Chapter 536: Veiled Girl
Chapter 536: Veiled Girl
’Shit!’
The shadow returned, but this time Xun Wei reacted faster. She twisted away as the figure lunged, attacking with feral speed, pressing her relentlessly like a starving beast.
Blow after blow came down on her as she retreated, dodging just long enough to reclaim her sword.
Steel met motion.
And finally, she saw her attacker clearly.
It was a little girl, only 15 or 16 years old.
Her face hidden behind a veil.
And the killing intent pouring from her was anything but childish.
"Who are you?" Xun Wei demanded, blade lifting as her stance settled.
The little girl tilted her head, a crooked smile curling beneath the veil. "My name doesn’t matter," she said lightly. "Just know this—our clans are enemies, Divine Swordsman."
Xun Wei’s pupils contracted.
’Chaos Sect...’ the realization struck her like ice.
She didn’t hesitate.
Three rapid hand seals flashed. Then a formation circle appeared.
[ Multi-layered Defensive Formation ]
The formation unfolded around Xun Wei—dense, interlocking barriers capable of stopping even a Profound Realm strike.
Pain flared through her chest before she could stabilize it. Blood spilled from her lips.
The little girl struck the barrier.
It didn’t move.
Surprise flickered across the girl’s face—then her lips curled into a smile. She lowered into a crouch, Qi compressing violently as she prepared a full-force strike.
Attack after attack, the girl relentlessly attempted to break through the formation but to no avail.
Xun Wei’s eyes narrowed. She wanted to create a second layer just for safety measures, but just maintaining the first layer in her current state was difficult enough.
Worst of all, the wound on her chest was getting worse. Whatever she was hit with, it was blocking her body’s natural ability to heal.
Without hesitating, she quickly relayed everything that was happening to her straight to Xiao Fang through her clone.
Back on the flying pavilion, Xiao Fang’s expression darkened the instant he heard it.
"Xiao Hei," he said calmly.
Xiao Hei’s clone, standing nearby, snapped to attention.
"On it."
In the same moment, back in the city, Xiao Hei’s real body was already moving through the city towards Xun Wei’s location.
—
The Song Clan city was vast, but as silent as death. Finding Xun Wei wasn’t difficult.
In her beast form, Xiao Hei became a streak of black shadow tearing through the alleys, claws barely touching the ground. Passing by all the corpses that riddled the streets.
She heard it before she saw it, the sharp attacks.
Then she arrived.
Without warning, Xiao Hei lunged from the darkness, her massive form slamming into the little girl like a falling mountain. The impact ripped apart the street beneath them, sending debris flying in every direction.
The girl was hurled across the square, crashing through a stone pillar before skidding to a stop.
Xun Wei didn’t waste the opening.
She stepped forward, sword flashing, her grey eyes cold and merciless. Killing intent surged, heavy enough to suffocate the air itself.
But the little girl dodged it and laughed.
She rolled to her feet unnaturally fast, scarlet light flaring in her eyes as the blood curse mark on her face ignited. Her body twisted, bones shifting, strength exploding outward as her aura surged to the peak of the Profound Realm.
Strangely, the wound she received from Xiao Hei coagulated and healed in an instant.
Xiao Hei snarled low, fangs bared, and her black fur stood on end. With her shoulder height being over two meters tall in her panther form, she was a terrifyingly intimidating creature to look at. However, the little girl in her half-beast form wasn’t intimidated easily.
Xun Wei tightened her grip on her sword, but her left arm was broken, and the blood that ran down her face obscured her vision.
This was no longer a hunt.
It was a collision.
Xun Wei created another formation in preparation. The young girl might’ve only had Profound realm strength, but her speed was beyond reason.
"I never thought I’d ever see a Divine Swordsman hide behind a shield. Do you have any pride, or are you just a coward?" the young girl said.
Xun Wei stood back up, with her blade drawn.
The little girl smirked.
{"Wei, you’re in no condition to fight."} Xiao Hei’s voice echoed through Xun Wei’s mind via spirit transmission.
