Phoniex Requiem
Chapter 24: Night Leopards

Chapter 24: Night Leopards

Yun Ruoyan picked up a branch from the ground and drew a small circle in the grass. “We are at the end of the territory, not too dangerous, but also have fewer treasures to find. Given our abilities, I think we can try to go deeper.”

As she said this, she drew a straight line cutting through the circle, then looked towards Lin's sister as she waited for their input.

The main reason for obtaining tokens for access to the region was to enter Kongming Academy, but another equally important reason was to obtain valuable herbs and treasures.

After all, the imperial territory had the greatest concentration of spiritual energy in the entire Chenyuan continent, and it produced many precious herbs and magical beasts.

Herbal medicine was essential for pill making, and the inner core of a magical beast was even more valuable. Not only could it be used for medicine, a high-quality ferocious beast core could even be absorbed to increase one's cultivation.

"We will listen to you, Sister," said Lin Qingchen.

"Right, we'll listen to you!" Lin Qingxue also agreed. "Before we got here, we promised Grandpa that we would bring him back a bundle of medicinal herbs."

The three of them were just about to go deeper into the region when Qiuqiu suddenly spoke up.

"Miss, there is a mid-level magical beast that is preparing to sneak towards you from a few meters behind."

The magical beast was intelligent and even knew how to launch attacks silently.

“Middle-level magical beast? Can I take care of it?” Yun Ruoyan had not expected such a meeting so far from the center of the region, and she was unsure of her victory.

"With Sword Feilai, it will be fast, but with your martial ability and your current cultivation level, Madam, it might take a while."

He would not use Feilai Blade unless he had no other choice, and this would be a good opportunity for him to polish his own fighting skills and perhaps even make a breakthrough. "Then let's fight!"

Yun Ruoyan was deliberately behind sister Lin. As he gripped his scabbard, he quietly prepared for the spiritual battle of the pill experts

“Be careful,” Yun Ruoyan warned her sister as soon as Qiuqiu told her that the beast was getting closer. In an instant, he had unsheathed his sword and turned around so that he was among the ferocious beasts and Lin's sister.

And, moments later, a black leopard-like creature emerged from the bushes.

Since they were unprepared, Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen were shocked and confused.

Yun Ruoyan pushed the girls behind her, then twisted her body just in time to avoid the beast's leap. It landed and crawled onto the ground, a pair of bright yellow eyes following Yun Ruoyan's every move.

“This night leopard,” Qiuqiu told Yun Ruoyan. “Middle-level magical beast, cunning. His attacks were not particularly powerful, and the night leopard mainly relied on their stealth to catch its prey unnoticed."

Entertained by that information, Yun Ruoyan became more confident about her chances of victory, and tried to think of a way to kill the leopard in one strike.

"What the night leopard lacks in strength, they replace it with dexterity and intelligence."

This was the first time Yun Ruoyan faced a magical beast, and, anxious for its owner, Qiuqiu continued to help Yun Ruoyan analyze the situation.

“Now after his sneak attack failed, he tried to observe you and determine whether to escape or fight. Madam, if you want to scare, you can try bluffing."

Scaring? No, oh no!

This was the first time he had encountered such a creature, and Yun Ruoyan was preparing to fight. He did not want to lose this opportunity to train himself!

As he made up his mind, he slightly lowered the tip of his sword, exposing the weakness for the night leopard to exploit.

The dim yellow eyes of the night leopard suddenly flashed as it leaped towards Yun Ruoyan, lightning-fast!

This was the moment Yun Ruoyan was waiting for. He lowered his legs, arched his waist, and raised his sword straight up, with the right orientation so that it would slash the open belly of the night leopard.

And as the night leopard reached the peak of its leap, its eyes turned terrified. The next moment, like a bag that had just been split, his intestines fell to the ground, dyeing the grass red with blood.

And then, limp, fall to the ground.

"Wow, ma'am, that's amazing!" Qiuqiu cheering.

"Wow, sister, you're amazing!" Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen were also cheering.

Yun Ruoyan stood up, sheathing her sword once more. He sighed and revealed a happy smile.

His first murder after his rebirth made him feel elated. He was not a bloodthirsty person, but the grudges carried over from his past life seemed to have diminished with this opportunity to vent his frustrations.

"Let's get the point."

"All right!" Lin Qingxue pulled out the two daggers she had stored by her side, walked up to the beast, and split her head.

"Geez, this is the fourth rank core." Lin Qingxue extracted the green core from inside the night leopard skull.

