Luo Qingci gave him two more kicks to confirm that Hui Gu Lao Zu was completely still, then stepped back a few paces.
She looked down at her hands.
Her palms were red and slightly swollen, with bloodstains on her knuckles.
She shook her hands to flick the blood off.
Luo Qingci turned around and found that he had somehow walked to a spot three paces behind her.
He was holding a handkerchief, dark blue, folded neatly.
She looked at the handkerchief, then at her bloodstained hands, hesitating for a moment.
“Wipe your hands,” he said, his tone as flat as if he were commenting on the weather.
“Thanks.”
Luo Qingci took the handkerchief and lowered her head to wipe her hands.
The fabric of the handkerchief was excellent, soft and fine to the touch, with dark embroidered patterns along the edges.
It was clearly an expensive item.
Using it to wipe her hands felt like a waste of a good thing.
But there was no better option at the moment; she couldn’t exactly use her sleeve.
“Keep it,” Xiao Han said, turning his back to her and crouching down to search Hui Gu Lao Zu’s belongings.
Luo Qingci was taken aback for a moment, then put the handkerchief away.
‘I’ll wash it clean and return it to him later.’
Xiao Han moved quickly, his technique as practiced as a veteran who had taken on countless missions.
He pulled out a storage ring, a cosmos pouch, bone talismans from the sleeve, a jade pendant from the waist, and even a dagger hidden in Hui Gu Lao Zu’s boot shaft, laying them all neatly on the ground.
“Yours.”
Xiao Han pushed the cosmos pouch and Hui Gu Lao Zu’s storage ring over to her.
Luo Qingci blinked.
“Mine?”
“You killed him.”
“You wounded him.”
“I didn’t strike the killing blow.”
Luo Qingci fell silent.
She looked at the pile of items on the ground, then at Hui Gu Lao Zu lying on the ground.
He really had been beaten to death by her slaps.
“Then I’ll take half,” Luo Qingci said, crouching down to divide the spoils.
She split the spirit stones into two piles, divided the larger magic artifacts into two groups, hesitated over the jade slips containing Hui Gu Lao Zu’s cultivation techniques, then only took one ordinary one, pushing the few higher-grade ones over to him.
Xiao Han stood by, watching her squatting on the ground and seriously dividing the items, saying nothing.
The faint white glow of the moonlight stone seeped through a crack in the sewer ceiling, falling onto her.
She kept her head lowered, revealing a section of pale, almost translucent skin on the back of her neck.
Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, the tips stained with a bit of muddy water, reflecting a soft luster.
‘I thought it was just a small mission, no need for the jade pendant with Master’s sword intent that Senior Brother gave me, so I left it in my storage chest. If Xiao Han hadn’t shown up today, and Hui Gu Lao Zu had taken me away, no one in the sect would even have known where I went.’
‘From now on, I’m taking that jade pendant everywhere!’
“How did you dare to come after a Golden Core stage cultivator?”
“I thought it was just an ordinary mission,” Luo Qingci’s voice grew quiet.
“The intelligence report only mentioned shadow rats, it didn’t say anything about a Golden Core stage evil cultivator…”
“The intelligence on missions like this usually comes from the person who took it before you.
The last person was lucky and didn’t run into Hui Gu Lao Zu, so they thought this area was safe.
But Hui Gu Lao Zu has been active in this area all along, he just doesn’t come out often.
You running into him was just bad luck.”
Luo Qingci fell silent, suddenly feeling a chill of after-fear.
“You heard what that guy said too.
You have a Supreme Yin Profound Body.”
“What?”
“A perfect dual cultivation vessel physique.
Haven’t you noticed you’re getting more beautiful?
My suggestion is that you stay in the sect from now on and don’t come out.”
“But…”
She stood up.
“The spirit stones Master left for me are all used up.
I can’t rely on Master to support me forever.
Cultivation needs spirit stones, eating needs spirit stones, everything needs spirit stones.
