Chapter 10

The young girl suddenly flew into a rage, her right hand slipping away forcefully from his grip, and she slapped him hard.

Qin Yu was too close to her to dodge, and half of his face instantly swelled up.

"You damn woman! I'll beat you to death!"

Qin Yu also lost his temper, and the two began to fight wildly. In no time, both of them had disheveled hair and were panting heavily.

This kind of impulsive, thug-like brawling was more exhausting than a formal duel, with most of the effort being wasted. Qin Yu, being on top and a man, soon gained the upper hand. In the chaos, he casually pulled and tore off the girl's black veil.

The girl became even angrier. With a tearing sound, Qin Yu's outer robe was completely ripped, but the black vest he wore underneath, made from some unknown leather, was very sturdy and resilient. Despite the girl's sharp nails, they left no significant marks.

Qin Yu was greatly distressed. This time, he had left home with simple luggage, and this was one of only two sets of outer clothes he had. Seeing the robe with a tear at least a foot long, he knew it could not be mended.

"Bitch!" Qin Yu cursed, his hands not idle. He pulled back and tore, and with a tearing sound, the girl's black dress also ripped open, revealing a slight bulge and a flash of white skin.

Qin Yu was stunned. The girl was not wearing any undergarments, not even a belly band.

The girl felt a chill in her chest and was startled. Her delicate oval face showed a hint of panic. Her hands, which had been tearing at Qin Yu's vest, stopped and she placed them on her exposed chest.

At this moment, she noticed that it was gradually getting light outside, and the cave was faintly illuminated by the morning light.

Qin Yu turned his hand and revealed a two-foot short sword, lightly tapping it beside the girl's cheek.

"Move again, and I'll cut your face."

He was quick and agile, having picked up the weapon that the girl had dropped.

The girl had now calmed down, her large, watery eyes staring at Qin Yu.

"You would die at most. But if you hurt me, you won't even be able to die."

"Go, go, don't try that with me! If you want to scare me, come up with something new." Qin Yu said impatiently, truly feeling an impulse to slash her beautiful face.

The murder of his uncle's family and the destruction of the estate had long planted seeds of hatred in his heart.

"My uncle's family, was it you who led the people to do it?" Qin Yu's hand moved slightly, the cold blade glinting.

The girl's face immediately broke out in small bumps. She knew better than Qin Yu how sharp this sword was.

She looked at Qin Yu's cold, glittering eyes and shook her head lightly. "I'm not anyone's lackey. Why would I harm women and children? I received a commission to come and kill you."

"Who commissioned you?"

"I can't say. Even if you cut my face ten or twenty times, I can't say." The girl said, quickly closing her eyes and turning her face to the side, showing a defiant look.

Qin Yu snorted. He knew that she was actually very afraid of being disfigured. Who wouldn't be? The more beautiful, the more afraid of disfigurement.

However, his modern soul made him unwilling to overly coerce her.

In front of a young man, a beautiful girl still had an advantage, especially when the girl's attitude had softened.

"Then tell me, who are you and what's your name?" Suppressing his murderous intent, Qin Yu took a step back.

"I... I'm Xi Zhilan." The girl opened her eyes, hesitated for a moment, and answered halfway.

"Xi as in 'habit'?"

"Xi as in 'flowing boar, destroyed Xi.'" Xi Zhilan corrected.

"Oh... Xi as in 'playful'." Qin Yu thought for a moment before understanding, but still didn't understand what 'flowing boar, destroyed Xi' meant.

(Note: This is an ancient idiom. From 'Guoyu: Lu Yu Shang': Jie fled to the southern nest, Zhou fell in the capital, Li was exiled to the boar, and You was destroyed in Xi. The idiom means that King Li of Zhou was exiled to the city of Boar in the Fen River basin, and King You of Zhou died at the foot of Mount Li in the Xi Pavilion.)

"Hmm..." The girl snorted, her face turning red. At this moment, their posture could be considered quite ambiguous, quite... playful. Fortunately, it was just dawn, and no matter how good his eyesight, he couldn't see the change in her expression.

Her body involuntarily twitched.

