Ling Sword, Storage Pouch…
Whoosh!
A streak of red light silently shot toward Hua Jian’s back.
Just before the red light struck her, Hua Jian’s body instantly scattered into countless petals, then reformed on an open patch not far away.
“Oh? A trap?” Hua Jian frowned slightly as she looked at several cultivators emerging from the depths of the forest.
She wasn’t familiar with these cultivators, but judging by their expressions, their intentions were crystal clear.
Weighing the Storage Pouch she had just snatched from the victim, Hua Jian didn’t bother exchanging words with these cultivators.
She turned into a flurry of petals and vanished into the woods.
She’d already stripped the victim of their weapons and Storage Pouch— if she didn’t run away as fast as possible, was she supposed to stay and fight the victim’s teammates to the death?
Hua Jian was confident in her own abilities, but she was no genius.
Going one against several and making a name for herself was something best left to prodigies like Linglong, the Saintess.
As for her, a petty thief skilled in body-snatching, it was best to do what thieves do best— run at the first sign of trouble.
“Don’t let her get away, chase her!”
“Take down this Demonic Cultivator and restore peace to the Secret Realm!”
“Kill!”
What surprised Hua Jian was that these cultivators actually wouldn’t let up, chasing after her relentlessly while tossing spirit arts into the sky like fireworks.
Seriously, all this just to catch a body-snatcher like me, and even coordinating with signals for a group attack?!
Isn’t this a bit much?
Before long, the situation turned into Hua Jian fleeing in front, with the cultivators hot on her heels. More and more joined the chase, until there were six cultivators tailing her.
Among these six, Hua Jian finally recognized a familiar face— it was the cultivator she’d tricked and put to sleep a few days ago, the one who’d cursed her as a Demonic Cultivator.
Now Hua Jian understood— so this was a vendetta.
“You petty thief, is running away all you know how to do?!”
These cultivators, still unskilled in escape techniques, were getting frustrated as Hua Jian led them in circles, berating her for lacking backbone.
Where’s your dignity as a cultivator? If you run when you see six of us, are you going to run again if you meet twelve?
What about twenty-four— are you going to flee to the ends of the earth?
As a Demonic Cultivator, your actions are truly a disgrace to the Magic Path!
“And you think it’s not shameful for six to gang up on one and then blame me for running? What a joke!” Hua Jian really didn’t know where these people got the nerve to say such things.
These were six cultivators of the same level as her. If she could take on six at once, she wouldn’t have been so helpless in front of Linglong.
“Hypocrites! Shameless! You’re the ones disgracing the righteous path!”
“Lu, did you hear that? She admitted she’s from the Magic Path!”
“Are you deaf? When did I ever admit I’m from the Magic Path?!”
“She said the words ‘Magic Path,’ so she must be from the Magic Path!”
Clearly, these people just wanted an excuse to hunt down Hua Jian. They didn’t care what she said at all.
Twisting the truth and smearing others—they could do it without the slightest guilt.
So, from then on, their shouts as they chased Hua Jian changed to, “Demonic fiend, don’t even think about escaping!”
……
“Demonic fiend, don’t even think about escaping!”
The righteous and imposing voices echoed above the forest, scaring two people traveling through the woods pale.
When they saw the group of seven— six chasing, one fleeing— these two true Demonic Cultivators finally realized the “demonic fiend” being hunted wasn’t them, but someone else.
The woman in black squinted, and suddenly noticed that the person running away was wearing her own clothes, with her own whip hanging at the waist.
Huh?
“Senior Brother, that person is wearing my Spiritual Garment and carrying my Lingbian!” Pointing at Hua Jian, who was now just a black speck in the distance, the woman in black shouted in frustration.
It was one thing to have her things stolen, but how could this person run around everywhere wearing her stuff?
That’s my gear! Give it back to me!
“We’ll chase as well! That person has angered everyone already— maybe we can take advantage of the chaos to get our lost items back!” The man in black immediately made up his mind.
No matter what, he couldn’t let this thief go.
His Storage Pouch still held many important items. If things went wrong, it could expose his Sect’s plans. He had to get the Storage Pouch back before the thief left the Secret Realm.
Besides… the Mirage Incense had also been stolen by that thief. Without it, there was no way to scout out the Spirit Beast Lair— it was an indispensable tool.
So, chase!
……
“Truly persistent… But the Array of Bewilderment up ahead should slow them down for a while.” Hua Jian glanced back at her pursuers, still far behind, and didn’t feel particularly annoyed.
Although being falsely accused was irritating, being chased after committing a crime was only natural.
She wasn’t so naïve as to think that doing such things wouldn’t earn her enemies or that people wouldn’t come after her.
When being chased, she wasn’t about to start cursing at her pursuers in a fit of rage.
Although the world of cultivation appeared peaceful on the surface, Hua Jian, who had started out as a starving little girl, understood all too well the undercurrents beneath that veneer.
In the shadows where the light of the Saint Sect couldn’t reach, all kinds of horrifying things happened every day.
Being hunted after stealing treasures in the Secret Realm was one of the most common and ordinary occurrences.
It’s simple enough to avoid this— just send the victims out of the Secret Realm after robbing them. But doing so might bring even more trouble.
If someone got truly furious, re-equipped, and came back in to hunt her down, she’d be finished. This Secret Realm wasn’t a game— every entry was a different scenario.
Everyone in here was part of the same match, whether they joined early or late.
So it was better to let them stay inside the Secret Realm, leave them with a bit of false hope, and use the hundred Spirit Stones of sunk cost to tie them down, stopping them from quitting and coming back in with a whole new set of gear to hunt her.
Which is easier to deal with— a fully equipped cultivator, or one stripped down to just their clothes? That should be an easy question for anyone with a brain.
To handle this kind of pursuit, Hua Jian had set up several Arrays of Bewilderment throughout the Secret Realm. The one that had trapped the Fishing Cultivators before was just one of them.
Now, the cultivators chasing her had stepped into another of her prepared Arrays of Bewilderment.
White mist rose among the trees, and a little silver-white fox flashed through everyone’s sight.
“Silverlight Fox… No, it’s an illusion! Everyone, be careful!” Lu was startled at first, but quickly realized this was a trap.
Hua Jian’s favorite thing was using fake treasures as bait. The Silverlight Fox was a rare Spirit Beast— its appearance at a time like this was just too much of a coincidence.
No need to say more—this was definitely a trap set by Hua Jian!
“Don’t worry, Lu, we already know this thief’s tricks. We definitely won’t fall for it!”
At that moment, two voices came from behind them.
“Everyone, are you also hunting down that hateful thief? May we join you?”
A man and a woman emerged from the mist, addressing the six cultivators.