Otherwise, how can I grow stronger…”
Xiao Han extended a finger and pointed at the pile of spirit stones on the ground.
Luo Qingci followed his finger and looked—the pile she had taken had over two hundred low-grade spirit stones, several dozen medium-grade spirit stones, and five high-grade spirit stones.
Converted, it was more than ten times the reward for a C-grade mission.
“Isn’t this enough?”
“Enough,” she said honestly, even feeling that it was a bit too much.
Xiao Han nodded, stored the few high-grade technique jade slips into his own storage ring, then picked up Hui Gu Lao Zu’s corpse.
With a casual toss, a ball of flame surged from his palm and was thrown out.
In less than three breaths, Hui Gu Lao Zu had completely vanished, leaving not even ashes behind.
That flame.
Luo Qingci took a closer look.
She recalled that when Xiao Han had broken through the bone wall earlier, the flame dancing in his palm had been the same.
What kind of technique, what kind of physique could cultivate such a flame?
Luo Qingci didn’t ask.
Her relationship with Xiao Han wasn’t close enough to ask that kind of question.
“Let’s go.”
Xiao Han extinguished the flame and turned to walk toward the exit.
Luo Qingci followed behind him, carrying her storage pouch.
The path in the sewer wasn’t easy to traverse; the ground was slippery, and cold water droplets occasionally dripped from above.
Luo Qingci followed about five paces behind him, her gaze unconsciously fixed on him.
‘Why did he come here? How does he know about my physique? Does he have some ulterior motive toward me? Is it really safe to follow him?’
‘No.’
Luo Qingci shook her head mentally.
‘What am I thinking?’
‘This person is my savior. Not only did he save my life, he also helped me split the spoils from Hui Gu Lao Zu. If I were to coldly say “Thanks for saving my life, goodbye,” who knows if this Golden Core big shot might just grab me back?’
“We’re here.”
Xiao Han’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
She looked up and realized they had unknowingly reached the sewer entrance.
Looking up from the well opening, she could see a small patch of night sky, a deep blue canopy dotted with a few stars.
Xiao Han went up first.
He directly stepped on the stone crevices of the well wall and scrambled up in just a few moves, as fast as a gust of wind.
Luo Qingci’s gaze fell on the edge of the well opening.
Xiao Han stood beside the well opening, extending one hand down toward her.
Luo Qingci took a deep breath, tied the storage pouch to her waist, freed her right hand, and grasped that hand.
It was warm.
With a slight exertion from Xiao Han, her entire body floated lightly off the ground and landed steadily on the grass beside the well.
“Thanks.”
Luo Qingci let go and took a step back.
“You’re welcome.”
Xiao Han smiled at her.
Xiao Han didn’t respond to that statement.
He turned his head to look at the distant mountain shadows, falling silent for a few moments.
“Are you going back to Azure Cloud Sect?”
Luo Qingci shook her head.
“I need to report the mission to the City Lord…”
Luo Qingci pointed in the direction of the City Lord’s Mansion.
Xiao Han followed the direction of her finger and glanced.
“I’ll escort you.”
Luo Qingci was taken aback, instinctively about to say “No need,” but she swallowed the words before they left her mouth.
Because she really didn’t have much strength left, and she had used up most of her spiritual power.
Any random cultivator could now abduct her; she truly needed someone to guide her.
This realization made her very disheartened.
‘I’m a Foundation Establishment powerhouse! In an ordinary human city, I should be someone to be looked up to. How come I encountered so many Golden Cores just doing one mission today…’
“Then… I’ll trouble you.”
She said softly.
Xiao Han didn’t say anything more and started walking.
Luo Qingci followed behind him, maintaining a distance of about two or three paces, one ahead and one behind.
The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, illuminating the earth in silver-white.
Luo Qingci walked on her own shadow, head lowered, watching the tips of her shoes alternate between light and dark in the moonlight.
She wanted to find something to say, but didn’t know what to say.
She had already thanked him countless times; saying it again would seem insincere.
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