Chapter 8

On her way back to the Vermilion Bird Kingdom from the Xuanwu Kingdom, she encountered a band of bandits. Seeing that she was traveling alone on the official road and was a weak woman, the bandits immediately harbored evil intentions, covered her mouth and dragged her into the mountains.

That was the first time Mu Yulu had come so close to death.

When she was roughly dragged into the forest by the bandits, she felt dizzy and lightheaded, and she thought she saw her great-grandmother.

She hadn't eaten for a long time and was already very weak. Several men surrounded her, some carrying long knives and others holding sticks, and she had no power to resist.

They didn't even have the strength to call for help.

She closed her eyes in despair as one of them reached out and tore open her clothes.

The moment the sound of clothes tearing rang in her ears, a multitude of thoughts flashed through her mind.

The first person that came to mind was actually Mu Qinhan.

She thought to herself that she had remained chaste for him for many years, but she never expected to fall into this predicament today.

Then she thought of the disgusted look in Mu Qinhan's eyes when he chased her away. She had lost her virginity here today, and Mu Qinhan would probably despise her even more in the future.

No, it's more than just dislike.

Having lost her virginity, she would certainly be driven out of the palace, and wouldn't even have the right to remain by Mu Qinhan's side as a concubine.

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt immense fear and began to tremble uncontrollably.

Her appearance only excited the men more. When their rough hands touched her delicate shoulders, she finally couldn't help but let out a trembling scream.

The next second she heard the sounds of fighting beside her, followed by a series of muffled thuds. After a moment, the forest returned to silence, with only the occasional chirping of birds.

Mu Yulu opened her eyes, shrinking back in fear.

When she opened her eyes and saw a pile of bloody human heads, she almost fainted.

It turned out that the series of muffled thuds were the sounds of heads hitting the ground.

"Why are you still keeping your eyes closed?"

A clear, cold voice rang out above her, its tone as icy as snow in December. Mu Yulu shivered, not daring to disobey him, and cautiously opened her eyes again.

The first thing that catches the eye is a longsword that gleams coldly and is dripping blood.

Mu Yulu instinctively dodged backward, only to see the sword's owner merely use the tip of the sword to pick up the scattered clothes and then cover her with them.

The scars on Mu Yulu's snow-white skin seemed to sting his eyes. He subtly shifted his gaze away from Mu Yulu: "Put your clothes on and leave quickly."

Mu Yulu shivered as she pulled her clothes around herself.

However, her clothes were torn to shreds by the bandits, making it impossible to completely cover her body.

She repeatedly tried to cover her naked body with the scraps of fabric, looking clumsy and pitiful.

The man clicked his tongue softly, and the next second he untied his robe and threw his outer garment to Mu Yulu.

Mu Yulu hurriedly caught the outer garment, and what fell into her palm was a soft pink cloud, like the clouds and mist shrouded in the evening glow.

Mu Yulu was taken aback.

Only then did she notice that the highly skilled martial artist who had saved her from the bandits and was a cold-blooded killer who killed without blinking an eye was wearing a flamboyant pink outfit.

From the very beginning until now, she has not dared to look directly at her savior, for fear of offending such a martial arts master who roams the world. But the moment she touched the soft outer robe he had taken off, she felt her heart soften as well.

His warmth still lingered on the robe, which was as soft as clouds and smoke, and a warm current spread from her palm to Mu Yulu's heart.

She suddenly felt less nervous.

As if possessed, she looked up and examined the figure standing in front of her.

The man was tall but not bulky. Unlike the martial arts masters that people usually imagine, he did not wear tight-fitting clothes. Instead, he wore loose robes, the hem of which fluttered in the wind, making him look like an immortal standing on the clouds.

Mu Yulu was dumbfounded.

She felt that the person in front of her was not a martial artist, but a cultivator of immortality.

Her mouth moved faster than her brain, and the next second she blurted out, "May I ask your name, immortal? How can I repay your life-saving grace?"

"An immortal?" The man glanced back at Mu Yulu, but seeing that she hadn't finished dressing, he quickly looked away and said, "Hurry up and get dressed and leave. Don't delay me from doing my business here."

It was only when he turned around that Mu Yulu realized that the immortal in front of her was wearing a mask, revealing only a pair of beautiful eyes.

Not knowing her benefactor's name or even seeing his face, Mu Yulu was somewhat bewildered.

There's no information at all. How will she repay this kindness in the future?

Although Mu Yulu was a scoundrel, she understood that the person in front of her had done her a great favor, and she should repay that kindness.

