"Um… excuse me, how do I get to Jinzhou City?"
The burly men suddenly heard a boy's voice coming from the darkness and were instantly startled. They all grabbed the long blades beside them.
"Who's there!? Come out!"
"Are you human or a ghost?!"
Honestly, you couldn't really blame them for reacting like that.
Setting aside whether they had done anything shady.
Just imagine this, you're camping out in the wild, and in the middle of the night, you see a strange child with a head full of white hair and a pale face. He greets you while slowly walking toward you step by step. Wouldn't you be scared?
And clearly, Zane hadn't expected these guys to be this timid either.
If he had known, he would have made a bigger scene to scare these traffickers half to death.
But now that things had reached this point, Zane could only take it one step at a time.
"Uncles, I got separated from my family. Do you know how to get to Jinzhou City?"
Seeing that the white-haired boy in front of them was indeed human, the men finally relaxed a little.
They had been too busy being scared earlier to notice, but now they finally realized...
This white-haired boy… actually looked kind of delicate and handsome?
Look at that frail body, those soft, obedient eyes, and that white hair which was especially appealing to Huanglong…
What? You say he's a boy?
Wouldn't that be even better?
"We do know the way to Jinzhou… but look, it's already dark. Why not stay with us for the night?
We've got some good stuff here."
The higher-ups had specifically told them not to touch that little girl, but they never said anything about not touching this little boy.
The other men chuckled strangely, exchanging glances. It was obvious they were all thinking the same thing.
Very quickly, Zane, a single child, was surrounded and ushered into the camp by a group of burly men.
As he walked into this temporary camp, Zane subtly looked around and narrowed his eyes slightly.
From what he could see, the camp was located in a low-lying valley, backed by a mountain.
If someone attacked the camp, they would only need to guard the entrance to create a situation where one man could hold off many.
Moreover, it wasn't until he reached the center of the camp that Zane noticed something.
The commotion he had caused earlier when he appeared hadn't attracted all the men.
Aside from the seven who went out to check, there were still four who had stayed behind in the camp and didn't come out.
These guys were definitely not ordinary traffickers or bandits.
At that thought, Zane's emerald eyes sharpened. Anyone targeted by these people must have an unusual identity.
That being the case, the one inside that central tent must indeed be…
The next second, Zane felt his collar tighten, and then he was lifted off the ground.
"Sorry, little guy. Since you've seen us, we can't let you live." The leader revealed a cruel smile.
"If you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck…"
But in the next instant, a fist rapidly grew in his field of vision.
A miserable scream tore through the quiet night, like a stone thrown into still water. Ripples spread outward, eventually disturbing Jinzhou City.
The man's nose throbbed with pain, and the hand that had been holding Zane instinctively loosened.
Hearing their leader's scream, the others instinctively drew their weapons and looked toward the entrance.
They subconsciously thought the attack had come from outside, never considering that the real attacker was already among them.
At that moment, Zane, like a phantom in the night, moved on instinct etched into his soul. He quickly turned and lunged at the man holding the gun.
At the same time, the man with the gun realized something was wrong. While shouting, he quickly retreated and raised the gun at Zane.
In an instant, the dark muzzle burst with a bright flash, lighting up the night sky.
Unfortunately, Zane had kept his focus on him the entire time.
The moment he realized his attack had been noticed, Zane tapped his right foot on the ground and swiftly darted to the front-left, narrowly avoiding the bullet.
In the next second, he had already closed in, entering within half a meter of the man.
Then he stepped forward, twisted his body, and struck with an elbow to the chest…
Well, because Zane wasn't tall enough, he could only reach the man's thigh area. So technically it wasn't an elbow strike to the chest.
But the damage was no less effective.
After a brief silence, another miserable scream rang out in the center of the camp.
Those who witnessed it immediately felt a chill in their lower bodies, a cold sensation spreading from below and quickly engulfing their entire bodies.
The man closest to Zane reacted first, raising his blade and slashing toward Zane's head.
But taking advantage of his small size, Zane dodged to the side, slipping past the blade and appearing behind the man.
Looking at the man's completely exposed backside as he bent forward, Zane gave a wicked smile.
That smile could truly topple kingdoms…
If you don't believe it, just look... the man was already clutching himself and rolling on the ground in agony, even dropping his beloved blade.
At that moment, the leader who had been attacked earlier regained his senses. Clutching his nose, he roared furiously at the smiling boy.
"Brothers, kill him!"
But as soon as he said that, he saw Zane looking at him with ill intent. Those emerald eyes kept glancing toward his lower body.
