Volume 4, Chapter 233 – You’re This Weak and Still Dare to Be a Bandit?

Ah Biao’s voice was hoarse, clearly altered by drugs that stimulated his vocal cords, so much so that even acquaintances couldn’t recognize him. At the very least, Xia Wei couldn’t.

“You… you’re not here to protect me?”

Qi Huang’s mind short-circuited for a moment. Why was this scene so different from what she had imagined?

“Protect you?”

Ah Biao was even more confused. He couldn’t fathom how his current appearance could possibly resemble that of a bodyguard. After stiffening for a brief moment, he quickly improvised: “Ah, right, right! I’m here to protect you. Tell me the source of the cat’s tears, and I’ll make sure to send you on your way!”

“Is this ‘sending me on my way’ the respectable kind?” Qi Huang asked cautiously.

“Respectable? Of course it’s respectable! More respectable than the magistrate in court! Just tell me where those cat’s tears came from, and I guarantee you’ll be reunited with your parents!”

Even as Ah Biao spoke, his forty-meter-long blade nearly poked Qi Huang in the face.

“But that sword of yours will only send me to meet Yama ¹ Chinese God of Death !”

Qi Huang dropped her exaggerated expression and continued, “At least put away that ridiculous forty-foot blade before you try to lie. Your acting is terrible.”

“Can’t keep up the act anymore?”

Ah Biao froze for a second before flying into a rage. “Fine! Then I won’t bother pretending! I’m here to send you straight to the underworld! Hand over the source of those cat’s tears, and maybe, just maybe, if I’m in a good mood, I’ll only kill you. Otherwise, I’ll wipe out your entire family!”

“You dare?! If you want to kill him, you’ll have to get past my sword first!”

With a “shing!”, Xia Wei drew her blade and tossed the scabbard aside.

Qi Huang observed the woman before her, her hourglass figure was undeniably alluring, with curves so pronounced that even from behind, the side profile of her chest was visible. Her hips were so full they nearly pushed Qi Huang back, yet her waist was slender enough to be encircled with a single hand. Despite her voluptuous frame, her overall silhouette remained graceful. Now, she stood before Qi Huang like an unshakable wall.

“You? Hah…”

Ah Biao sneered, his gaze raking over Xia Wei with undisguised lust. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be throwing away the scabbard, I’d be throwing away my clothes. Your looks are far more dangerous than that sword of yours… though I suppose that depends on the battlefield!”

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“The boss is right. The only way you’re ‘defeating’ us is by ‘exhausting’ us to death. Care to give it a try?”

“Hah! Since you’re so pretty, I’ll even let you pick the battleground, right here, or on a bed? Your choice!”

The underlings joined in with their own crude jeers.

“You’d better start picking out your own coffins first.”

Just then, a man’s voice cut through the air. Over a dozen figures emerged from all directions, encircling Ah Biao and his men.

Caught off guard, Ah Biao and his gang hastily turned to defend themselves, completely dismissing Qi Huang and Xia Wei as threats.

Qi Huang remained unfazed, these were the same people who had been tailing them earlier. She had held back precisely to uncover their identities.

“It’s you! Zhao Zheng!”

Xia Wei, however, recognized the man instantly. Relief flooded through her, and her delicate frame trembled slightly.

“You know him?” Qi Huang asked, surprised.

“Of course! He’s also a guard from the Golden Fortune Auction House!” Xia Wei replied excitedly.

“Wha—what?!”

Qi Huang was momentarily thrown off. After a brief pause, she pointed at Ah Biao. “So what if he’s a guard from the auction house? This guy is too!”

“Huh? He is? Who is he?” Xia Wei asked, disbelief coloring her voice.

“That’s Jin Biao!” Zhao Zheng interjected.

“That’s Jin Biao? But his voice doesn’t sound like him!”

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“Voices can be changed. Isn’t that right, Guard Jin?”

Zhao Zheng grinned. “We’ve been following you for a while now. At first, I thought you were sent by Deputy Manager Duan to protect them. Turns out, you’re just a bunch of traitors!”

“Recognized again? Damn, this act is impossible!”

Jin Biao grumbled under his breath before yanking off his mask in frustration. “Fine! It’s me, Jin Biao. Since you’ve figured it out, none of you are leaving here alive today.”