After draping the outer garment that the man had thrown at her as a cloak over her shoulders, Mu Yulu stood up and weakly bowed to the person in front of her.

Before she could speak, the man interrupted, "I saved you as a matter of course. Those people were blocking my way, so they deserve to die."

He emphasized, "My killing them has nothing to do with you."

Mu Yulu understood what he meant. He was trying his best to distance himself from her, saying that he had only saved her on a whim and that she should not regard him as her savior.

He saved her, so naturally she couldn't let him think he had saved a huge problem.

So she nodded, turned and left without saying a word.

He staggered forward a few steps, only to hear the same voice behind him again: "Do you know how to get there?"

Mu Yulu turned around and nodded at him again.

He seemed to frown slightly, but Mu Yulu couldn't see it clearly through the mask. She only heard him continue to ask, "This journey hasn't been peaceful. Do you know that we might encounter bandits and outlaws again?"

Mu Yulu nodded silently for the third time.

She knew, of course, that the journey was fraught with danger, and that continuing forward could very likely lead to further peril.

But what could she do?

She had almost no money left, not even enough to hire a carriage, let alone find a security escort agency to protect her.

She had placed all her hopes on Mu Qinhan, hoping he would keep her or at least send a team of guards to escort her back to the capital.

But she never expected him to hate her so much, and the moment he saw her, he told her to leave immediately.

She shook her head, trying to shake Mu Qinhan's image out of her mind.

He doesn't care whether she lives or dies, so why is she still thinking about him so much?

Presumably, while she was in grave danger and nearly violated by those bandits, he was with Liu Wenshuang, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

Mu Yulu lowered her head, her whole body exuding an unconcealable sense of loneliness, which made her look very pitiful, like a fragile item that had been broken.

Seemingly unable to bear it any longer, the cold-blooded assassin, who was about to leave, took a few steps towards Mu Yulu and stopped in front of her: "Why didn't you resist just now?"

Mu Yulu looked up in surprise: "What?"

Rebellion?

This word was completely foreign to her.

"You have hands and feet, you could have resisted, why didn't you?" The man asked again, "Why do you only know how to cry?"

Why do you only know how to cry?

Mu Yulu subconsciously raised her hand to touch her cheek, only to realize that she had been crying without her noticing.

Perhaps it was when she was thinking of Mu Qinhan.

She's so pathetic; she's crying again.

That person was right. All she knew how to do when things went wrong was cry. But fate had been unfair to her, and what else could she do but cry about her fate?

She thought this to herself, and that's what she answered aloud: "Because I have no choice."

“I was bullied by others at home. It seemed like everyone could bully me, whether it was my aunt, the servants, or even the old women who did manual labor. They could all give me attitude.”

“I feel this is unfair to me. Sometimes I go to my father, but all I get is a beating. He won’t listen to anything I say.”

"Everyone in the manor thought I was arrogant and domineering, and that my suicide was just for show for my father. But sometimes I really wanted to die."

“Not a day goes by that I don’t want to leave that so-called home. I tried so hard to get married, thinking that would give me a better life, but in the end…”

She gave a self-deprecating laugh: "In the end, it's still the same. Anyone can bully me, and nobody respects me."

“I’ve tried, I’ve resisted, but no matter how hard I try, it’s always the same in the end. Nobody cares about me, nobody pays attention to me. Even if I die here today, probably nobody will know.”

She had never said these words to anyone before, but today, for some reason, she poured them all out to a stranger she had only met once.

And this stranger actually had the patience to stand there and listen to her pour out all her grievances.

Then he took another step forward, getting even closer to Mu Yulu.

Mu Yulu quickly stepped back, but he grabbed her arm.

She asked in a somewhat panicked manner, "W-what are you going to do?"

The man's clear voice came through the mask, seemingly tinged with a hint of mockery: "I just want to see what the most cowardly and incompetent person in the world looks like?"

Mu Yulu saw her panicked state reflected in his eyes, and her face instantly contorted into a bitter expression.

She was filled with remorse at that moment. She shouldn't have torn her scars open to others. He wouldn't sympathize with her; he would only laugh at her like those people in the Mu and Wang mansions.

But he continued, "What you just said wasn't resistance; you were just running away."

The next second he shoved his sword into Mu Yulu's hand: "Do you know what resistance is?"

He glanced at the heads on the ground: "Cut off the heads of those who want to violate you; that's true resistance."

"Make those who have bullied you pay the price; that's true resistance."

The blood had congealed on the sword. Mu Yulu forced herself to hold the longsword that had been shoved into her hand, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "But I'm not like you. I have no strength. I can't even hold a sword properly. How can I cut off their heads?"