Jin Yue could clearly feel that the wound had cut to the bone. Without applying medicine, the wound could not have healed on its own.

"Now that you know my secret, you are even less likely to leave alive!"

After the assassin finished speaking, his previous casual demeanor vanished, his expression suddenly turning cold. He gripped his dagger and attacked the two men.

"call out…"

The killing move arrived in an instant, so fast that Shen Shi and Jin Yue had no time to react and could only watch helplessly as the dagger came hurtling towards them.

The mercenaries were trapped by a group of leaves. Even though they knew about the situation at Shen's place, they were powerless to help and their eyes turned red with anxiety.

"Clang..."

Just as the dagger was about to slice through Jin Yue's throat, a long sword suddenly appeared from the side, blocking the assassin's attack.

"Whoosh..."

Upon seeing that more people were coming out, the assassin's eyes flashed, and he immediately pulled back and jumped several meters away.

Upon closer inspection, one could see several men, all dressed in robes embroidered with gold-threaded feathers and carrying swords.

"Royal Guards!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, the assassin's eyes narrowed slightly, clearly showing some surprise.

"Madam, we are here to protect you at the request of Miss Jun and on the orders of the Crown Prince."

The leading royal guard did not turn around, but cautiously stared at the assassin and said coldly, "Please find a safe place to hide. Don't get too close to us, but don't go too far either."

Too close, and you'll be caught in the crossfire; too far, and you might fall into their trap. The safest place is within their protection zone.

"Thank you so much, everyone."

Even after surviving the ordeal, Shen's heart was still pounding, but she quickly recovered and pulled Jin Yue away to run back.

"Heh, do you really think a few mere early True Profound Realm cultivators can ruin my plans!"

The assassin hesitated for a moment, then his eyes turned cold, and suddenly countless black wisps of energy surged from his body. Before anyone could react, he had already followed the direction Shen had left in.

"not good!"

The royal guards hadn't expected the assassins to be so cunning, avoiding direct combat and instead targeting only the Shen family!

Assassins are indeed the most cunning and treacherous beings in the world.

The black mist was extremely fast, catching up with Shen Shi in the blink of an eye, and poured it all into her mouth right before her horrified eyes.

"ah!"

Shen only had time to let out a scream before she suddenly fainted.

"lady!"

Upon seeing this, Jin Yue immediately hugged her, tears instantly streaming down her face. "Madam, wake up, Madam!"

"What exactly is going on?"

As the black mist dissipated, all the leaves disappeared, leaving the mercenaries and royal guards bewildered when they arrived.

They had never seen anything like it before; it was truly bizarre.

"Oh, Madam's face is starting to look old... Waaah, Madam..."

At this moment, the royal guards and mercenaries were shocked to realize that Shen, who was only in her thirties, seemed to have aged more than ten years in a short period of time, with fine lines appearing at the corners of her eyes.

"What did you do...?"

Upon seeing this, the royal guards and the mercenary group turned to question the assassin, only to find that he had already disappeared.

However, there was a set of clothes strangely piled on the ground, which was the same clothes that the assassin had just been wearing.

"This is absolutely unbelievable!"

The royal guards were immediately alarmed. They stepped forward, picked up the clothes, examined them for a while, and then decisively said, "This situation is too unusual. We must go back and report to the Crown Prince immediately."