At precisely midnight.
As a startled night bird, flapping its wings, burst from a small grove in a park and soared into the sky, Su Nanyin, resting her left hand on her cheek in the Victoria guest room, picked up her phone.
From the phone came a man's low report.
"I knew he would do this."
After listening, Su Nanyin sighed silently, then faintly commanded, "Track him. After he leaves Qingyun Realm, kill him!"
"Yes."
The hidden blade answered, and the call ended.
Su Nanyin put down her phone, her sleepiness completely gone.
She rolled over and sat up, got out of bed, and walked to the window.
About a kilometer from Victoria was a small park.
Besides possessing a youthful beauty that made people mistake her and her daughter for sisters when they walked on the street, Su Nanyin had no special abilities like X-ray vision or super hearing.
Of course, she couldn't see or hear what was happening in the small park.
But based on her subordinate's report, she could imagine it in her mind.
"Kid, I know you'll hate me for doing this."
"The image of a sweet girl I painstakingly created for you will be completely shattered."
"You'll see my true nature as a scheming, heartless old witch."
"But I can't help it."
"Being hated by you forever versus many people potentially dying at Dai Paipai's hands in the future, I will resolutely choose the former."
"I only hope you don't transfer your hatred for me to Mao Mao Chong and the others."
Su Nanyin murmured to herself, then gave a self-mocking laugh and lowered the curtain.
Blocking out the bright moon, like a silver plate, in the sky.
The bright moon hung high in the sky!
It was now 2:30 AM—
A car speeding out of the Qingyun territory suddenly braked sharply and stopped by the roadside.
The car door opened.
A woman with disheveled hair, in disheveled clothes, and with no idea where her shoes had gone, jumped out of the car.
Her face was streaked with tears.
Her eyes, scanning her surroundings, were filled with the fear of the unknown future and the confusion of having lost everything.
She stumbled into a wheat field.
She staggered north through the wheat field for several hundred meters, passed through a forest, and arrived at the bank of a river.
With a splash.
She fell heavily to her knees, looked up at the sky, and her hoarse voice sounded chillingly, "Why are you doing this to me? Who can tell me what I've done wrong?"
No one answered her question.
Only the night wind rustling through the trees, causing yellowing leaves to dance like sprites and flutter to the ground.
Some even landed on the river's surface.
Carried eastward by the gently flowing water.
The woman stopped shouting.
She knelt there stiffly, staring blankly at the river surface, and after a long while, took out her phone.
She opened it.
On the screen was a photo of her and a man.
The man's slightly childish face, in the darkness of the night, made her love him even more.
She had thought—
After being received by the legendary Lord of the Dragon Ruins last night, she would no longer have to worry about her limited lifespan of only one year.
After all, someone as powerful as the Lord of the Dragon Ruins should not find it difficult to save a small woman like her, right?
Then she could live a happy, shameless life with the man she loved forever.
But who could have imagined—
The woman stared dotingly at the man on the screen, gave a silent, tragic laugh, and lowered her head to kiss the screen.
A full half-minute later.
She raised her head, pressed the phone tightly to her chest, and struggled to stand up, walking step by step down the riverbank.
She felt that disappearing into this river was her only true destination!
The river water, covering her ankles, was truly cold.
She shivered violently when she suddenly heard a man's hoarse command in her ear, "Paipai, live on! You must live on strongly! If you remain this kind in the future, I will bring you back. If you truly become a monster, I will kill you myself. But you must live on now!"
"Dad!"
The woman turned around abruptly.
The bright moon hung high in the sky.
The night wind blew gently.
Where was the shadow of that man?
What she had heard was just her own auditory hallucination.
But even so, her desire to drown herself in the river instantly vanished.
"I will live on."
"I will always hold onto my kind heart and live on."
"I will wait for the day you come to take me back!"
The woman murmured to herself, then quickly got out of the river.
She suddenly had hope again, and found a new purpose in life.
That was to live on—
To live on kindly!!!
Just then, two dark figures slowly emerged from the woods.
Upon seeing these two dark figures, the woman's burning hope was instantly extinguished.
An invisible, silent fear quickly enveloped her.
She stared blankly at the two dark figures, and after a moment, trembled uncontrollably and asked, "Are, are you here to kill me?"
"We are very sorry."
One of the hidden blades replied, "Tonight, you must die. But don't worry, we will ensure you die without any pain."