"Then... um..." At this moment, his mind relaxed, and his eyes caught a glimpse of her tender skin, and he smelled the delicate fragrance from her body. Qin Yu suddenly realized that he had been sitting on a half-naked girl, which seemed... unscientific.

He reached out, picked up the veil that Xi Zhilan had used to cover her face, and pulled it over with his sword. He tugged it with both hands, and it was still quite sturdy.

"Put your hands up and let me tie you up." Qin Yu said without thinking.

Xi Zhilan immediately understood his meaning and whimpered, "You might as well... kill me!"

"Hmm?" Qin Yu's eyes narrowed, his anger rising again. However, seeing her hands tightly covering her chest, he suddenly realized and his face turned red.

"Um..."

Qin Yu grunted, picked up his black spear, and carefully got off Xi Zhilan, stepping back a few steps.

At that moment, both of them suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if the only warmth in the cold winter was rapidly flowing away from their bodies.

Xi Zhilan slowly sat up, hunched over, and leaned against the cave wall, saying nothing.

Qin Yu saw her disheveled hair and torn clothes, feeling a bit sorry for her. He touched his chest, and the outer robe was completely ruined. He glared at Xi Zhilan and bent down to pick up the cold-weather cloak he had used as a mat, throwing it to her.

Xi Zhilan looked at him with her large, beautiful eyes, then glanced at the cloak by her feet.

Qin Yu thought for a moment and threw her short sword as well.

"I don't know who you are or why you want to kill me. I, Qin Yu, may be a worthless life, but I don't want to die just yet. This time, I spared you because of your beauty and couldn't bring myself to kill you. Go, and may you have good fortune!"

Hearing him praise her appearance, Xi Zhilan couldn't help but feel a bit happy. She picked up the short sword and carefully examined Qin Yu's eyes, seeing that he didn't seem to be joking. She sheathed the sword, kicked the cloak into her arms, and said, "Are you really going to let me go?"

"I am a man of my word. How could I deceive you?" Qin Yu said, somewhat displeased.

"You're only sixteen or seventeen, and you call yourself a man?" Xi Zhilan pouted. At this moment, she finally had a bit of strength in her legs. She tied the cloak around herself, slowly stood up, and, without caring that it was too long and dragging on the ground, turned and walked away.

"Miss, I can let you go, but that doesn't mean no one else will come to kill you. You... take care of yourself!"

Qin Yu nodded. This girl wasn't a heartless fool; she knew how to repay kindness. Although her words were somewhat vague, she was reminding him to be cautious of his enemies.

The cave gradually brightened.

Qin Yu touched his left cheek, which was still slightly swollen. This girl had really hit hard! Something on his left arm felt loose. He touched it and found that two of the three steel rings on his forearm had been cut, and the remaining one was barely holding together.

He was secretly shocked. How did she achieve such a sharp sword edge?

Martial arts can roughly be divided into three realms: Mingjing (visible strength), Anjing (hidden strength), and Huajing (transformative strength). Although Qin Yu hadn't reached these realms, he knew that such a sword edge belonged to the Anjing realm, which was very difficult to achieve.

Qin Yu had been incapacitated for five years, busy repairing his damaged meridians. He had only recovered for a year, and although he had made rapid progress, he was still in the Mingjing stage of pure yang force. He couldn't emit such an invisible spear needle. According to the annotations of the Baihua Liao Lan spear technique, he would need to become a "hundred-man slayer" before he could start practicing it.

But this girl, who looked only about fifteen or sixteen, younger than him, had already achieved the Anjing realm?

Thinking about Xi Zhilan's silent and exquisite movements, Qin Yu shook his head. He would have to work even harder in the future!

Looking around, the cave was in a mess, and Qin Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly. This girl was truly a destruction queen.

Finally, his gaze fell on the large leather bag leaning against the cave wall.

PS: I see some readers are calling for me to kill the beauty... I understand you, but I don't want to do that for now. Experienced editors always advise me to quickly eliminate opponents, calling it decisive and easy for readers to accept. However, I like to kill strong men! This female assassin will be very useful in the future, at least for... you know, hehe. Next time, I'll give you a few handsome young men to kill.