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

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Xu Ling'er instinctively looked back and saw Su Ning dressed in men's clothing.

"You are... Miss Su?"

Xu Ling'er had only seen Su Ning with a veil before, and now that she suddenly saw the other party in such a strange outfit, she didn't dare to answer for a while.

Seeing her cautious demeanor, Su Ning stepped forward and asked, "Miss Xu, what are you doing?"

Seeing that Su Ning was chatting with her so familiarly, Xu Ling'er stopped being coy. She was an uninhibited person by nature, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to go to the martial arts world alone.

"I'm digging for medicinal herbs." She seemed a little embarrassed and scratched her head.

"Digging for medicinal herbs? What good medicinal herbs could there be in a place like this?" Su Ning asked, puzzled.

Upon hearing this, Xu Ling'er immediately handed the bamboo basket in her hand to Su Ning, her eyes sparkling: "Miss Su, look, this is autumn bellflower root, and a few stalks of isatis root, all good for treating colds and coughs! I also just dug up a piece of old dandelion root, which is best for clearing heat when dried and steeped in water."

Looking at Xu Ling'er, who was so eager to show off her results, Su Ning wondered, "Does the young lady also know medicine?" Otherwise, why would she dig all this up?

Upon hearing this, Xu Ling'er put the bamboo basket aside and explained with a smile, "It's just something I did to pass the time when I had nothing else to do."

"I don't know anyone here, and my cousin is busy, so naturally she can't play with me. All the sisters and cousins ​​in the Su Nu Sect are also busy with the martial arts tournament."

"Judging from the direction Miss Su came from, could she have come down from the mountain?" she said with envy in her eyes.

Previously, a poisonous demon had caused chaos in Lingzhou City.

In addition, Xu Heyu heard that she had been deceived or kidnapped along the way, so she didn't dare to let her go down the mountain to play alone.

It's only the second day, and none of the elite disciples from various sects have participated yet. Xu Ling'er also finds the battles between the ordinary disciples rather uninteresting.

The young master of the Lou family was an exception. After leaving the competition on the first day, he challenged again today and made great strides all the way.

It seems he's planning to set a precedent by challenging everyone from the beginning. If he does win, his feat at the martial arts tournament will likely be talked about every day in the martial arts world.

However, the opponent usually defeated her in one or two moves. Although it was fun to watch, she couldn't learn anything from it, so Xu Ling'er simply found some entertainment for herself.

"I did just get back. But Miss Xu doesn't know medicine, so how could she recognize these medicinal herbs?" Su Ning stroked her chin with one hand while looking at the other person with the other.

Speaking of this, Xu Ling'er launched into a long explanation: "It was quite a coincidence. I was just thinking about what fun things to do when I happened to see the servants of the Sword Casting Manor."

"I had just come down from the training ground when I saw them carrying baskets, chatting and laughing, so I went up to them and struck up a conversation."

"Those people told me that there were many medicinal herbs buried in the forest near the villa, and they even showed me some common ones, such as the autumn bellflower I just saw, so I borrowed some tools from them."

"I figured they probably wanted to gather some medicinal herbs to earn some extra money, so I didn't go with them and dug around here on my own."

"I really did dig up quite a lot."

Although Xu Ling'er's hands were dirty, it couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.

Indeed, how could a naive and innocent young lady like her possibly know that this was a scam targeting her?

Su Ning knew that someone had set her up after only hearing a few words from the other party.

Putting aside the fact that the Sword Forging Manor is known for its strict discipline and has Uncle Fu in charge, no servant would dare to gather in groups to dig for medicinal herbs nearby.

Moreover, the Sword Forging Manor was already wealthy and treated its servants well, providing them with generous monthly allowances. If they were really going to dig for medicinal herbs, they would go to the back mountain.

Why dig up these cheap items? Don't you have anything better to do?

Xu Ling'er, however, thoroughly enjoyed it and even invited Su Ning to join her, saying, "Miss Su, you know what? Digging these things is really quite fulfilling."

"It's getting late, Miss Xu, you should head back soon."

Su Ning looked up at the sky and politely declined the invitation.

Xu Ling'er, however, didn't seem to mind, and laughed, "Don't worry, Miss Su, we're at the Sword Forging Manor. What could possibly happen?"

Indeed, apart from the people from Taihang Temple who personally caught the intruders from the Sword Forging Manor at night, the rest of the members of the Demonic Sect were kept completely in the dark.

Even the medicinal essence they created is still trapped in various strange formations throughout the mountain.

However, Xu Ling'er was unaware of these matters, so she was naturally carefree.

Although Su Ning did not play house with her, she did not leave either. She stayed here to find out what the other party was trying to do by deceiving Xu Ling'er.

After all, Xu Ling'er was a pawn she had her eye on, someone she would need in the future. If Xu Ling'er were to encounter any danger, she might not be able to find a replacement for her in the short term.

Xu Ling'er dug for a while longer, until it got dark and she could no longer see clearly, then she stopped.

She patted the hem of her dress, then picked up the basket and said apologetically to Su Ning, "Miss Su, please wait here for me."

"It's no trouble at all; it's always good to be careful," Su Ning said indifferently.

Xu Ling'er was somewhat stunned by what she saw, because the other person was leaning against the tree, exuding a lazy and aloof aura. With a slight raise of her eyebrows, she unconsciously drew everyone's attention to her.

Before, when Miss Su wore a veil, all I noticed was that her eyes were clear and bright. I never imagined that she would look so handsome even in men's clothing.

Xu Ling'er was lost in thought.

The two walked one after the other on the way back to the Sword Forging Manor. Xu Ling'er chattered away, and her voice filled the woods.

Su Ning only answered a few words casually, but in her heart she was thinking about when the mastermind would appear.

Just as the gate of the mountain villa was about to be seen, an unexpected event occurred—

Xu Ling'er was knocked unconscious by a palm strike, and the medicinal herbs she had just picked fell to the ground.

The man held a dagger to her neck, and his deep voice came from behind her: "Don't move, young lady, or this dagger will draw blood."

Su Ning feigned composure and played along: "What...what do you want to do?"

Hearing the panicked tone in the other person's voice, Xue Shazi smiled and said, "Don't worry, young lady, I won't touch you first."

He then knocked Su Ning unconscious with a single palm strike.

Blood Fiend carried Su Ning on his shoulder, then called out to someone in the shadows, "I hope Brother Chen can help me bring this woman into the cave as well."

The man in black robes emerged from the shadows, glanced at Xu Ling'er lying on the ground, and said, "You really are greedy."

"Practice your skills, Brother Chen, please bear with me," Xue Shazi said with a smile.