Meeting Again?

Both the assassins and the young woman swiftly looked up at the tree, where they found a mysterious young man with his eyes closed. As if they were looking at a calm sea, he seemed to be hiding an unimaginable amount of power deep within. Whether it was the girl or the assassins, neither wanted to mess with him, so they only stared at him without making any moves. The young man smiled at their caution before leaping from the tree and landing without a sound despite the leaves beneath his feet.

Now that he was closer, they noticed that he had a subtle charm that made them lower their guards. Despite being experts in their field, the assassins were stunned before him and allowed him to walk towards the young woman. When he stopped in front of her, the woman stayed frozen until he lifted her robe and revealed her beautiful face. He showed a gentle smile at the sight, but she quickly backed away, Her heart fluttered at that smile but her wariness grew. She could tell that he seemed to recognise him, but she couldn't say the same for herself.

For different reasons, the assassins also broke out of their stupor and glared at the young man. Both of them threw a dagger to taste the waters, but neither of the daggers was able to reach closer than a metre before stopping in mid-air and falling to the ground. With his eyes still on the young woman, the handsome young man asked, "I heard your call. Do you still need help?"

The young woman still didn't trust this stranger in front of her, but he was obviously powerful and she didn't have any other options so she hastily nodded.

"Very well."

As the young man finally looked at the assassins, they immediately decided to flee, but before they could take a single step, the light in their eyes was lost and they flopped to the ground. The woman stared in wonder as this happened right before her, but she swung her head when the young man tried to say goodbye.

"Well, that seems to be all. I'll be on my way now-"

"Wait!"

Without thinking, the woman stretched out her hand to grab his sleeve. He could have easily evaded but he chose to stay and listen to her.

"What is it?"

His tone was calm, but Emily quickly let go of his sleeve, lest she cause him to feel displeased, and caught her breath before responding.

"I'm sorry to keep bothering you. However, would you able to save my companion as well? He should still be fighting against the other assassins."

She didn't fully trust this man, but she was willing to take a leap of faith if it meant saving her senior brother. The young woman was sincere in her request, but she received a different reply this time.

"I see, but why should I?"

"Hmm?"

It was the reply she should have expected, but when the man subtly refused to aid her senior brother, she froze. It took a few moments before she thawed out and started using her brain, but that question remained.

"Um, may I ask why?"

"It's simple. I saved you because we coincidentally met. Why should I go out of my way to help someone even more of a stranger than you are?"

It was a logical reason that she couldn't come up with any arguments against. She was grateful for being saved, and she knew asking for more than that would be selfish, but she couldn't leave him by himself.

She might have left him to escape, but now that her danger had passed she felt obligated to help him.

She bowed and said, "Thank you for saving me," in a sincere tone.

She then turned around to head back to the site of ambush.

"Are you really going? You might end up wasting his efforts," said the young man.

The girl paused for a moment to acknowledge his question, but her decision was set.

"I don't want anyone else to die for me."

That was all she left behind before dashing through the forest. Once she disappeared into the trees, the young man held his head and sighed.

"I don't know how to feel about this machination of fate, but I guess I'll have to get involved."

"Oh please, like you don't always get involved with cute girls."

Meanwhile, the senior brother who had stayed behind was having a surprisingly good time against his opponents. Their cultivations were similar but it was still a three-vs-one, even so, the senior brother stood his ground against them, only taking a couple scratches in exchange. The kneeling spectators quietly cheered for him, not that any of those fighting cared much about them.

'I wonder if she got away.'

It was a tense battle, but he could find the time to be concerned about his junior sister. She still had a bright future ahead of her so he hoped that nothing went wrong. It was when he was thinking about her that they heard that voice.

"Senior brother!"

Shaken by the appearance of the one he wanted to see the least, he showed an opening that the assassin's were quick to take advantage of. Their palm strikes landed firmly on his chest, knocking him to the ground as blood spilt from his mouth. His junior sister rushed to get to his side, but he shouted, "Stay back!"

She also felt guilty for distracting him so she immediately stopped when he told her too, but only for a moment. Soon after, with a pained expression, she bit her lips at his fresh injuries and then stepped in front of him.

"I'm sorry."

"Junior sister, leave! Why did you come back?"

The girl knew that he was both angry and sad that she came back, but she didn't regret her decision. This wasn't just because she got the satisfaction of being there with him, she truly believed that there was a chance for both of them to make it out of this.

"If it's the two of us, we can handle these three."

As the girl stood in front of him with her shoulder-length hair fluttering in the breeze like a warrior on the battlefield, the man knew that she was serious. Although she was only at the peak of the Soul Realm, he was aware that she had means of facing those in the Earth Realm.

"...Fine."

He was still reluctant to have her stay here, but since she wouldn't leave he had to stand by her side. Once she got his permission, the girl felt a weight off her back and focused on their opponents. She reached into her robe and took out two blue gems which she threw at them. The assassins easily evaded the gems, just like she wanted them to. Once the gems hit the ground, an array spread from each of them that overlapped beneath the feet of the assassins. The moment they felt weakened by this array, her senior brother charged at them. He summoned a war axe and swung it at the assassin in the middle. With his first attack he was able to kill one, but these assassins had already resolved themselves. After he killed one of their members, one flung out a rope artifact to hold him in place while the other pounced on his junior sister.

"No!" the man screamed.

Although the girl had means of defending herself, there was no way she would be able to react in time. As the assassin took out a dagger and thrusted it towards her eyes, the girl shut them and waited for the pain to arrive. However, several seconds later, she was still unharmed so she opened her eyes to see that mysterious young man again.

With the assassin's neck in his hand, the charming young man flashed her an exasperated smile.

"Don't go getting killed after I just saved you. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth."