Meng Fuyao let go of her belt.

Her pants dropped immediately, but so did her robe, which helped to protect her modesty. Like a very flexible spring, she executed a backflip over the mountain rock. When she was about to land she jerked her feet, causing her pants to fall and cover one of the two heads behind the rock.

Caught off guard and blindsided, the victim anxiously tried to tear the thick cloth apart.

Before he could do so, however, Meng Fuyao had already appeared behind them. Under her oversized robe, she kicked both feet up and toward the other enemy's neck to wrap it before whipping her body around.

'Crack!' a hair-raising sound shot through the silence.

The man with a broken neck fell limp to the ground.

A threatening look flashed across her face. She felt no regret over her ruthless move, since she had spotted a net, dipped in poison, in their hands when she was flipping over them. The poison carried a pinkish hue, which she had learned about in former training. Her rich knowledge had allowed her to quickly recognize it as the Crisp Dispersal, something that had been circulated within the Five Region Continent and widely used by the n.o.bles to loot or deal with women from respectable families.

This unspeakable thing had ruined the innocence of many young women and the happiness of people in general. Those with possession of this poison were devoid of conscience, so why would Meng Fuyao let them get away with it?

Having freed himself from her pants, seen how she had sneaked a fast and fierce attack with her pants, and his partner's brutal death the next moment, the enemy tossed it aside and fled. Before he could make much progress, a cold laugh sounded from behind.

"Wanna run after seeing my thighs?"

A black gust of wind rose from the ground as Meng Fuyao flung her whip, which reached around his throat in under a second. She pulled it back fast, attempting to drag him over. Unexpectedly, that man had some skills, which had earlier been impeded due to his loss of sight. He swung his hand, and a golden light rose into the sky and formed a dazzling arc that shot straight toward her chest. His ferocious counterattack forced Meng Fuyao to suck in her chest and retreat, while he used the chance to significantly increase their distance.

Just as he was about to escape, Meng Fuyao stomped her feet, getting ready to pounce on him. Suddenly, the man's feet twisted awkwardly, as if he had sprained it after landing wrongly on a stone. His body dropped a little before he collapsed to the group.

Gleeful, Meng Fuyao jumped onto his back and sat on it. "D*mn, I told you, you can't run," she crossed her feet and gloated.

She felt strange the moment she lifted a leg up, and it was only then that she remembered how exposed she really was. While her nether regions were covered by her robe, her eye-catching thighs were out in the open.

Because the night sky and black robe had enhanced the length, fairness, straightness, and fullness of her thighs, she resembled an exquisitely-carved, jade masterpiece that was at that moment reflecting the silverish splendor of the moon.

A subdued, low laugh came through the darkness.

Black-faced, Meng Fuyao urgently grabbed both sides of her robe to cover up her thighs. She was thankful that women in this time period did not follow men's custom of not wearing any underwear, and that she had on a pair of safety shorts on...

'Eh, did he see them?'

Raising her head to glare at the enemy, she interrogated, "Why were you hiding behind the tree? A thief?"

The laugh gradually faded. A light outline emerged from behind the tree, and out walked a man in loose clothing and arms across his chest, leaning smilingly against the trunk.

On his shoulder stood a certain little fatty with fluttering white fur, leaning against his owner's cheek with his claws on his chest and legs slightly crossed.

"You've been taking quite some time so we'd thought that you might need toilet paper and have brought some here." Yuan Zhaoxu laughed innocently, as if unaware of her humiliation.

Lord Yuan Bao immediately bowed and stooped down to grab a sheet of crumpled paper before lifting it respectfully above her head.

Meng Fuyao saw through his shaming act instantly. He was obviously mocking her.

The more she thought about it, the more hatred grew within her heart and the more power she channeled into her b.u.m, causing the fellow beneath to wail in anguish. Meng Fuyao sealed his acupuncture point, flung her whip to gather her pants and looked them both straight in the eye.

They returned the gesture, gazing back at her while remaining still.

Meng Fuyao shot her eyes open even more, but the duo did not flinch.

She felt the hair over her body standing. After some time she swallowed a clump of saliva and broke the silence, "Eh, can't you two turn around? I need to get dressed."

"Nope." Yuan Zhaoxu blinked.

"What!"

"Why can't I see if that guy can?"

As if realizing something she sprang up with her pants in one hand, her snow-white legs quickly getting shelter inside her loose robe. In a flash, she had jumped into her pants and wriggled her way into the cl.u.s.ter of trees.

At the same time, a white light flashed by as Lord Yuan Bao leaped from his owner's shoulder, so nimbly and lightly that no leaves rustled with his movement.

"Ahh!" An explosive scream pierced through the night.