Xiao Hei in her beast form walked in front of Xun Wei without taking her eyes off the little girl.
{"Leave this girl to me."}
Xun Wei didn’t argue.
Xiao Hei’s cultivation was at the Divine Realm, even if she couldn’t handle the girl, she’d be able to keep her occupied for a while. Also, in her current condition, she would only become a liability.
The little girl grinned, crimson-stained claws dragging lazily across her lips.
"Alright, kittycat," she said sweetly, licking the blood from her talon. "I’ll play with you first."
Xun Wei turned, "be careful. She’s quick."
In the next moment, Xun Wei retreated—but not blindly.
She returned to the house where she had accidentally discovered a hiding mother and child.
However, upon arriving at the house again, she could immediately tell that they were gone.
Xun Wei’s eyes narrowed. They couldn’t have gotten far—whoever the woman was, she knew how to move without leaving obvious traces. That alone set off alarms in her head.
However, Xun Wei was a disciple of an expert tracker, it was only a matter of time till she would find them.
Xun Wei sat down and healed herself enough to stop the bleeding, but many of her bones were still broken. Still, that was enough.
—
Elsewhere, within another abandoned home, the same woman moved with practiced precision, carefully erasing signs of her passage as she pressed herself and her son into the shadows.
The boy trembled, clutching her sleeve. "Mom... who was that?" he whispered. "She looked like you."
Her hand tightened around his shoulder.
"Be quiet," she murmured sharply, eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the wall. "If you speak, they’ll find us."
But even as she said it, her gaze flickered—cold, calculating. She was curious about Xun Wei as well, but right now. Simply surviving was her top priority.
The boy looked at her strangely. As much as she wanted to hide it, he knew how strong his mother was. Still, he did as she said and kept quiet.
.
.
.
Xun Wei’s assigned mission was simple: lead her team into Song Clan territory and kill as many of their people as possible before their reinforcements could arrive. However, her true intentions were far crueler.
Eradication.
The Song Clan had wiped out her family to the last person, she was the only living survivor. This wasn’t a strategy. It was vengeance.
After several minutes of forced breathing and hurried healing, Xun Wei pushed herself back to her feet. The pain remained, but it no longer mattered.
Her gaze hardened as a memory surfaced—the terrified faces of the mother and child she had seen hiding earlier.
’I won’t let you escape,’ she thought coldly, and resumed the hunt.
—
Meanwhile, north of the city. The mother and child ran through the darkness. The forest swallowed them the moment they left.
Just north of the Song Clan’s territory lay the edge of their province. Beyond it was forbidden land—another domain entirely, governed by the Divine Sword Sect.
That land was infamous. Not because it was lawless, but because its laws were absolute. Strangers vanished without explanation, and even clans avoided its borders unless invited. Danger lurked at every turn, open and hidden alike.
And that was precisely why the mother had chosen it.
If there was anywhere their pursuers couldn’t reach, it was there.
Branches clawed at their clothes as the mother pulled her son along narrow, half-forgotten paths, never slowing, never looking back. The further north they ran, the darker the woods became.
"Mom..." the boy whispered between heavy breaths. "Why is this happening? Why are they killing everyone?"
She didn’t answer at first. Her grip on his hand tightened.
After a long moment, she spoke, her voice low and strained.
"The Song Clan... isn’t without sins."
Recalling Xun Wei’s face, her steps faltered for the briefest instant.
Inside, something twisted painfully in her chest at the thought of who Xun Wei might be to her.
’I never imagined fate would be this cruel,’ she thought.
Before the boy could ask again, she forced herself to continue.
"Before you were born," she said quietly, "I belonged to another clan."
The boy looked up at her, eyes wide. "Another clan?"
She nodded. "The Xun Family Clan."
The name tasted like ash.
He had never heard of it, because he was born the year following its destruction. And their clan was erased completely after their eradication.
"I had a family there too," she went on. "With your real father. But that was all taken from me before you were born."
Her voice wavered, memories pressing hard against the walls she’d spent years building.
Burning halls.
Screams.
Blood soaking into white stone.
"Real father? Who was he?" the boy asked.