The guards of the War King's Mansion are all hand-picked and highly skilled in martial arts. Shen Lixue has five or six guards by her side, which should be more than enough to deal with the mysterious man.
Lin Yan was still a little worried: "Are you sure you don't need me to take you back home?"
“No need.” Shen Lixue shook her head, her tone firm: “Cousin Yan, go ahead and get busy, lest the mysterious person exploit this opportunity and harm another innocent girl!”
Lin Yan couldn't refuse Shen Lixue, so he took out a cylinder and stuffed it into her hand: "If there's any unusual activity, immediately burn this signal for me!"
"Alright!" Shen Lixue accepted the cylinder, watched Lin Yan ride away, got into the carriage, and headed to the War King's Mansion.
As night deepened, the streets were deserted, not a soul in sight. The clatter of horses' hooves sounded particularly clear in the quiet night, and the wind rustled through the leaves.
Whoosh! A cold wind suddenly blew by, and a black figure rushed towards them with intense killing intent.
"Protect the princess!" The guards' eyes narrowed. Two guards protected the carriage, while the others drew their swords and fought with the men in black.
The sounds of fierce fighting carried far on the breeze. At the back of the car, Qiu He and Yan Yue, who were half asleep, were startled awake. They stared wide-eyed at the scene before them in disbelief.
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow, lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage. The guards worked together seamlessly, surrounding the man in black and attacking him in unison. However, the man in black was extremely skilled in martial arts, easily handling four opponents with his bare fists.
A graceful smile curved Shen Lixue's lips. Had she finally given up and made her move?
A faint fragrance drifted on the wind, startling Shen Lixue: "Hold your breath!"
The fragrance wafted quickly, and her warning came too late. All the guards were caught off guard, falling to the ground with thuds. Even Qiu He and Yan Yue lay listlessly at the back of the carriage, completely exhausted and unable to muster any strength.
Shen Lixue frowned. No wonder she wasn't afraid of the guards from the War Prince's Mansion; she had come prepared.
"Hehehe!" The man in black walked towards Shen Lixue, his hoarse laughter sending chills down one's spine. His gaze towards her was sinister and icy: "What a stunningly beautiful face! I hate this kind of face the most!"
With a vicious roar, the man in black lashed out with his dark claws toward Shen Lixue's beautiful face.
Shen Lixue smiled coldly and shot three silver needles at the man in black: "Want to ruin my face? Let's see if you have the ability!"
"Hehehe, how dare you speak so arrogantly!" The woman in black dodged the silver needles, roaring through gritted teeth. Her demonic claws reached for Shen Lixue again. A breeze blew by, lifting a bit of the woman in black's sleeve. Shen Lixue saw that the tips of her black claws were gleaming, coated with poison.
"Snap!" Shen Lixue lashed out with her whip, swatting away the black-clad man's outstretched hand.
The man in black was taken aback, his eyes darkening. He instantly appeared in front of Shen Lixue, but before he could extend his claws, Shen Lixue lashed out with her whip, pushing him back a distance.
Shen Lixue is used to using silver needles, so where did she get a whip?
The woman in black was fast and skilled in close combat. Shen Lixue held a whip to stop her from getting close. If she couldn't get close, she couldn't use her advantages. She frowned and looked coldly at Shen Lixue. Suddenly, she realized that what Shen Lixue was holding was not a long whip for martial arts, but a horse whip for driving a carriage.
That bitch! She actually treated me like an animal and beat me up!
Enraged, the man in black rushed forward, a gleaming longsword appearing out of thin air in his hand, and stabbed it fiercely towards Shen Lixue's neck.
Shen Lixue curled her lips into a cold smile, lashed out with her whip, and the long sword was instantly knocked away. She then lashed out again with her whip, striking the man in black hard in the face. She enjoyed disfiguring others, and today she would disfigure him as well.
Shen Lixue used tremendous force with that whip, tearing a small piece of the black mask off the man in black and leaving a clear bloodstain on his face, which looked shocking against his all-black attire.