“It really is you?!”

Xia Wei was stunned, then furious. “Jin Biao, why would you do this?! Has the Golden Fortune Auction House treated you poorly? As a guard, you know how disastrous it would be for the auction house’s reputation if word got out that you harmed a client!”

“Exactly. That’s why if all of you end up dead, there’ll be no reputation to ruin.”

A bloodthirsty grin spread across Jin Biao’s face.

“So it was you who harmed the previous clients too? And tell me, are you acting alone, or is someone else pulling your strings?”

Qi Huang took over the questioning. If she could confirm these two points, she wouldn’t have to waste any more time playing games with these fools.

“Want to know? Then tell me where those cat’s tears came from. After I kill you, I’ll burn some paper money and let you know in the afterlife.”

Jin Biao laughed arrogantly before turning and shoving his forty-foot blade right in Qi Huang’s face.

“Xia Wei, take the client and run! We’ll handle things here!”

Zhao Zheng’s expression was grave as he urged them to leave.

“Hah! Handle things? What kind of joke is that? I could crush you like a bug with one hand!”

Jin Biao scoffed before suddenly swinging his blade in a Mountain-Splitting Strike.

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Whoosh!

The blade, if not forty feet, then at least four, sliced through the air with a piercing shriek. Before the weapon itself even descended, a crescent-shaped blade aura surged toward Zhao Zheng. This wasn’t the refined qi of a cultivator, but the sheer, brute-force gangqi of a martial artist wielding overwhelming physical strength.

Caught off guard, Zhao Zheng barely managed to roll aside in time.

BOOM!

The blade aura struck a massive boulder, shattering it instantly. Razor-sharp fragments shot out like arrows, piercing straight through three unlucky guards who failed to dodge in time.

“GO! NOW!”

Zhao Zheng flipped back onto his feet and roared at Qi Huang and Xia Wei.

“I already said, no one’s leaving today! You lot, keep an eye on them. The rest are mine.”

Jin Biao barked orders at his men before lunging at Zhao Zheng.

“Let’s go! We have to go!”

After a brief internal struggle, Xia Wei grabbed Qi Huang’s arm and tried to pull her away.

“Go where? He hasn’t answered my question yet. How can we just leave?”

Qi Huang stubbornly resisted.

“What does it matter now?! Even if you find out, you’ll be dead!”

Xia Wei was nearly hysterical as she tugged harder.

“Who said anything about dying? Don’t you still have your ‘Void-Shattering’ ² Shattering the Void as in ascending to immortality skills to protect me?”

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Qi Huang brushed her off dismissively.

“I’m talking about the future! The future, understand? If we don’t leave now, I won’t even be able to shatter a coffin, let alone the void!”

Xia Wei seized Qi Huang’s hand and yanked her forward.

Qi Huang almost laughed but allowed herself to be dragged along. Unfortunately, after only a few steps, Ah Biao’s men closed in, weapons drawn.

“Fine! For your sake, I’ll risk it all! Worst case, I’ll try ‘Void-Shattering’ in my next life!”

Xia Wei muttered under her breath before charging at one of the bandits, sword in hand. Her long legs moved with the grace and power of a hunting panther, proof of her rigorous training.

“Yes! That’s the spirit! Remember, you’re a woman destined to shatter the void! How can you fear a few petty bandits? Kill them! Your path to Void-Shattering begins with shattering their skulls!”

Qi Huang cheered her on while simultaneously releasing a sliver of divine sense to suppress the bandit. Since everyone here was a martial artist, she wasn’t worried about being detected.

The bandit instinctively raised his blade to block—only to find that the weapon he’d wielded for over a decade suddenly weighed a thousand pounds. Even with all his strength, he could barely lift it, let alone defend in time.

Slice!

Just like that, Xia Wei cleanly severed the bandit’s arm, despite him being nearly as skilled as her.

“AHHH—!”

The man collapsed, howling in agony as blood gushed from the wound like a fountain.

“You dare to be bandits when you’re this weak? Maybe ‘Void-Shattering’ won’t be so hard after all!”

Xia Wei stared at her fallen opponent in disbelief before breaking into mocking laughter.