After infiltrating the main characters' group, I became the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Holy crap, it's a ghost!!!"

Yue Zijin screamed in terror, staggered back more than ten steps, her heart pounding in her chest.

Tangxi and Pei Yunlian were walking ahead when they heard Yue Zijin's scream and turned around at the same time. Tangxi's whip was already whipping towards the bushes with a strong wind.

The sound of the whip ripped through the air, creating a sharp, piercing noise. Branches and leaves snapped instantly, revealing the thief hiding in the shadows.

Those blood-red eyes unconsciously looked in the direction of the two people. Pei Yunlian's pupils shrank, and the fingers holding the sword in her hand were clenched until they turned white, but she was not as impulsive as she was last time at Xiaguang Mountain.

After Yue Zijin realized who was hiding behind him, he calmed down. He first glanced at Pei Yunlian, and only after seeing that he didn't make any move did he stand up and pat his butt.

"Alright, so that's what I was wondering. It's you, you monster."

The medicine puppet looked dazed. Now that it was entangled by Tang Xi's whip, it wanted to resist, but could only rage helplessly.

After learning the Shouyang Scripture, Yue Zijin possessed pure and yang internal energy. He gathered it into a palm and struck the medicine puppet directly. In no time, the inhuman monster turned into smoke and disappeared into the night sky.

Tang Xi retracted her whip, her tone somewhat grave: "Tomorrow is the martial arts tournament, yet tonight a demonic sect's drug puppet appeared. The demonic sect thieves must have already infiltrated Songyun Mountain."

She looked towards the mountain villa above, her brow furrowed. Combining this with the enemy's objective on Xiaguang Mountain, she hissed, "Not good, Dragon Sparrow Blade!"

She didn't have time to explain to the two of them before rushing up the mountain.

Yue Zijin and Pei Yunlian exchanged a glance, both seeing a heavy emotion in each other's eyes.

After all, the scene at Xiaguang Mountain should have been the first time the two of them encountered the demonic sect thieves, and now they have broken into Songyun Mountain. Whatever their purpose is, the two of them must stop them.

Everyone knew the priorities and even put aside the fatigue from carrying water that afternoon.

The two followed in Tangxi's footsteps toward the Sword Casting Manor, but encountered trouble halfway there.

Pei Yunlian was the first to notice something was wrong and quickly used the scabbard in her hand to block Yue Zijin's steps. Just as he was about to step into the ground, several deadly throwing knives were already stuck diagonally.

Tang Xi, who had run out first, had now retreated back in front of the two. Even though there was only the rustling wind around them and not a single ghost in sight, Yue Zijin still called out loudly:

"You cowardly coward, why don't you get out here right now? You've got the guts to ambush me, but you can't even show your face?"

Just moments after Yue Zijin finished speaking, several dark figures with blood-red eyes suddenly appeared from the surrounding bushes, and then the masked man in black robes descended from the sky.

"Truly a chosen one, what courage!" The man's voice was high-pitched, but it was still identifiable as male.

He was exactly the same as the black-robed man they had met on Mount Xiaguang, even the material of the mask on his face was identical.

Yue Zijin squinted at the person in front of him, then stepped in front of Pei Yunlian, afraid that he would act impulsively like Xia Guangshan.

"Heh... You're leading these inhuman monsters around, don't you know I have internal energy that can suppress them?" Yue Zijin looked around with considerable disdain.

These drug puppets are all made from dead people; they have no consciousness and are just tools to be used as cannon fodder.

"...Hehehe, I naturally know that those destined for greatness have opportunities, but your cultivation technique is still shallow. I've brought only the elite; what can you do to me?"

The man chuckled softly, his ghost mask gleaming eerily in the night.

The three stood back to back, each brandishing their weapons, fearing that the drug puppets would swarm them at any moment.

Tangxi whispered to the two men, "This man's intentions are not good. I suspect his target is the manor. We need to get out of here as soon as possible; we can't afford to waste time fighting him."

Yue Zijin nudged Pei Yunlian's arm: "Ice-faced, you need to control yourself. Remember there are still hundreds of people at the manor; we have to get back."

"Take care of yourself."

As soon as Pei Yunlian finished speaking, she drew her sword. The sword light swept across like a bolt of lightning, repelling the group of medicine puppets that came forward to cause trouble.

Without pure Yang internal energy, these things are just like cockroaches that can't be killed, slowly exhausting a person's internal energy.

The man in black robes stood at a distance, watching the three fight, seemingly with no intention of intervening.

At this moment, at Sword Casting Manor.

Su Ning was leading her group toward the front hall. She had changed into a moon-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and her figure was slender. There was no sign of panic on her face.

The surroundings were quiet, and there were hardly any servants to be seen.

Xiaoqin and Xiaomei led the way with lanterns.

Before they even reached their destination, they saw flames shooting into the sky in front of a pavilion not far away, as if something big was about to happen.

"Is that... the direction of Tian Shu Pavilion?"

The group stopped. Xiao Mei glanced at them and replied, "Yes, it's Tian Shu Pavilion."

Tian Shu Pavilion is where the Sword Forging Manor stores its treasures. It is strictly patrolled by disciples every day, and ordinary people are not even allowed to get close.

It seems the thieves causing trouble tonight are after the treasure.

Su Ning immediately ordered, "Go to Tian Shu Pavilion."

Xiao Mei and Xiao Qin turned to look at Su Ning, hesitating to speak: "Miss..."

"Uncle Tang is staying there. Xi Xi and the others haven't returned yet. How can I go back without ensuring Uncle Tang's safety?"

Knowing they couldn't dissuade Su Ning, the two could only protect her even more tightly.

It wasn't until Su Ning stepped into the territory of Tian Shu Pavilion that she realized things weren't as she had thought. Seeing Tang Jingshan's figure, she quickly went to greet him, "Uncle Tang, what happened?"

Tang Jingshan was clearly surprised to see her, but after asking a few questions, he didn't say anything more. He then explained to her, "A thief just broke into Tian Shu Pavilion, but he has been shot dead."

He pointed to the corpse not far away, the man being carried away by the disciples of the manor to verify his identity.

The reason the flames were soaring into the sky was because the leaders of other branches were leading their disciples in a thorough search, fearing that the thief might have other accomplices.

"This man barged into the Sword Forging Manor with such fanfare, is he here to die?"

Su Ning was somewhat puzzled.

Tang Jingshan naturally noticed Su Ning's confusion, but since the enemy was in the shadows while they were in the open, he couldn't figure out their intentions for the time being.

"No matter what the other party does, my Sword Forging Manor has been renowned in the martial world for so many years, and that's no small feat. Ning'er, please rest assured."

Although Tang Jingshan was comforting Su Ning, the darkness in his eyes revealed an unyielding heaviness.

"By the way, Xixi and the others haven't returned yet. Has Uncle Tang sent anyone to look for them?"

Su Ning gave the other person a reminder.