The other hidden blade added, "You only need to close your eyes and pretend you are going to rest."
"But, but I don't want to die!"
The woman instinctively retreated and asked hoarsely, "You, you're not sent by my dad, are you?"
The two hidden blades remained silent.
One of them took out a short knife.
The blade, flashing in the moonlight, reflected a blinding cold gleam!
They walked quickly towards the woman.
"Don't come any closer!"
The woman continued to retreat.
But the steps of the two hidden blades clearly quickened.
The woman understood.
She had to die tonight!
She stopped retreating and said loudly, "I will only ask you one question, and I implore you to answer truthfully, then I will die."
The two hidden blades stopped.
One of them said, "Ask."
The woman stared intently into one of their eyes and asked, "Were, were you sent by my dad?"
"No."
The knife-wielding hidden blade placed his hand on his chest, "I can swear that Li Qianfan does not know that we have been tracking you from a certain park all the way here."
That's good.
That's good.
That's good—
The woman smiled tragically, repeating these three words, closed her eyes, and stretched her swan-like neck towards the moon.
The knife-wielding hidden blade raised his short knife!
But a cold woman's voice came from behind, "Let her go."
Who!?
The two hidden blades turned sharply.
The woman, who had been stretching her neck to die, also opened her eyes.
And then they saw a person wearing a black baseball cap, a large mask, and all black clothing, walk out from the woods.
The night wind blew.
Her long hair flew!
This was a woman.
"Who are you?"
One of the hidden blades asked in a deep voice.
The woman in black did not stop walking, and her voice, sounding very strange, replied, "I am, Bai Du Niao."
Bai Du Niao?
Could you be the Bai Du Niao who caused a bloody storm in Dongyang and Gallia a while ago!?
The two hidden blades were startled and instinctively looked at each other.
But even if the woman in black was the legendary Bai Du Niao, the two hidden blades would never allow her to disrupt their mission.
They didn't say anything like "Mind your own business" to the woman claiming to be Bai Du Niao.
Instead, the knife-wielding hidden blade suddenly lunged at Bai Du Niao.
The other hidden blade also drew a short knife and lunged directly at Dai Paipai!
One to engage Bai Du Niao.
One to kill Dai Paipai.
The two hidden blades had a clear division of labor the moment the situation changed, proving they were indeed masters selected by Li Wujiang and Su Nanyin from the elite forces of various regions.
"Sorry! This will hurt a little!"
The hidden blade lunging at Dai Paipai aimed his knife with extreme ferocity and lightning speed towards her neck.
"Ah—"
Dai Paipai had no awareness to dodge and could only let out an instinctive scream, closing her eyes.
She waited for the moment her throat was cut, for the sharp pain.
None.
There was no pain, meaning Dai Paipai waited for what felt like an eternity but never felt the sharp pain of her throat being cut by the short knife.
"What's going on?"
Dai Paipai slowly opened her eyes.
And saw that the two knife-wielding hidden blades had already fallen to the ground.
The woman who claimed to be Bai Du Niao stood not far in front of her.
Dai Paipai quietly looked at the woman and after a long while asked, "You, killed them?"
"No."
Bai Du Niao shook her head, "I only knocked them out to stop them from killing you."
Dai Paipai asked again, "Why, did you save me?"
"Because your dad and I are both Bai Du Niao."
Bai Du Niao said calmly, "I will kill those your dad wants to kill. I will protect those your dad wants to protect. It's that simple."
Before Dai Paipai could say anything.
Bai Du Niao turned and looked in the direction of Qingyun City, "Go! No matter where you go, don't come back to Qingyun."
Dai Paipai bit her lip hard and walked quickly towards the woods.
From behind, Bai Du Niao's voice came again, "Remember! What you said to yourself."
"What did I say?"
Dai Paipai turned her head to look.
Bai Du Niao replied, "You must always, uphold your kind heart!"
"I, will never forget."
Dai Paipai met her gaze for a moment, then nodded forcefully, hugged her phone tightly to her chest again, lowered her head, and disappeared into the woods.
Through the gaps in the trees, after watching a car speed away, Bai Du Niao let out a soft sigh.
She bent down and took a phone from one of the unconscious hidden blades.
She found Su Nanyin's contact information, hesitated for a moment, and tapped her thumb.
Calling Su Nanyin!