"Uncle, didn't you say there was something good earlier? What, you don't dare let me see it now?"
The leader's momentum immediately weakened. Even as a Resonator, he couldn't handle this kid constantly targeting the lower half.
"Third, Sixth, Eighth, the three of you go together. Don't treat him like a normal kid."
"Got it."
As the three men approached step by step, Zane slowly retreated, avoiding being surrounded in a triangular formation.
The three advanced in an inverted triangle, closing in on him.
Seeing this, Zane's gaze grew deeper.
"You're not ordinary traffickers, are you?"
The man in front, seeing their identity exposed, simply stopped pretending.
"Kid, didn't expect you to have such sharp eyes, figuring out this much.", The closest one, Eighth, licked the back of his blade, showing a savage grin.
"But you know too much. We definitely can't let you live today!"
"Like not knowing would've let me live." Zane curled his lips, then looked at them seriously and asked in a low voice, "So, the one you captured is the Sentinel's Resonator, right?"
"The Sentinel's Resonator? Probably." Sixth answered while quietly drawing his blade.
"Anyway, it's a white-haired little girl. We don't know anything else."
"Then I have one more question. Who sent you?"
Third sensed something was off and quickly cut off Sixth. This guy always liked to talk too much when he thought victory was certain.
"You talk too much. You're asking to die!", As he spoke, he didn't bother with formation anymore and charged straight at Zane with his spear.
Seeing that he couldn't extract any more information, Zane's expression suddenly changed from calm to panic.
Just as the men thought he was finally scared at the brink of death, Zane suddenly shouted loudly, "Help me, Master Changli!"
Not far away, Changli, who had been hiding, let out a helpless sigh.
"I was going to leave… forget it, I'll just act."
As her murmuring ended, a crimson flame shot into the sky. The brilliant light shone in Jinzhou's night sky like a red sun, illuminating the thorn-filled darkness and bringing light.
In the next moment, Zane saw the red sun transform into a flaming phoenix midair, spreading its wings and plunging into the group of criminals.
The unfortunate men didn't even have time to see who killed them before being burned into ashes by the blazing Li-fire, along with the entire camp.
The raging flames burned silently, yet their presence shattered the peaceful dreams of many conservative nobles.
Zane watched as Changli's slender figure walked gracefully out from the center of the flames. Every step carried confidence and composure, as if everything was under her control.
In her arms was Hsi, who had just regained consciousness and still looked dazed.
Changli carried Hsi out of the fire. At that moment, the towering flames suddenly seemed to have their throats gripped, and in an instant, all the fire disappeared completely.
Not a single trace remained.
Changli set Hsi down, letting her stand on her own. She had already checked Hsi's condition... it was just a sedative.
It seemed that certain people in the city didn't want to waste the chance to turn the next magistrate into a pawn.
Changli turned to look at the boy staring at her with admiration. Pride couldn't be hidden in her phoenix eyes.
After this incident, she realized that at critical moments, Zane always managed to surprise her.
"When did you know?"
Zane knew she was asking when he had realized she was nearby.
"From the moment I stepped into the camp."
As he spoke, he looked up at Changli.
"Master, being near you feels warm. Even from far away, I can sense your burning body temperature."
Though the way he said it sounded a bit ambiguous.
Hearing that, Changli smiled, her face slightly flushed, and reached out to pat both Hsi and Zane on their heads.
"If I hadn't been there, what would you have done?"
Zane knew she was testing him and immediately answered, "I planned to gain their trust first, then either launch a sneak attack or poison them. I don't believe you wouldn't notice both me and Sister Hsi disappearing eventually."
Seeing his matter-of-fact expression, Changli lightly flicked his forehead.
But she didn't say anything more.
After all, for a child, being able to do this much was already impressive.
Since Hsi was safe, Changli led the two children back toward Jinzhou City.
She didn't intend to punish Hsi over this.
In her impression, Hsi had always been a determined and stubborn child. If she did something like this, there must have been a reason.
But just because Changli didn't ask didn't mean Zane wouldn't.
On the way back, Zane turned to Hsi, who was walking with her head lowered, tightly clutching something in her hand, and asked, "Sis, why did you go out of the city so late?"
Given Hsi's personality, she would never casually do something like going out at night, which broke the rules.
Hearing his question, Hsi raised her head and carefully handed him the flower she had been clutching so tightly it was almost crushed.
"I read in a book that night-blooming fragrance can reduce inflammation and stop itching when applied externally, so I wanted to go outside the city to pick some for you…"
The flower in Hsi's hand was a little wrinkled, but it still bloomed stubbornly.