When the White Moonlight Holds the Script - Chapter 27.1

Over there, Wan Mengchen and the others still hadn’t realized what the real issue was, sighing to themselves, “It seems treasure hunting in the secret realm isn’t as easy as we thought.”

“We definitely oversimplified things.”

Zhu Zhihan desperately wanted to say: That’s not it, really, that’s not it at all.

Although spirit herbs and such weren’t exactly lying around everywhere, it wasn’t to the point where you couldn’t find even one after half a day!

Just then, Luan Wu chimed in approvingly, “Indeed, we can’t rely entirely on luck to come through.”

Hearing the implication in Luan Wu’s words, Wan Mengchen earnestly asked for advice, “Does the Sect Leader have any experience to share?”

Zhu Zhihan: …

Yeah, if Aunt Tu Meng was right, Luan Wu had plenty of experience, all right.

Luan Wu gave a slight nod. “The rewards in the secret realm must be earned with your own two hands.”

“Our own two hands?”

A short while later.

Wan Mengchen and the others had dust smeared across their faces, their clothes torn and tattered, limping along as they moved forward. Even Zhu Zhihan, with her fair, delicate face, had two muddy handprints smudged across it, her white robes now dull and grimy.

Zhu Zhihan glanced back resentfully.

Luan Wu, wearing a mask, didn’t need to smear mud on her face and was strolling leisurely behind them.

Strangely enough, when Luan Wu wore red, her sharpness was overwhelming, instantly capturing everyone’s attention. But now, dressed in black, she seemed like a shadow, a wisp of a ghost as if if you blinked, she might just vanish.

The sixth disciple had his right arm wrapped in cloth and slung around his neck, looking as though it were broken, and he was limping exaggeratedly as he complained, “Sect Leader, what’s the point of all this? It’s unbearable!”

From behind came Luan Wu’s unhurried voice, “Patience, hold on a little longer. Based on my experience, it won’t be long now.”

After the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Zhu Zhihan finally understood what Luan Wu meant.

Luan Wu’s terrible luck wasn’t just reflected in her lack of fortune and how even rare treasures seemed to avoid her, it also showed in how trouble always seemed to find her.

“Friends, hold right there,” a voice full of malice called out from the woods behind them.

As the voice faded, two hidden weapons shot from the front, landing right in front of Wan Mengchen’s feet, blocking their path and kicking up a flurry of snow.

Two more projectiles whizzed past the sixth disciple’s cheeks, an invisible threat.

At least two people, one in front and one behind.

The voice continued, “Hand over everything you’ve gotten from the secret realm! Otherwise, the next hidden weapon won’t just be cutting through the snow on the ground, heh heh.”

Zhu Zhihan immediately turned to look for Luan Wu, who had been walking at the back.

But the spot where Luan Wu should have been was now empty.

Where had her big, imposing master gone??

Wan Mengchen and the other two reacted quickly, first drawing their swords warily, then also turning to look where Luan Wu had been.

They: ???

The sixth disciple finally spat out a single curse word.

Their sect leader had set them up, big time! She’d trapped both sides in one move!

The two most talked-about stories in the secret realm were stumbling upon treasures and killing to steal them!

Clearly, the sect leader thought that since they were young and strong, they might look too intimidating, so she deliberately had them pretend to have just survived a fierce battle.

But the truth was, they weren’t really that good at fighting!

Sparring with wooden swords against fellow disciples back in the sect was one thing, but they had never actually fought with real blades against malicious cultivators!

Seeing their silence, the voice grew impatient.

“Rustle.”

Two figures clad in black, their faces masked, leaped from the shadows of the trees, closing in on them. “Why aren’t you moving? Don’t tell me you wounded stragglers are still thinking of putting up a fight.”

Wan Mengchen’s mouth tasted bitter. “What if I told you we haven’t seen or gained anything in the past half day? Would you believe me?”

The one in front spat, “Bullshit! You clearly look like you’ve fought the guardian beasts protecting the treasures.”

The other added, “This secret realm is filled with treasures. To find nothing in half a day, what kind of luck is that? Do you really think we’d buy that?”

Wan Mengchen and the others: “…”

Zhu Zhihan: “…”

She felt the indirect insult.

It seemed a fight was unavoidable.

Zhu Zhihan used her spiritual sense to probe the cultivation levels of the two.

Neither was particularly strong, one was at the peak of Foundation Establishment, the other at the sixth level. No wonder they had only dared to show themselves after seeing the four of them “injured.”

On their side, the eldest senior brother was at the third level of Foundation Establishment, Wan Mengchen at the fifth, the sixth junior brother at the first, and Zhu Zhihan herself at the peak of Qi Refining.

If they fought with everything they had, there might still be a chance to win.