A man in gray scuttled out from between the trees, covering his blood-soaked ear while frantically running and shaking about. On his ear was a white fur ball, firmly clinging and biting onto it despite his wild motions.

While trying to shrug Yuan Bao off, the man in grey shrieked, "You piece of sh*t, dare touch your grandfather? Do you know who I am? With just my pinky finger I can..."

"Your grandfather's not touching your toes, your grandfather's touching your pig head."

Meng Fuyao shot out like a bolt of electricity, her black-iron dagger spreading an arc even darker than the night sky and reaching his throat, all within a split second.

The dagger on his skin felt like a spear on the surface of the water, under which oblivious fishes swam. Except, the man had sensed it and made a weird turn to escape being held at knifepoint.

Meng Fuyao wasted no time pondering. She jumped onto him, aiming straight for his elbow, palm, hip, and shoulder. The series of speedy close-range punches left him gasping for air. While he had escaped once with his seemingly oil-coated body, her storm-like attacks were causing him a few wounds at that moment. With him striking the lottery once in every three draws and recoiling and crying in pain, it was apparent that the power and speed Meng Fu Yao had been drilling for in her iron-blood training had paid off.

'Sh*t, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Hiding and peeking from behind the trees? You've seen everything, haven't you?'

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became and the harder she punched. Her eyes sparkled as the punches stacked on like waves.

Yuan Zhaoxu simply watched from the side, his clasped fingers under his sleeves gradually loosening.

That one-sided battle was nearing its end. Meng Fuyao threw a final punch, which the unlucky man instinctively attempted to block. Unexpectedly, she retracted her fist the next moment.

The man was in shock, his hand still dangling in the air.

'Thud.'

Meng Fuyao lashed out the instant his hand dropped to his side.

A stifled groan sounded. "Des...picable..."

The man stared vacantly before collapsing onto the ground.

Suavely slapping the dust off her hands, she grinned. "For the despicable, baseness paves a path; for the foolish, stupidity inspire his epitaph."

She then tied the man in gray to a tree, looked him up and down before shaking her head.

"Look at this stickman. He looks like he's been flattened by two doors."

Yuan Zhaoxu narrowed his eyes and broke into uncontrollable laughter. The man had a strange appearance indeed – freakishly lanky, his face almost as narrow as an eel's. Meng Fuyao had long been curious about his extremely slippery body, and after a long time, she decided that there was nothing odd save for his excessively pale skin.

Turning around and sensing pity in Yuan Zhaoxu's expression, she asked, "You know him?"

"No, but I recognize his race," he answered. "Clan of the Masked Sharks from the border of Fufeng coast."

"Masked Sharks?"

Yuan Zhaoxu nodded. "E Ocean in Fufeng Nation has the most dangerous and most reef-packed seawater in Demon Island. Legend has it that there is an ancient nation, along with piles of treasures. Because of the density of the reef and the narrowness of the marine trench, there's simply no available access route for seafarers. Only those born into the Masked Shark clan are able to move underwater. Children will be taken to sea at the age of 3 and trained to move through the narrow pa.s.sages until they are as good as fishes. Having been taught these skills and having spent a long time underwater, these children start to develop skin abnormalities. They will also be trained to conceal their body and breath to avoid sea beasts, hence the name Masked Sharks. With their techniques, they're also the best thieves and killers around."

"Oh, no wonder I couldn't see through his ambush," Meng Fuyao exclaimed in realization. She laughed. "I'll interrogate him later. Let's deal with this jerk first." At that, she walked to the guy whom she had more or less flattened and rewarded him with two loud slaps.

That moment the man opened his eyes, and he heard her pelt.

"What's your father's name?"

"Mother's surname?"

"How many older sisters?"

"How many younger brothers?"

"How old were you when you first wet the bed?"

"Do you wear your clothes when showering?"

"Do you like was.h.i.+ng your face with honey locust or soap?"

"Who are you working for?"

A string of mindless questions rained down on him, causing him to feel faint. He answered them one by one without much thought, nevertheless, and let slip when it came to the last question.

"Sir Fang, an honor guard of Qi Mansion..."

Immediately after blurting it out he breathed in and opened his eyes wide. Meng Fuyao patted his face and smirked in satisfaction. "Good boy."

"How should we deal with this guy?" Meng Fuyao turned to consult Yuan Zhaoxu after throwing another slap onto his face and knocking him out. "Is Qi Xunyi suspecting me already? Hence sending these two to get rid of me?"

An unusual look flashed across his eyes. He knew that her ident.i.ty had been exposed from that incident by the stream, and judging from Qi Xunyi's character, it was only natural that he had wanted to investigate and seek answers.