(13) I don't recognize her

A woman in plain muted purple robes, with half of her face covered with a dark veil, flew and slashed her sword to the side in a quick motion, killing the man leading the slaves into their cages. This was already the third man she ended.

Slaves of all ages were running about and trying to escape as the workers slashed at them with whips already dyed in blood that were dripping to the ground like rain drops on a cold night.

"Who is this woman?!" The main leader of the group asked in an irritated voice. He squinted his already small eyes and then cursed. "She's of the Third Tier! Take all the slaves you can! I'll deal with her!"

How did they offend this cultivator?! All of the people they enslaved were from poor families and have no connections with strong cultivators. They were always careful and kept everything under wraps. Who betrayed them?! Just as he was about to encounter her, there seemed to be another attack from the left and he cursed again. What was it this time?!

There was a man dressed in an elegant white outfit, swinging his sword towards the cages to allow the slaves to escape. He had three other men with him as they fought their way in towards the leader.

"Shit! Leave the slaves!" The leader couldn't read the level of the man and knew if he fought, they would all die, and he would probably be captured to be questioned. He'd rather not risk it even if fleeing would get him in trouble with their clan leader. He was about to fly away when his collar was suddenly grabbed from behind. "Ah!" He fell backwards and rolled over to prevent any injuries.

"Don't think about escaping," the woman in purple said in a low voice. She swung her sword and he quickly dodged.

"You!" He pointed at her. "Do you know who I am?!"

He heard a chuckle. "Would I come if I didn't know? And if I do know, wouldn't that put you and your clan in bigger trouble, Chen Liu?" Her indifferent eyes were focused on him and Chen Liu could hear her smirk under that veil.

He clenched his teeth and scoffed. "I'm not scared of you just because you know my name! But since you do, I can't let you live!"

Cling!

Both fought with their swords that collided loudly amongst the chaos.

"Master! Someone is fighting with the leader! There are also people moving about discreetly, helping the slaves escape safely!"

The man fighting elegantly in white stabbed a man and looked over with deep eyes. "Who is she?" His voice was soft but firm, and he had a very handsome face, with gentle eyebrows and pale skin, looking like an immortal with a profound disposition.

"I don't recognize her," one of his men answered. "But her silver sword… does seem familiar."

"She is probably just someone like us," the man in white decided. He had been able to trace all of the kidnappings till here. He must capture the leader of the group in order to figure out who the mastermind was.

"Deal with them," he ordered as he flew towards the two clashing swords afar. He didn't know why this young lady came here, but he mustn't let that man get killed by her yet.

"Who are you?! How do you know who I am?!" the middle-aged man yelled as he dodged and swung his sword. Her swordsmanship was good, very good. If she were at his level, she would be a problem. But for now, he had the upper hand. He combated her more skillful moves with his more abundant chi.

The woman took a step back and sucked in a breath as a skill played in her head. 'One Hundred Rhythmic Moves'. She took a step that increased in speed by two times as her moves became a dance.

She remembered the words Jin RuiYing said to her before she came here.

"You idiot! I just told you the leader is one stage higher than you! Why would you go alone?!"

She just put on her veil and answered, "Because I can do it by myself. I can defeat him. Winning and losing is not just about cultivation levels. It's also about skills and experience."

Jin RuiYing was frustrated and groaned. "At least let me send a few men with you! I promise not to charge you extra!"

She pondered on that and then stared at him.

"I really won't!" He waved his hands hurriedly.

She nodded. "They can secretly free the slaves while I do the fighting."

Wu LiJing already tackled down two of their groups to find their leader. Jin RuiYing was only able to gather information on where their bases were and where they were transferring the slaves. So, she randomly attacked two of them to see if she could find the leader.

She wanted to destroy their business and killing the leader was the fastest way to cause disorder.

The man was sweating as he countered her moves that seemed to move as fast as the wind and looked as light as a feather, with her foot seemingly to barely touch the ground while she danced. These moves were purely the force coming out of her body.

