(26) Fierce Combat

"Come and go as you please? Do you think Nine Peaks is a place for whimsy?" Liu Yi’s clear voice echoed through the mountain forest. Her delicate, pale hand tugged at the shed skin of the giant serpent draped across her body, covering as much as she could.

"Little Phoenix, hide well. Don’t let the enemy find you. Mother’s busy and might not be able to look after you." She thought, exposing the tiny bird outside would be extremely dangerous. She had already emptied her space in advance for use soon, so it was best not to hide it inside.

"Chirp~" This time, Liang Zuan didn’t stubbornly resist, obediently fluttering into the forest and concealing itself.

Once it was ready, Liu Yi patted Seven Kill’s massive head.

"Roar!" Kill!

Seven Kill, receiving Liu Yi’s command, raised its head and howled. The tiger pack charged into the mercenaries, fighting desperately to defend their home, slaughtering the uninvited guests with all their might.

Liu Yi leapt lightly from the tiger’s back, joining the fray by harnessing the power of spatial teleportation, ten meters at a time. Between jumps, she fired two shots, indifferent to her aim—her ghostly, unpredictable moves stunned the mercenaries.

They had never witnessed such bizarre abilities and assumed they’d encountered a female specter, firing their weapons at her wildly.

Liu Yi had anticipated this. She quickly hid within her space, vanishing amid the chaos, while the serpent’s shed skin shielded her from bullets whenever she reappeared.

The more fire she drew upon herself, the less pressure the tigers faced, allowing them to unleash their brute strength and maximize their advantage to annihilate the enemy.

"Di Hui, it’s been a long time!" After darting back and forth through her space, Liu Yi finally squeezed close to Di Hui.

In her past life, many renowned men had been guests at her cousin Lu Yunshu’s bedchamber. Second Young Master Di had vied for favor against the crown prince of the Di clan, lavishing attention upon Lu Yunshu; they were old acquaintances.

"Protect Second Young Master, quickly!"

Her familiar greeting sounded like a death knell in the mercenaries’ ears.

Among them were metal and fire ability users. Seeing her approach, they wrapped Di Hui in layers of black metal, placing him at the core, while fire users blasted flames at her and wind users launched blades for sneak attacks.

Tongues of flame scorched and ignited the forest vegetation.

Fortunately, Water Cannon assisted from the shadows, dousing every blaze. Flash was stationed at the perimeter by Liu Yi, keeping a close watch on the bitch, ready to wrap her in lightning the instant she emerged from space, guarding her well.

Liu Yi’s serpent skin was impervious to fire and water; she swept her gun in bursts, firing back at her attackers with the spoils she’d scavenged.

Meanwhile, she kept a vigilant eye on the battle.

"Seven Kill, watch the left—fire and wind sneak attacks!"

"Tiger King, avoid the grenades, get down!"

"Ice Lump, open your jaws—don’t hold onto that thing!"

"Tigers, heed my command, stay away from the black lumps!"

These ability users must have signed their lives away, willing to use their bodies as shields for Di Hui. Why were there so few deserters? The pressure was immense!

She had to inflict the most painful blow. Only by hurting the Di clan could she win Nine Peaks a period of peace.

There was no other way; she had to use her ultimate weapon.

She discarded her firearm, uncoiling the long whip from her waist and lashed it at them.

The whip itself wasn’t highly destructive, but anyone it struck vanished instantly, one after another. If someone grabbed another, both disappeared together.

Collect, collect, collect!

All these top-tier ability users from the Di clan were swept into her space.

Meanwhile, she rapidly evacuated the oxygen inside, leaving them to suffocate to death.

Unnoticed, slender vines sprouted from the soil beneath the mercenaries attacking Liu Yi, binding their legs and immobilizing them.

Absorbing, merging—the corpses turned to dry powder, falling as dust, leaving only piles of clothing.

In the chaos, some tried to escape.

But vines had long lain in wait; anyone passing was ensnared.

One by one, fleeing mercenaries were absorbed by the hidden vines.

The tiger pack eyed the vines, sensing them as allies, and paid no mind. Staggering toward their prey, they sank their teeth viciously into throats, utterly ferocious.

The mercenaries, staring into the tigers’ savage eyes, let out pitiful, helpless wails, no different from the prey they themselves had slaughtered.

Amid the slaughter, charged with malice and killing intent, the tigers’ striped pelts were mysterious and dangerous, their muscles robust and elegant. Even in the midst of such bloody terror, a deadly beauty lingered.

The forest, shrouded in smoke and fire, reeked of blood, adding a primordial, ferocious atmosphere.

Here, they became pillars forged by action, holding back the invaders with sheer strength...

No one knew how much time had passed before the forest settled into silence once more.

Di Hui was encased in a thick, heavy metal shield, protected from Liu Yi’s attacks but also utterly immobilized. He couldn’t escape or hide, trapped within the shell.

"Help! Help! Useless! All of you are useless!" Di Hui’s voice echoed hysterically from within the metal shield, gone was the arrogant second son.

Liu Yi fired her gun at the shield, but perhaps due to its high-grade metal ability, the bullets only left fine scratches.

Tiger King’s metal ability and Ice Lump’s ice power merely marked it with shallow grooves.

Flash’s electricity could conduct through, but its damage was clearly diminished.

Liu Yi had a thought and grew a slender bean sprout from the earth, tunneling upward beneath the shield.

But the shield was sealed at the bottom…

"Metal conducts heat—what if we roast him alive?" She was not one for cruelty; killing was swift, never torture. Otherwise, over time, she feared losing her sense of self and becoming twisted.

Moreover, there were many young cubs around; she couldn’t set a bad example lest they imitate her and stray.

What to do?

In a moment of distraction, she noticed the vines in the corner absorbing mercenary bodies.

Liang Zuan was here too?

Ha! She’d found another ally.

"Brother Liang Zuan, I know you’re here to help. Could your vines twist open this metal shell for me? As payment, I’m willing to offer you all these corpses."

Before Liang Zuan could reply, Di Hui, cowering inside, shouted arrogantly from within.

"Fool! My shield is the rarest, most precious metal. Vines are mere wood ability—metal overcomes wood, how could you harm me?"

He sensed the mercenaries outside were finished and hurriedly sent a distress signal to the Di clan’s refuge...