Chapter 9: The Savior from the Sky

  The bandit leader stood not far away, looking at the fallen Xu Sanbao with a regretful smirk.

  "What a pity…" he said, shaking his head with mock sorrow. "There goes my future bride."

  As his words fell, the Soil Spirit Orb in his hand dimmed slightly. The earthen spikes surrounding Sanbao stopped their advance—he clearly saw no reason to waste more energy on someone who was already dying.

  Wu Yuyu knelt beside Sanbao, clutching her limp body tightly. Tears streamed down her face like broken beads. Her trembling hands pressed against Sanbao’s chest wound, trying desperately to stop the bleeding, but the blood continued to gush out, staining her palms and soaking Sanbao’s once-white robes.

  "Miss, I’m not worth it… you shouldn't have…" Yuyu sobbed, her whole body shaking with fear and grief.

  Sanbao's eyeshes fluttered weakly. She slowly opened her eyes and forced a faint smile.

  "It’s okay..." Her voice was so soft it was barely more than a whisper, like it could be carried away by the wind. "We’re sisters… aren’t we?"

  Tears rolled down Yuyu’s cheeks, but Sanbao kept smiling, as if she couldn’t feel the intense pain wracking her body. She knew she had to endure—at least long enough to protect Yuyu from being dragged away by the bandits.

  Yet the bandits, under the leader’s command, began closing in again, their eyes filled with malicious greed.

  Sanbao's gaze dimmed. But just then—a strange light flickered deep within her pupils.

  A ripple of blue, like the shimmer of water, flowed through her eyes. Her fingertips trembled slightly, and a faint blue halo shimmered at the tip of her fingers.

  In the next instant, the blood staining her chest began to change.

  The blood soaking her robes hardened in an instant, transforming into sharp, crimson arrows!

  *Whoosh!*

  With a piercing sound, the blood arrows shot out in every direction, striking the surrounding bandits with deadly precision!

  "Argh!"

  Screams erupted. Several bandits, caught off guard, were pierced through by the blood arrows, colpsing into pools of their own blood. From their wounds, more blood solidified into new arrows, which shot toward the bandits behind them.

  The bandit leader’s face twisted in arm. He hastily activated the Soil Spirit Orb, chanting rapidly. Thick earthen walls surged up from the ground, forming barriers to block the blood arrows.

  "Let’s see how much blood you have left," the bandit leader sneered from behind his shield, arms crossed confidently. "Drag away the wounded—don’t let her use their blood!"

  Sanbao understood. She was growing weaker. At this rate, her blood would eventually run dry.

  She drew a shallow breath and clenched her teeth.

  "Run," she whispered hoarsely to Yuyu. "Head back to the city gates. Get help from the guards."

  Yuyu, eyes blurred with tears, clung tightly to Sanbao’s hand, choking on her sobs. "Miss, I… I don’t want to leave you…"

  "Go!" Sanbao shouted, stamping her foot in urgency.

  Her blood arrows continued to fly, but her strength was rapidly fading. Darkness crept at the edges of her vision, and her body swayed unsteadily.

  Yuyu gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face. She knew—if she stayed, Sanbao wouldn’t leave either. If they both remained, they would die together.

  She gave Sanbao a deep, tearful look, then forced herself to stand and sprint toward the city gates.

  Sanbao watched her run, a faint sense of relief rising in her heart. But before she could summon another blood arrow, the world around her spun, and her body colpsed heavily to the ground.

  Her consciousness was slipping. Her blood loss was too severe. A biting cold rose from her limbs, numbing her senses.

  At that moment, a dragon’s roar echoed from the sky.

  A brilliant fsh tore through the darkness—a sword descending like a meteor!

  *Boom!*

  A bde smmed into the ground between Sanbao and the bandit leader with the force of thunder.

  The sword's impact shattered the earthen barriers and sent the nearby bandits stumbling backward in terror.

  Sanbao struggled to open her eyes. The sword gleamed with a chilling brilliance, arcs of golden lightning coiling faintly around the bde—it was no ordinary weapon.

  The bandit leader recoiled, his earlier arrogance freezing into a look of disbelief.

  "Who’s there?!" he roared, scanning the darkness.

  Silence fell. Only the night wind stirred the dust and leaves.

  Then, from the distant shadows, a figure began to emerge.

  He walked forward slowly, each step steady and deliberate, as if stamping on the heart of every bandit present, exuding an overwhelming pressure.

  Under the moonlight, the figure became clearer—it was a man cd in bck robes. His face was hidden by the shadows, but his presence alone chilled the air.

  The man raised a hand and pointed lightly toward the sword.

  With a resonant dragon’s cry, the bde leapt from the ground and flew back into his grasp.

  The bandit leader stumbled back again, fear fshing uncontrolbly across his face.

  "Who… are you?" he shouted, his voice breaking slightly.

  The bck-robed man did not answer. He merely gazed at them with a look as cold as ice.

  "Retreat!" the bandit leader barked. He turned and fled, dragging the remaining bandits into the darkness with him.

  Sanbao watched their panicked retreat, then turned her eyes toward the bck-robed man.

  Her vision blurred. Her body gave way.

  She colpsed heavily onto the ground.

  Just before losing consciousness completely, she vaguely heard a low, cold voice:

  "Since I’m here… none of you are leaving."