Zhu Zhihan reached into her storage pouch and pulled out, a wooden knife.

She: “…”

Yes, when Luan Wu announced their expedition into the secret realm, it was already late on the final night. The trading area had long closed. Zhu Zhihan hadn’t anticipated needing a weapon for training and hadn’t considered buying a knife. By the time she realized she needed one, it was too late.

Her original plan was to scavenge a blade or two inside the secret realm fallen cultivators often left their belongings behind.

Who could have guessed that in this realm, they’d encounter nothing, and Luan Wu would suddenly toss them into such a high-stakes situation?

Thus, while her senior brothers each wielded real blades against their enemies, she could only produce a wooden knife.

She could hear one of the bandits let out a soft chuckle the moment she drew the wooden knife.

That chuckle was filled with the bandit’s contempt for his opponents and his eagerness to finish the robbery and wrap things up quickly.

Zhu Zhihan: “…”

Somehow, it only made her more irritated.

Irritated as she was, Zhu Zhihan still assumed her stance, calming her mind and focusing her spirit.

This battle was unlike any she had faced before. No one would go easy on her, and without protective artifacts, a single mistake could lead to injury or even death. Though she doubted Luan Wu would be that ruthless.

But she had to be prepared for the worst.

“Huff, huff…”

How the fight began, Zhu Zhihan had already forgotten.

All she remembered was that she and her senior brothers were locked in a desperate struggle. Gradually, her chaotic thoughts cleared, her stamina drained, and her focus narrowed to just one goal: killing these two.

Her mind was free of distractions, consumed only by the life-and-death struggle.

A few breaths earlier, she had executed a waist-level strike, but her wooden knife was shattered by the opponent’s longsword, the greatest advantage of the Miao knife was its long, flexible blade, and losing it put her at a severe disadvantage.

If she retreated now, she would be effectively out of the fight.

But her senior brothers were also injured, some lightly, some more seriously. If she fell, the battle would surely be lost.

So she shifted from the waist-level strike to a forward thrust, channeling the last of her spiritual energy into the broken wooden knife. In the instant her opponent’s lips curled in disdain, she drove the fractured end deep into the man’s chest.

Blood gushed from the wound, some of it splattering onto Zhu Zhihan’s face.

“Ahh!!” The man cried out in shock and pain, his face contorted in agony.

Zhu Zhihan gave him no chance to recover or perhaps she was terrified of failing to kill him summoning strength from somewhere deep within, she shoved him hard against the tree trunk, pinning him there. Snow from the tall pine branches rustled down around them.

“Huff, huff.”

Her heart pounded violently in her chest. She gasped for air, dark spots dancing before her eyes.

In that moment, she didn’t even have time to confirm whether the man was dead; her mind was a complete blank.

A scorching fire burned through her veins, consuming everything until nothing remained. Under the strain of her body’s overload, she could no longer feel anything. For a brief instant, she lost all awareness of the outside world.

Until a hand gently rested on her shoulder.

She snapped back to reality.

Releasing her grip on the broken wooden blade.

“You did well,” a familiar woman’s voice murmured softly in her ear, carrying a gentleness she had never heard before.

But Zhu Zhihan couldn’t appreciate or didn’t have the energy to appreciate that tenderness right now.

As her senses returned to her body, the aftermath of overexertion exploded in her chest. Gasping for breath, she stumbled back two steps and leaned against a tree trunk, cursing intermittently, “You bastard.”

Over with the senior disciples, Wan Mengchen lifted his blade and beheaded the remaining bandit.

Zhu Zhihan turned her head slightly, staring at the corpse nailed to the tree trunk, its eyes wide open in eternal resentment.

Before this, she had never truly killed someone with her own hands while holding a weapon.

In her previous life, as a somewhat renowned alchemist, she could easily afford to hire sword cultivators for protection. Even when she had no choice but to act alone, she relied on powerful magical artifacts to eliminate her foes.

Using a magical artifact was different from killing someone personally with a blade.

Using an artifact was like crushing an ant from a distance, it lacked a sense of reality. But wielding a blade was different. The sensation of a sharp weapon piercing flesh was unmistakable especially since Zhu Zhihan, fearing the broken wooden blade wasn’t sharp enough, had thrust it in with extra force.

“Feeling alright?” Luan Wu stood beside her, observing the pale-faced disciples in the distance.

Zhu Zhihan took a moment to assess herself. “Not great.”

She paused before adding, “But if there were another enemy in front of me, I think I could still strike.”

Luan Wu glanced at her. “You’re stronger than them.”

Zhu Zhihan smiled faintly.

Having lived two lives, if she couldn’t surpass these inexperienced “youngsters,” then her extra lifetime would have been wasted.

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