regained her clarity, hurriedly got up, and followed Sakurai outside.

But just as the two had returned to the main hall, they heard someone approaching from just beyond the door.

Qin Yining’s heart tightened—they probably couldn’t leave through the main gate.

Sakurai clearly understood the urgency of the situation. She grabbed Qin Yining’s wrist and headed toward the back window, urgently pushing it open and first urging Qin Yining to climb through.

At the same time, the front door made a thunderous sound—it had been kicked open with great force!

The bean-sized lamplight in the room flickered violently from the wind that suddenly rushed in. More than ten black-clad masked men wielding sharp blades flooded in like a tide, just in time to see Sakurai’s silhouette climbing through the window.

“Chase them!” came a low male voice, and the black-clad masked men quickly pursued toward the back window.

Sakurai pulled Qin Yining’s wrist and ran, but the speed of these black-clad men far exceeded that of a lame person and a woman. They quickly caught up and completely surrounded Sakurai and Qin Yining.

Qin Yining clenched her teeth, her mind racing at lightning speed.

With so many assassins, why was there no reaction from Tao Hanshan and his men? Had all the guards in the manor been taken down?

Qin Yining immediately shouted sternly: “Who are you people! Do you know my identity! If you harm a single hair on my head, Prince Zhongshun will not spare you!”

She deliberately raised her voice, hoping to spread the sound in the deep silence of night so that people outside would hear the commotion and naturally come to rescue them.

But instead of any response, the lead assassin let out a mocking snort: “It’s you we’re here to kill! Hand over your life!”

The assassins showed no hesitation as they drew their snow-bright blades and surged forward.

Qin Yining’s heart tightened as an unprecedented sense of crisis washed over her, making her hands and feet go cold.

She had no other guards beside her, only Sakurai, but the assassins surrounding them numbered a full twenty.

Despite such a commotion here, they hadn’t drawn Tao Hanshan and the other guards, which meant those people had either met with trouble or there was some other hidden circumstance.

She had no time to think further—the icy blade was already coming straight at her.

Qin Yining’s eyes widened as she quickly tried to dodge, but before she could move, Sakurai had already blocked in front of her, gripping the bamboo sword horizontally and fighting desperately to resist.

Under the moonlight, weapons clashed with a sharp “clang!”

At the same time, another blade came from behind. Sakurai quickly pushed Qin Yining aside with her right shoulder to help her dodge, but her own back had to meet the blade’s edge.

Qin Yining didn’t hear Sakurai cry out in pain, but watched as the assassin’s blade cut a gash across Sakurai’s already injured back, causing blood to gush out immediately, filling her nostrils with the metallic scent.

Yet Sakurai seemed to feel no pain. Using her left hand to grip the sword and her severed arm to protect Qin Yining, despite being lame and weakened by injuries, her speed was still extremely fast.

Qin Yining only saw silver light flashing before her eyes. Before she could clearly see how Sakurai moved, she heard several dull “thud” sounds of blades piercing flesh. In the blink of an eye, three black-clad assassins had fallen motionless.

The encirclement was forcibly torn open by Sakurai, who hurriedly led Qin Yining in fighting retreat.

Her desperate momentum when clashing blades and her eerily swift movements truly possessed considerable intimidation. With three assassins dead, the remaining seventeen actually hesitated for a moment.

Sakurai seized this opportunity to lead Qin Yining toward the courtyard gate.

“Chase them quickly!”

How could the assassins let them escape? The group surged forward again, and this time, knowing Sakurai’s martial skills were formidable, they fought with even greater desperation.

Sakurai had to protect Qin Yining while fending off more than ten people—the situation was truly tense.

But she showed no intention of abandoning Qin Yining to escape alone. She pressed her lips tightly together, protecting Qin Yining seamlessly behind her. Her fierce determination in combat and beast-like eyes made even the assassins feel chilled.

Her swordsmanship, like her own momentum, carried a intimidating ruthlessness—she would rather suffer eight hundred losses to inflict a thousand on the enemy, preferring to let opponents injure her rather than spare their lives.

The assassins relied on superior numbers and had come with purpose, so they naturally weren’t as desperately committed to mortal combat as Sakurai was in protecting Qin Yining. Once they hesitated in their attacks, their weaknesses were immediately exploited. In just a few breaths, several more assassins had fallen.

Sakurai’s right arm protected Qin Yining as she retreated step by step, her eyes sharp as a bird of prey, blood continuously dripping from the tip of her bamboo sword onto the ground.

The assassins seemed to fear Sakurai and didn’t dare approach further.

Through sheer ferocity, Sakurai took advantage of the assassins’ hesitation to immediately lead Qin Yining out of their current courtyard and run toward the front yard of the manor.

“Chase them quickly! Don’t let them escape!”

The assassins pursued again.

As Qin Yining ran, she heard Sakurai’s heavy breathing.

When Sakurai had led her in escape earlier, this was exactly her fighting style—she would clash head-on rather than dodge, trading her own wounds for enemy lives. Not only that, she desperately protected Qin Yining, and when she couldn’t block attacks, she would rather use her own body to absorb them than let Qin Yining suffer the slightest injury.