"My face!" the man in black cried out, covering his face and stepping back to the side, his eyes filled with shock. In just one month, Shen Lixue's martial arts had improved rapidly, and he had underestimated her again.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!" In the instant the man in black was stunned, Shen Lixue lashed out with her whips several more times. The whips didn't hit anywhere else, but specifically the man in black's face. The man in black was slender and clearly a woman. Women cherish their appearance the most, so Shen Lixue deliberately slapped her face.
The woman in black dodged left and right, but Shen Lixue's long whip seemed to weave a fine, dense net. No matter where she hid, she could not escape the ravages of Shen Lixue's whip. Her perfectly good black face mask was beaten to shreds, and her fair face was covered with scars, a shocking sight.
"My face, my face!" the woman in black screamed, gritting her teeth and howling to the sky. Her most cherished face had been ruined once again by Shen Lixue: "Shen Lixue, I will never let you get away with this!"
Shen Lixue rubbed her ears: "It's so noisy! If you don't want to hit my face, then I won't!" The whip shifted position and struck the black-clad man's chest with a snap. His black outer garment and white inner garment tore open at the chest, revealing a large expanse of fair skin.
"Shen Lixue!" the man in black screamed, covering his chest with his hands and glaring fiercely at Shen Lixue through gritted teeth.
"You said you wouldn't slap me in the face!" Shen Lixue's eyes were full of innocence.
The man in black glared at her beautiful eyes, his anger almost spitting fire. With a flick of his slender hand, he released a cloud of white smoke and turned to flee.
Shen Lixue raised her lips, wanting to escape, but it wasn't that easy. With a light flick of her slender hand, she lashed out with another whip. The black-clad man's clothes instantly ripped open, quickly spilling to both sides, revealing his delicate, porcelain-like back. The deep whip mark in the middle was shocking to behold.
"Shen Lixue, you wait, I will never let you go!" the man in black screamed as he flew away quickly.
Just as Zi Mo was about to give chase, Shen Lixue said calmly, "Don't pursue a desperate enemy!"
"She was seriously injured and at her last gasp. Why didn't you pursue her?" Zi Mo asked, puzzled.
"Her face is injured, so she won't be out causing trouble for a while. She's very powerful, and it will take some effort to completely eliminate her!"
Shen Lixue lowered her eyelids. What she wanted to say was that the guards had all been poisoned and needed immediate medical attention. If Zimo left, it would be inconvenient for her to save them alone. More importantly, if the other party was using a diversionary tactic, they would be in great danger.
A strange smile played on her lips as Shen Lixue slowly retracted her whip. The man in black didn't want to let her go, and coincidentally, she didn't want to let him go either.
Shen Lixue's analysis made sense, and Zi Mo did not refute it. His lips twitched. Princess Lixue was really fierce just now. She drove away the man in black with a long whip. If it were him, he would not have won so easily.
"The man in black is mainly skilled in close combat. If we can't get close to her, she can't use her advantages!" Shen Lixue explained calmly. The man in black is highly skilled in martial arts, extremely fast in lightness, and has profound internal strength. If they really fought, she would be no match for the man in black.
"Why has the princess switched to using a whip?" Zi Mo remembered that Shen Lixue was skilled with silver needles and longswords.
"My godfather taught me this for self-defense!" Shen Lixue had no internal energy, so even if she practiced advanced martial arts, she couldn't use them. The War King taught her this whip technique, which is flexible and versatile, and doesn't require much internal energy to maximize its advantages.
Zi Mo nodded, a momentary look of shock in his eyes. The War King disliked contact with people and had no interest in teaching martial arts. He would occasionally offer guidance, but only if he was in a good mood. Now, he was actually personally teaching the princess whip techniques, which showed how much he doted on her.
Remembering the black-clad man's scream before he left, Zi Mo quickly snapped back to reality: "That black-clad man who disfigured the princess is very familiar with her!"
Shen Lixue smiled coldly: "She is Su Yuting!"
"Su Yuting!" Zi Mo was startled. He knew that Su Yuting was no ordinary woman, but he couldn't connect the gloomy and terrifying madwoman from earlier with the beautiful and elegant eldest daughter of the Duke of Wen's mansion.
Su Yuting fell into a trap at the Prince of Zhan's mansion and was disfigured. Her mind became twisted, and she actually wanted to ruin the faces of all the beautiful women in the capital. She was truly vicious.