Chapter 12

The black-clad girl walked deep into the alley, occasionally passing by households that hung festive red lanterns. Unlike others, the girl in the veil hat had no elaborate family arrangements or intricate plots stretching for miles. She was alone, boldly entering the small town.

Not far from the alley stood a young man in brocade, holding a square green jade seal high in both hands. The seal, about the size of a child's palm, was intricately carved with dragons and tigers. Under the sunlight, it shimmered brilliantly, with faint rays of light emanating from within. The young man looked up, squinting at the precious treasure in his hands, his face filled with ecstasy.

Beside him, a tall old man knelt on one knee, carefully wiping the mud off the young man's boots with his sleeve.

The young man in brocade had long noticed the peculiar girl, wearing a light veil hat and carrying a narrow sword in a green sheath. Her steps were steady, clearly indicating she was not a local.

However, the young man in brocade paid no attention, continuing to examine the ancient jade seal that had lain dormant for a thousand years. Deep down, he even hoped the girl would have the idea to snatch the treasure, otherwise, it would be too boring.

After all, he had already obtained two items, and his gains far exceeded his expectations. If he didn't find something to do, he would have to leave with the old servant, which would leave him feeling something was missing.

It was like being in his home, thousands of miles away, where he wore a golden robe with nine dragons, but it was always missing one claw.

Each person chosen to come to this small town could carry three tokens, each placed in a brocade bag. One bag had to be given to the gatekeeper as a toll, regardless of the gatekeeper's status or the condition of the city gate. Even if it were a king or a patriarch, they had to follow this rule. The other two brocade bags meant that one could take at most two treasures out of the town. Otherwise, even if one found ten or a hundred treasures, they would have to return them all. The tokens in the bags were three special coins: a lucky coin used by commoners to celebrate the raising of a beam, a spring coin hung on peach wood charms in the palace every year, and a coin held in the palm of a city god statue. Though called copper coins, they were actually made of rare golden essence. For most ordinary people, even official silver was rare, let alone a bag of heavy "gold," which was indeed enough to make someone willing to sell their family heirlooms.

The young man in brocade had studied the three coins, which were not recorded in official history, but could not figure out their secrets.

The girl ahead, exuding a cold and stern aura, walked straight ahead, treating the master and servant in the alley as if they did not exist.

The young man in brocade changed his mind, put the jade seal into a prepared cloth bag, and tied it to his waist. However, he still stood in the middle of the alley, showing no intention of moving.

The tall, fair-skinned old man also stood up, his voice soft and delicate, saying, "Your Highness, this person is a seasoned martial artist. We cannot be careless. Outside the town, it wouldn't matter, but here, even my pure martial body is constantly suppressed by this world, making it extremely uncomfortable. If I fully activate my qi and open my acupoints, it would be like a flood, overwhelming my meridians and acupoints, leading to an uncontrollable situation. If I die, it's a small matter, but Your Highness's safety is paramount. If I fail to protect you and cause any minor issues in your cultivation, how can I face the Emperor and Empress when we return?"

The young man in brocade teased, "Grandpa Wu, you talk a lot more since leaving the palace. In the palace, you only repeated a few phrases all year, not even as good as the dumb parrot my sister keeps."

The old man, referring to himself as "this humble servant," showed deep humility and pride in his loyalty, typical of a palace eunuch.

Seeing that the young master didn't understand his implications, he said more directly, "Your Highness, this person in the alley could pose a threat to you here."

The young man in brocade laughed lazily, "I've heard that on the path of cultivation, there are all sorts of people, many of whom are evil and unorthodox. But we just met by chance. She wouldn't try to kill me and steal my treasure, right? If everyone on the mountain acted like that, wouldn't the world be in chaos?"

The old man sighed. The relationship between the imperial court and the immortal realm was superficially harmonious but fundamentally antagonistic.

The young man in brocade felt disheartened, "Forget it, forget it. It's not a manly thing to blame a girl for this mess."

The girl walked up to him, her left hand on the hilt of her sword.

The young man in brocade smiled, stepped aside, and gestured for the girl to go first.

The black-clad girl slowed her pace slightly, slightly turning her body, her eyes behind the veil hat filled with caution.

The old eunuch, noticing the girl's bandaged hands, frowned.

"Rude!"

Suddenly, the old man roared, his voice like a thunderclap. His feet slid, and his tall figure appeared in front of the young man in brocade. He gently leaned his back against the young man, pushing him against the alley wall with a subtle force, while his left hand opened wide.

A dull thud sounded from his palm.

It turned out someone had thrown a stone as a hidden weapon, aiming for the side of the young man in brocade's head.

The force was so great that it could have penetrated a wall.

The old man crushed the fist-sized stone in his hand but did not attack the assassin. Instead, he punched the black-clad girl with his right hand.

The girl hesitated, suppressing her instinct to draw her sword, and tilted her head, narrowly avoiding the powerful punch.

The force of the punch instantly blew the thin veil of her hat.

The old man changed his straight punch to a sweeping one, aiming directly at the girl's head.

The punch was fluid and effortless.

The girl quickly raised her arms, placing her hands back-to-back to form a cross, protecting her ears and blocking the punch.

In the next moment, the girl slid sideways several steps.

She exhaled a breath, reached out with the hand that had more blood-soaked bandages, and adjusted her slightly tilted veil hat.

She was angry.

The girl turned around, looking at the tall old man who was glancing around, and said sternly, "If it weren't for me, you'd already be dead."

The old man ignored her. Compared to before, this experienced eunuch in assassination and ambush had lowered the girl's threat level to second place, placing the person on the other side of the alley as the primary threat.

Of course, besides the master and servant, there were only two true outsiders in the alley.

On the other side of the alley stood a tall, thin masked man.

His arms were extremely muscular, bulging like iron balls.

He had two bags hanging from his waist, filled with round objects.

He stood there, as if to say that the previous ambush was just a warning.

His cold gaze swept over the girl.

The man grinned, stuck out his tongue, and his eyes burned with intensity.

The girl chuckled and said three words.

"Come back!"

As soon as she spoke, a sword flew over her head.

The flying sword circled her rapidly, like a child pouting.

She said irritably, "Go away!"

The flying sword vanished in a flash.

The master and servant were stunned.

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