She had already lost too much blood and was covered in wounds, and today she had gained several new injuries. The pungent smell of blood filled Qin Yining’s nostrils, leaving her with an indescribable feeling in her heart.

“You should go! Their target isn’t you.” As Qin Yining was led in escape by Sakurai, she said, “They want to kill me. With so many assassins, you alone can’t fight them all!”

Sakurai didn’t respond but continued protecting Qin Yining as they fled toward the manor’s main gate, completely ignoring the increasingly close footsteps of the assassins.

Qin Yining said anxiously: “They must want to kill me because they’re enemies of the Prince. You and I only met by chance—if this is for the kindness of a meal, you’ve already repaid countless meals by risking your life to save me earlier. Life is precious—you should leave quickly! There’s no need to die with me!”

“No!” Her tone was resolute and decisive.

As her words fell, the ear-piercing clash of weapons rang out with a sharp “clang.”

The assassins had arrived.

This place was still far from the manor’s main gate. With buildings on both sides and a courtyard wall behind, they formed a dead end. Sakurai used her body to shield Qin Yining within the three walls, forming a barrier.

Because the alley space was limited, the assassins couldn’t all surge forward at once, which truly relieved considerable pressure and prevented Sakurai from having to worry about protecting someone behind her while fighting.

But there were simply too many assassins.

Their martial skills were inferior to Sakurai’s, but they had superior numbers and physical strength. Sakurai was already injured and had spent years hungry and cold. If her former martial skills had been perfect, now only two-tenths remained.

Yet she still clenched her teeth with the posture of one defending a pass against ten thousand, firmly blocking Qin Yining behind her.

Through sheer ferocity, two more assassins died under her blade, while her shoulder and calf gained two new wounds.

Sakurai’s face was pale as paper, her chest heaving violently with heavy breathing, but her expression remained determined, unwilling to yield even half a step.

She knew that if she fell, her master behind her would have no way to survive.

The assassins were clearly intimidated by Sakurai’s superior swordsmanship and ruthless momentum. After hesitating for a moment, none dared approach.

They had originally numbered twenty, but in the blink of an eye, eight had been killed, and the remainder all dared not charge forward. They could only block the alley entrance to prevent escape.

With her own strength alone, Sakurai actually held a standoff with the remaining dozen black-clad masked men for a full tea’s worth of time.

Qin Yining stood in the corner, watching Sakurai’s thin silhouette, her lower lip already bitten bloody. Her gaze gradually moved downward to a small pool of fresh blood on the ground.

That was Sakurai’s blood.

The assassins changed their strategy, adopting wheel-battle tactics to exhaust Sakurai to death. Though Sakurai’s stamina was gradually failing, she still refused to yield. Through swift and fierce swordsmanship, she killed six more in several close combat encounters.

In a short time, the narrow alley was already littered with the corpses of black-clad assassins.

The remaining six assassins became even more reluctant to advance carelessly.

Meanwhile, Sakurai’s clothing had been cut into ragged strips, her blood-soaked wounds gaped open, blood dripping steadily to the ground, yet she still refused to flee alone.

Qin Yining’s eyes were red, her heart pounding violently.

Sakurai couldn’t understand the common people’s words and thought they wanted to kill her, so she brought her out and led her in escape all along the way. Now she refused to abandon her, becoming covered in wounds.

Regardless of whether her actions would bring misunderstanding and trouble, this one person was willing to sacrifice her own life to protect her—such righteousness and devotion was enough to move anyone with a conscience.

Qin Yining thought in a daze that this person’s name “Silly Cry” suited her—she was truly foolish. She had her principles. In her heart, gratitude and loyalty weighed more than her own life. That’s why when Wang the Kind Benefactor betrayed her, she became so dejected. That’s why when Qin Yining merely gave her food and treated her slightly better, she would protect her with her life…

At this moment, Qin Yining only hated that she had no martial skills and couldn’t help at all.

All she could do was stay silently in the corner without making a sound, not letting Sakurai be distracted, not letting Sakurai’s blood be shed in vain. She watched helplessly as Sakurai dragged her crippled arm and disabled leg, covered in wounds, fought desperately against the assassins, continuing to use her own body to build a solid wall for her protection.

But this self-awareness meant she could only watch as her friend was injured blade by blade…

Silver light flashed, and two more assassins had their throats cut.

But before Sakurai could react, another assassin’s blade was already close at hand.

“Watch out!”

Having lost too much blood, Sakurai was already weak all over, her ears ringing, the world blurry before her eyes. In her exhaustion, she couldn’t dodge in time and was stabbed in the abdomen.

A muffled “thud” sound.

Qin Yining watched helplessly as the blade tip pierced straight through Sakurai’s thin back.

Sakurai backhanded to sever the assassin’s arm and thrust her bamboo sword into his heart. Then, swaying, she slowly knelt down as blood quickly pooled at her feet.

Qin Yining could no longer care about anything else. She stumbled forward to support Sakurai’s arm: “Sakurai!”