"Ha!" Chen Liu yelled as he lunged in to break her formational moves. He won't let her corner him! He was of higher cultivation! He twisted his sword.

"Lightning Strike!" He couldn't hide it now if he wanted to escape and kill her.

A yellow strike emerged from his sword and broke her moves as she flew backwards to dodge. The strike hit the ground and the dirt seemed to have charred from the condensed energy that resembled lightning.

As the handsome man in white neared, he analyzed their moves and cultivation. His eyes narrowed. The woman is not to be underestimated. And that man… his skill was unique. He was probably holding back earlier in order to hide his identity, but that young lady has forced his hand. Hm… lightning skills are not easy to come by or learn. Who was he?

Wu LiJing's eyes darkened a little and she stood still in place as she stared at that dark spot. "Lightning…" she whispered.

"Ha! How do you like that?! It took me four years to master this move!" He lifted his sword and absorbed the chi surrounding them and created sparks of lightning that emerged from the sky. With a concentrated amount of energy in his sword, he released a vicious bolt as she stood there, staring at the yellow lightning.

"Watch out!" the handsome man yelled as he quickly released a chi attack from his sword to try and stop the attack. Creating lightning of that color was rare. That man may only be at the high-stage of the Third Tier, but he could release such a pure color of lightning, which is uncommon.

Cultivating and using lightning could be done, but depending on its color and pureness, it could either do some damage or be deadly. Yellow lightning was at its purest form. No, a light yellow light was at its purest form. This man was close to perfecting a lightning move, meaning the attack was deadly, even towards a higher-level cultivator such as him.

He watched as his spiritual attack was eaten up by the lightning, becoming useless. He was ready to change his weapon until he noticed the movements of the unknown young lady.

Wu LiJing ran forwards and raised her sword, cutting the lightning in half and charring the grass beside her yet her robes were untouched, surprising both men. Wu LiJing smiled, eyes dark and aloof. "Just a lightning attack of this level… I can just cut it." She glanced to the side as a stranger in white approached.

She frowned and her body tensed. Another enemy?

Chen Liu's face was pale, and he clenched his jaw as he let out two more lightning strikes, attempting to flee. He can't defeat these two! "Kill them! Leave me a path, you scoundrels!" How the hell would he know this girl could cut lightning?! Is that even possible?!

Many around started to attack in groups, while the stranger and Wu LiJing had to fend them off together. But their attention lingered on the back of the fleeing man; they weren't going to let him escape.

Wu LiJing and the man jumped upwards at the same time and flew towards Chen Liu. Their speed was about the same and couldn't help but glance at each other in surprise. It seems both of them could fly, a technique only certain sects or clans learned.

"I hope this young lady can let me arrest and detain the leader," he said in a gentle tone.

"No," Wu LiJing said without considering. Then she tried to increase her speed but he followed along with a slight frown.

"Can you please reconsider?" he asked as he killed a man who tried to get in their way.

Wu LiJing swung her sword once and released her chi towards the fleeing man, who quickly dodged and released a lightning strike in return. Both were nearing Chen Liu and she still didn't answer him.

He sighed as his tone remained respectful, "I just want to find out who is behind the kidnappings of the smaller villages. They may have an intelligent network that allows them to escape without getting caught."

Wu LiJing glanced at him and was silent as she stabbed another man who flew towards them. No, she knew it wasn't because of that. They were just good at escaping and keeping a low-profile. The world was wide, who could know of all the bad things everyone has done?

Finally, they reached the man and cornered him from both sides.

"Damn it! Just leave me alone!" He swung his sword, releasing two lightning strikes and the handsome man rolled to the left while Wu LiJing rolled to the right.

Wu LiJing then jumped and propped herself forwards towards Chen Liu. "Die," she said in a cold tone as she cut another lighting strike, feeling a fierce, gritting vibration travelling from her sword to her hand. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she sliced his lightning strikes, one by one, getting closer and closer towards the sweating man, who was grinding his teeth until they were going to fall off.

