With a squelch, the enemy collapsed to the ground.
Looking at Shi Yu, who had practically put on a solo show in the field, both Jiang Qihe and President Song's group watching from the shadows were momentarily dazed, filled with a sense of disbelief. Leaving aside that Shi Yu's cultivation was a layer lower, even for cultivators of the same tier, it was practically impossible to fight off a group single-handedly and defeat them so easily.
This girl... Although her talent in auxiliary arts like alchemy and artifact refining was astounding—often making people overlook everything else—it now seemed her raw cultivation and combat prowess were also far ahead of her peers.
Shi Yu let out a soft breath and summoned her scimitar back with a pull of her palm. Seeing that the blade was spotless and free of blood, she still wiped it carefully before sheathing it back into the Hidden Hatred Flute. Only then did she slowly walk toward the dazed Jiang Qihe and his men.
“Are you all alright?” Shi Yu pulled out a bottle of Vitality-Restoring Pills and Qi-Restoring Pills, pulled open the corks, and distributed the pills to them.
Jiang Qihe took the pills, opening his mouth as if to speak, but didn't know how to begin. While relieved that the situation had turned around and that they had survived the ordeal, he still felt a strange sense of surrealism.
“If you hadn't been here today, we likely would have lost our lives long ago,” he said with a wry smile after swallowing the pills a long moment later.
The pills Shi Yu handed out were all high-grade pills accompanied by pill halos, their efficacy far exceeding ordinary ones.
Once the two pills entered his stomach, Jiang Qihe's injuries rapidly began to heal. A tingling sensation spread through his wounds as flesh and blood regenerated. His depleted spiritual energy was also gradually restored by the pills.
The guards who received Shi Yu's pills expressed their deep gratitude. Holding them as precious treasures, they hesitated for a long time, reluctant to swallow them. Since the danger had passed, they decided to carefully store the pills away for future use.
Seeing this, Shi Yu didn't say much. With a flick of her wrist, she produced a few medium-grade pills from her small reserve and handed them out. Delighted and deeply grateful, the guards swallowed them right away. Once they recovered a bit, without waiting for Jiang Qihe's orders, they immediately set about cleaning up the battlefield and the bodies.
The triangle-eyed leader had merely passed out, still retaining a thread of breath. They dragged him over, awaiting further instructions.
Meanwhile, Jiang Qihe looked at Shi Yu with a soft, gentle smile and asked, “Didn't you head to the main city? How did you end up back here?”
Shi Yu glanced behind her, a helpless look appearing on her face. “My companions and I are heading to Hengze Prefecture. We were passing through when we happened to run into your men.”
Just as her words fell, President Song and the others walked out from the woods behind her.
Looking at the smiling figures leading the group, Shi Yu feigned a sigh. “President, Master Ji, were you really going to just stand by and watch me get beaten up?”
Master Ji said with a chuckle, “Don't blame me! Your wonderful president here said it was a good opportunity for you to get some practice.”
President Song gave her a side-eye. “Looking at how you smashed someone over the head with a pill furnace, girl, you didn't look like you were getting beaten up at all.”
Shi Yu pursed her lips in a smile.
Qingzhou stepped up to her, carefully wiping away the bloodstains on her face before quietly standing behind her. Several people in the group couldn't help but cast a few extra glances at Qingzhou.
Lu Song also hurried over to Jiang Qihe's side. “Manager, I happened to run into Miss Shi and her group on the road.”
Jiang Qihe nodded and looked toward President Song and the rest. Though he didn't recognize them, he felt the terrifying aura radiating from them and was inwardly shaken. He quickly bowed in greeting, “I am Jiang Qihe, manager of the Tongyi Pavilion branch.”
Tongyi Pavilion branches were spread all across Lingtai Prefecture, running a fairly sizeable business with several branch shops in the main city. Still, they were far inferior to major cultivation families like the Xie Clan and Yun Clan, let alone transcendent entities like the Alchemist Association.
Seeing that Shi Yu seemed to share some friendship with him, President Song and the others returned the gesture with politeness.
