72: Kill with one blow

An Qian immediately placed Qin Shilei gently on the ground, drew the Bi Yue Sword she had obtained from Feng Yuxiu, and stood ready, on guard.

The glowing orbs, which had been floating leisurely, suddenly accelerated and flew over after seeing the firelight.

Upon closer inspection, they were flying creatures slightly smaller than a fist, shaped like moths, emitting a fluorescent glow all over their bodies.

An Qian stepped forward, blocking the path of these glowing insects.

Seeing that the glowing insects showed no sign of stopping, An Qian swung her sword at the one flying at the very front.

"Bang!"

The glowing insect that was struck exploded like a watermelon.

Instantly, its juices splattered everywhere, covering An Qian.

A burning, stinging pain spread across her exposed skin.

Sulfuric acid?

Disfigurement?

Several terrifying words instantly appeared in An Qian's mind.

Blazing Star!

An Qian simultaneously launched a fireball, controlling it to burn the glowing insects, while quickly pulling out a large bottle of water from her ring and pouring it over her head.

As the clear water washed over her, the burning sensation receded.

By then, three or four of the ten-plus glowing insects had their wings burned off by the Blazing Star and fell to the ground, while the rest were already close at hand.

An Qian spun her right hand, using a soft force to strike the nearest glowing insect with the flat of her sword.

The glowing insect was sent flying far away, wobbling in the air for a long time before it could fly again.

Seeing that this method was effective, An Qian used soft force to swat the remaining glowing insects far away.

Then, she controlled the Blazing Star to burn to death the much slower glowing insects one by one.

Again, a series of explosions ensued.

However, An Qian, who was already prepared, was not splattered by the juices from further away this time.

He Yiyao quickly stepped forward to extinguish the several leaves that the Blazing Star had ignited.

An Qian, meanwhile, took out another large bottle of mineral water and thoroughly washed her hands and face.

She approached the bonfire and carefully examined the spots on the back of her hands where the juice had landed.

A few areas on the back of her hands were slightly red, but there was no swelling.

An Qian still felt a bit uneasy. She turned to look at Zhang Xiaoli, seeing that the latter was still unconscious.

She could only helplessly pray in her heart that it would not worsen.

"An Qian, are you alright?" Qin Shilei, lying on the ground, asked weakly.

"I'm fine."

An Qian, however, did not want Qin Shilei to see the red spots on her face.

Qin Shilei struggled to sit up.

An Qian quickly walked over to help him up, scolding, "What are you moving around for?"

Qin Shilei looked steadily at An Qian, letting out a sigh of relief, "It should be fine."

An Qian quietly asked, "If I really got disfigured, would you not even want to look at me?"

Qin Shilei chuckled, "With the lights off, it's all the same."

"You're asking for a beating."

An Qian extended two fingers and gently pinched Qin Shilei's lower back, and Qin Shilei feigned pain.

"You're hungry, right? How about we eat the roasted lamb chops from yesterday for dinner?" Qin Shilei took out several large skewers of still-steaming lamb chops from his ring, preparing to hand them to An Qian and her daughter.

Just then, lights shone from a distance.

After a series of noisy footsteps, seven or eight people appeared before them.

"Smells good."

"It smells like lamb chops."

Then came the sound of swallowing saliva.

The newcomers stared intently at the lamb chops in Qin Shilei's hand like hungry wolves.

"What a pair of peerless sisters."

"There's another one on the ground, also a stunner."

Then came another sound of swallowing saliva.

Clang!

An Qian drew her Bi Yue Sword, looking coldly at the group opposite her.

There were nine people in total, all holding weapons like knives and swords.

Among them, three had swollen faces, as if they had been stung by bees a dozen times.

The leader was a middle-aged man in his thirties with a long, horse-like face.

His gaze swept back and forth over Qin Shilei and the others.

He quickly noticed that Qin Shilei's face was pale, and he had to lean on a woman to sit steadily on the ground.

An Qian, however, held a sharp sword and wore feather armor, looking heroic and valiant.

After a moment of deliberation, the horse-faced man raised his knife and shouted at Qin Shilei, "Give us the lamb chops, or we'll take your lives."

He planned to get the lamb chops first, eat his fill, and then proceed with the next step.

"Get lost!"

As An Qian's thoughts stirred, a layer of firelight enveloped the Bi Yue Sword.

She hoped to scare them away, to avoid accidentally harming Qin Shilei and the others if a fight broke out.

"Boss, what are you wasting words on them for? Just take it directly!"

"Kill the men, and as for the women, hehe!"

"I only want the lamb chops. If you're willing to give me an extra share, you can do whatever you want with the women."

The horse-faced man's subordinates were just waiting for his command to immediately rush forward to hack people and snatch things.

"Go on, but don't kill them."

The horse-faced man waved his hand and was the first to charge at An Qian.

He intended to take down the only combatant first, then calmly take the lamb chops.

Blazing Star!

Since a fight was imminent, An Qian showed no mercy, flinging out a fireball with her left hand.

The rapidly flying fireball instantly struck one person in the crowd, and the exploding Blazing Star not only knocked that person to the ground, never to rise again, but the splashing sparks also ignited three or four people nearby.

The horse-faced man's group was instantly in chaos; those on fire were busy putting themselves out, and those who weren't hit also hesitated in their steps.

There was no time to launch a second Blazing Star, so An Qian raised her sword and charged forward.

She sidestepped the horse-faced man's slashing broadsword and thrust her sword at one of his subordinates behind him who was putting out a fire.

It's better to break one finger than injure ten.

As the opponent, in his panic, was about to raise his knife to block, An Qian's sword pierced his heart.

Seven remained.

By then, those who were on fire had already stripped off their clothes and joined the encirclement bare-chested.

An Qian was fearless, sweeping aside a long sword slashing from the front, then raising her leg to kick away a person on her left, spinning and thrusting upward, her sword slicing through the throat of the person on her right.

The horse-faced man was startled, not expecting the opponent's strength to be so formidable.

With a change of mind, he pulled back and charged towards Qin Shilei and the others by the bonfire, "Stop her!"

An Qian's heart burned with anxiety when she saw the horse-faced man preparing to deal with Qin Shilei and the others.

The Bi Yue Sword became more and more fierce with each strike, forcing the five opponents to continuously retreat, yet they hadn't collapsed.

She had only managed to swiftly kill three people because she caught them off guard.

By now, the remaining five were fully alert and adopted a mobile fighting style, preventing her from breaking free immediately or killing them quickly.

"Don't come any closer!"

He Yiyao instantly let go of Qin Shilei, pulled out a submachine gun, and prepared to shoot the horse-faced man.

The horse-faced man was startled again, his body swaying left and right as he rapidly approached He Yiyao, simultaneously flinging an object from his hand.

With a clang, a cleaver spun through the air and knocked the submachine gun from He Yiyao's hand.

"It's stable!"

The horse-faced man's heart settled.

He swung his knife at Qin Shilei, who had already fallen to the ground.

He planned to kill Qin Shilei first, then subdue the woman to threaten An Qian.

Just then, a cylindrical object suddenly appeared in Qin Shilei's hand.

With a faint click, the horse-faced man fell backward.

His upper body was covered in countless red spots as fine as ox hair, and a look of impending triumph still hung on the corners of his mouth.