A charred road was being paved around them as the divided lightning tore at the dirt beneath that it touched. Wu LiJing's hair floated in the air as the static energy flushed forward towards her body but never allowed to touch her. A sweat glided off her perfect skin once she struck her sword forward again, still never breaking her flawless form, with her feet, firmly glued to the ground.

"I can't even get close," the handsome man sighed as he dodged the small lightning leftovers that separated from the bigger strikes. Then he finally jumped towards the bigger lightning strikes that are being cut in two, and moved his body flexibly as he elegantly dodged all attacks, with only the rim of his clean robes getting charred into dust.

As he passed each lightning strike, he saw the sparkles die out as soon as they touched the ground. "Hm… the color looks yellow, but it seems distance can weaken the power of the strike." He glanced at the woman. How can she get so close and still cut the lightning?

Chen Liu gave up releasing lightning and instead tried to use sword moves… it's just he wasn't too good with them because he used to slack off and had only concentrated these four years on using lightning!

"Don't kill him!" the handsome man yelled as he tried to hurry over once the lightning stopped. He saw her sword pierce near Chen Liu's chest and released a chi strike to stop her.

She quickly dodged and glared at him, releasing a chi attack towards him as well. He quickly dodged and attempted to attack once more but her sword was already going through Chen Liu's abdomen.

Wu LiJing ignored all background noises and stabbed Chen Liu after he did a poor job of fighting due to releasing too many lightning strikes and draining his inner chi.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ears with dark eyes, "for giving me some practice before I destroy your clan." She pulled her sword out and blood splattered as he groaned. Some blood sprayed on her robes as her cold gaze focused on his devastated expression.

He pointed at her and held his bleeding wound. "H-how…" Blood dripped down his lips as he coughed and knelt on the ground. He tried to grab his sword that was beside him but she kicked it away and slashed one last time with all her strength, and he plopped dead to the ground with his eyes wide open and a large gash between his face. She stared at his face with lowered eyes, never loosening the grip on her sword.

Wu LiJing finally moved her gaze towards the stranger who was checking on Chen Liu's pulse once he arrived. She sheathed her sword and finally let go of it, making it disappear.

"He's dead," the man whispered.

"You don't have to worry about the ring-leader," she said in an indifferent tone as she turned away. Then she jumped and flew away.

"Master!" One of his men looked at the dead body of Chen Liu on the ground. "What do we do now?"

Bai ZhiJun stared at the back of the young woman and said in a slightly cold tone, "Look for clues." She was probably more than a few years younger than him but was already this skilled. Someone who could cut lightning… However, he also noticed her hands when she left; they were charred and bleeding, which means she hasn't mastered it yet. Still, it was a surprise to see someone who wasn't at least of Fourth Tier cut lightning in half like slicing bread.

He sighed and looked up at the sky. "I may have to bring some bad news for Miss Han." Someone they knew was kidnapped and enslaved. She was treated poorly and died when they got to her. Han YanLing wanted to find out who was behind these kidnappings, so he investigated. Yet there were no obvious clues…

When Wu LiJing returned back to the sect, her clothes were dyed a dark red color and she passed the empty gates without having to consider how others would think of her should they see her since it was already past midnight. She usually didn't like to be seen like this, so she always just flew through the barrier while carrying a token that would let her enter without trouble; because if her master knew, it would also be a hassle to explain.

She destroyed the rest of their four slave bases that Jin RuiYing already informed her of before returning.

She took off her plain dark purple robes with black lining, that were now more of a maroon color and burned them since they were now radiating a bloody stench, which she disliked. She didn't want anyone to notice that she was of the Moon Sect so she didn't wear her uniform and also disguised her sword with a spell.

She grabbed herself some bath water and washed herself without waking Cheng ChunHua.

Wu LiJing looked at her dark trembling palms that were caused by the lightning strikes. She stared at them briefly before she sunk them in the water and clenched her jaws. She sucked in a breath… and suddenly wondered when her master was going to return because she had to hide this from him. She would have to purchase some medicine for burns… maybe purchase robes with longer sleeves as well.