Shi Yu let out a laugh and said, “When I was in this market town, Manager Jiang took great care of me. On my way to the main city, it was thanks to the map he gave me that the journey went so smoothly.”
“So that's how it is. Manager Jiang is indeed thoughtful.” Hearing this, President Song and Master Ji understood and became even more polite.
Jiang Qihe smiled. “It was only right.”
Seeing that the guards had cleaned up the aftermath, he suggested, “It's getting late. Why don't you all follow me into the market town? I can find a courtyard for you to get a good rest.”
President Song and his group had already intended to stay overnight in the market town, so they naturally agreed.
Jiang Qihe then stepped forward to lead the way.
As they chatted along the way, President Song asked, “Brother Jiang, how did you get mixed up in this mess today?”
Jiang Qihe's expression tightened, and he let out a deep sigh. Without hiding anything, he spoke truthfully, “To be frank, it's merely family infighting. Coming from a collateral branch, I've always been disliked by my direct-line elder brothers, so I was dispatched to this remote area.”
Saying so, he glanced at Shi Yu with a slight smile. “It was also thanks to Shi Yu. Relying on her pills and spirit talismans, Tongyi Pavilion's business gradually improved, allowing us to gain a firm foothold here. Later, when the manager of the local established shop, Duize Tower, harbored malicious intentions and suffered his own retribution, Tongyi Pavilion officially—”
Midway through his sentence, Jiang Qihe turned his head, only to find that the expressions of President Song and Master Ji were somewhat off.
Their faces were dark and unpredictable, and they were looking at Shi Yu while gritting their teeth.
Startled, he asked carefully, “Did I say something wrong?”
President Song offered a forced smile, sizing Shi Yu up and down, squeezing out words with a pointed tone, “No, not at all. I just didn't realize our girl Yu was so capable—doing alchemy and making spirit talismans...”
When he spoke the words “spirit talismans,” his tone sharpened, and he ground his teeth.
Good grief! Just a few days ago, in front of Old Cui, he had joked that girl Yu was only missing the Talisman Dao to master all four auxiliary arts: artifact refining, alchemy, array formations, and talismans. What he meant as self-deprecating banter back then had actually turned out to be true! This girl was secretly hiding so many bottom-card abilities without saying a word, which was honestly infuriating.
In his mind, he was already calculating how to firmly hide the fact that Shi Yu could draw talismans from those old codgers at the Spirit Talisman Association. Having people come one after another to snatch her away was truly more than one could handle.
—President Song felt an unprecedented sense of crisis, alarm bells ringing wildly in his head.
Master Ji was clearly thinking the same thing, looking at Shi Yu with deep regret and anguish.
Shi Yu: “...”
She silently took two steps back, feeling overwhelmed by the gaze of the two elders. She cleared her throat softly and offered a comforting word, “I only have a smattering of knowledge.”
President Song didn't believe a word of it. Taking a deep breath, he managed to squeeze out a smile and looked at the intimidated Jiang Qihe beside him. “Brother Jiang, please continue. What happened next?”
Intimidated by President Song's sharp gaze and convinced he had still misspoken, Jiang Qihe lowered his voice further. “Now that I've gradually gained a firm footing here, expanded the business, and established trade relations with nearby market towns and sects, it attracted the greed of my direct-line elder brother, who wanted me to hand over this branch on a silver platter.”
He shook his head helplessly. “My elder brother received tacit approval from the clan elders, coming here to force me to step down. After I refused, he simply waited for me to leave town and hired people to strike, which led to today's ambush.”
President Song was already displeased in his heart, but hearing Jiang Qihe's story and admiring his demeanor, he waved his hand grandly. “Since we've come here, meeting Manager Jiang is a matter of fate. Why don't we accompany you on a trip to pay a visit to your clan elders?”
Jiang Qihe froze. Not knowing President Song and the others' identities, he naturally didn't know where President Song got such confidence, so he looked at Shi Yu in hesitation.
Shi Yu pursed her lips in a smile and winked at him. “Making a trip won't take much effort.”
Didn't the elders and direct-line brothers of Jiang Qihe's clan love using their power and status to pressure others? Now would be the perfect time to let them taste a dose of their own medicine.
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