He was just about to wipe the blood from its core and put it in his pouch when he suddenly realized that this was Yun Ruoyan's murder, and the point was his.

He hurriedly handed the core to Yun Ruoyan, embarrassed. "Sorry, it's yours, sister."

"Don't worry, you can keep it." Yun Ruoyan smiled. "I'm sure there will be more booty ahead."

In the end, after offering his core to Yun Ruoyan and being rejected once again, Lin Qingchen ended up storing the core in his own pocket.

The girls continued the small path deeper into the greenery, but before long, Yun Ruoyan felt a piercing sensation behind her neck, as if she was being stalked. He stopped and communicated mentally with Qiuqiu. "Do you feel like someone is after us?"

"Qiu, qiu!" Qiuqiu. “They are just two ordinary people, relatively harmless. But I didn't expect you to notice them so quickly, Madam!

It seemed that Qiuqiu deliberately withheld this information to test Yun Ruoyan's sensitivity.

“Even if they are just ordinary people, we still cannot let them follow us blindly. As long as they hide, they are a threat.”

His experience from his past life was so overwhelming that Yun Ruoyan became much more vigilant.

“Come out, whoever you are. Otherwise I would have considered it a threat" Yun Ruoyan stopped moving and shouted behind him.

Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen also stopped moving.

"What's the problem?"

"Someone has followed us, and Big Brother knows it," Lin Qingchen explained in a soft voice.

The two girls followed Yun Ruoyan's gaze to the bushes, and then to the boys and girls who appeared from within.

"That's you!" Lin Qingxue immediately recognized the two as siblings who were right behind them in the cave.

"Why are you following us?"

“We didn't do it on purpose,” the girl started explaining.

The boy's gaze, however, remained fixed on Yun Ruoyan's body. Yun Ruoyan started to frown, but it did not seem like she was doing so with malicious intent.

"In what sense?"

The girl's face flushed slightly as she pulled the boy's shirt, intending for him to speak up. Finally, the boy turned his gaze away from Yun Ruoyan and explained to Lin Qingxue, "We are here following the scent of a magical beast."

"You can track a magical beast by smell?" Lin Qingxue looked at the boy, startled.

This pair of sisters, who had appeared out of nowhere, were dressed in rough hemp, definitely not from a wealthy family.

Yun Ruoyan and brother Lin were both wearing loose-fitting clothes for the outdoors; the descendants of the other large families were dressed similarly, and some would even wear fitting armor. To be honest, out of the roughly one hundred carriages that had traveled up the mountain, he had not seen anyone else on the hemp.

The boy carried a bow on his back, and the girl carried nothing.

Faced with the interrogation gazes of the three girls, the young girl hid behind her brother's back, but she looked unfazed.

“We are from the beastkin tribe. My name is Zhuo Yifeng, and this is my sister, Zhuo Lin'er.”

"Beastkin, you are a member of a half-extinct beastkin ?!" Lin Qingxue was extremely shocked, and similar expressions were on the faces of Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingchen.

"Yes that's right. We beastkins are very adept at hunting magical beasts, and my brother's sense of smell is very well developed. He brought us here.”

Yun Ruoyan looked at Zhuo Lin'er, who was still hiding behind her brother's back. He was no more than ten years old, skinny and small, and Yun Ruoyan had no idea how her siblings had managed to get an entry mark.

“My cultivation is not too bad, and I am a good hunter. I only need someone to look after my sister while I'm in battle.”

Zhuo Yifeng looked slightly older, perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old, and she had bright and resolute eyes. "We'd like to join you if you want."

The siblings seemed relatively pleasant, but the bigger the participants, the more their movements would be hampered.

Zhuo Yifeng seemed to be aware of the concerns of the three girls, as she hurriedly added, “I can hold my little sister, so we won't be a burden to everyone. I just need someone to stay behind and guard it during the battle. I've already become a rank five sword master, so I can definitely fight.”

Having a rank five sword master was indeed tempting, but Yun Ruoyan was still worried. In the end, he shook his head. “Sorry, but we don't know each other. If we cannot trust each other completely, then fighting together would be a dangerous prospect. Let's part.”

Yun Ruoyan pointed to the crossroads ahead, saying coldly, "We will take the left side, and you two can take the right side."

He started marching forward as soon as he finished speaking. Lin Qingchen followed behind him, and, after a moment of hesitation, so did Lin Qingxue.

After taking a few steps, Lin Qingxue looked back silently, her gaze coincidentally meeting Zhuo Yifeng's eyes. His heart surged: the boy's eyes were extremely bright!