"Hand over the ginseng, and we'll let you live."
One of the iron-faced men said slowly, his expression still blank.
A Jiu was so terrified that she didn't dare to look back, for fear that her carotid artery would brush against the blade with a single wrong move.
"I... I don't have any. Not even half a root."
Her voice had changed. A Jiu realized that fearing death was indeed human nature, causing her to tremble uncontrollably.
"Search!"
At the command, several iron-faced men grabbed A Jiu's shoulders and began searching her sleeves. A Jiu cried out and quickly covered her chest.
"Perverts, you are all perverts..."
The part of her body that had just developed was painfully touched by the rough pulling.
A rapid sound of horse hooves approached: "Assistant."
The two escorting him turned to look. A Jiu seized the opportunity, covering her mouth and letting tears slide into her palms.
"Patrol Inspector?"
A blade was missing from A Jiu's neck.
Pressed fiercely by one of the men, A Jiu fearfully covered her ears and looked back tremblingly.
"Zhao Kun..." A Jiu seemed to see hope. "Save me."
"So it's the Embroidered Uniform Guard." As soon as Zhao Kun said this, the iron-faced man's pupils contracted instantly.
Zhao Kun glanced at Miss Jiu, who was trembling like a little rabbit, and dismounted.
"This young lady is my good friend. Please show some mercy." Zhao Kun said, walking directly towards A Jiu.
A long saber was placed against Zhao Kun's neck, resting precisely on his Adam's apple.
"If what you've gained today is not handed over, you'll pay with your life."
Zhao Kun had his own mission. He calmly glanced sideways at the saber-wielding man, his face expressionless. The corners of his mouth, hidden beneath his beard, twitched imperceptibly. Then, he strode forward.
His Adam's apple met the sharp edge of the Xuan iron blade.
"Zhao Kun!" A Jiu stared at the scene, frozen in shock.
Unexpectedly, a spark flew from the friction. The iron-faced man holding the saber switched to gripping it with both hands.
But all that could be heard was the grating sound of the blade scraping against his windpipe, a harsh *gezhi gezhi*. The sparks flew even more intensely than before.
The two men stared at each other. With a hiss, Zhao Kun forcefully pushed the saber away from his windpipe.
In that instant, A Jiu, still with tear streaks on her face, looked at Zhao Kun in terror. There was only a delicate mark on his windpipe, not a single drop of blood.
The two iron-faced men turned pale with fright. They looked down at the long saber in their hands and gasped, realizing it had actually become blunted. "Huh?"
"This subordinate has failed his mission. Please, Miss Jiu, do not blame me."
Zhao Kun, under the watchful eyes of the stunned duo, pulled A Jiu up and swept away the saber that had been at his throat.
The sound was the familiar, sharp clang of metal against metal that A Jiu knew well.
"Go!" The first iron-faced man to react shouted as he ran, sheathing his saber. "Report back that this person is a demon."
Their voices were kept low. Both were skilled martial artists and quickly vanished as if swept by the wind.
"Miss Jiu, are you alright? Are you injured anywhere?" Now it was Zhao Kun's turn to be worried. He had been ordered to protect Miss Jiu, and if she were harmed, how would he account for it?
A Jiu shook her head, her gaze fixed on the area around Zhao Kun's throat in stunned disbelief.
She remembered Tuoba Yan blocking a bull horn knife with his arm, and a strange metallic collision sound had come from his arm.
He hadn't bled a single drop either.
"That's good then. These people are the Emperor's personal guards. I think you should leave."
Mainly, his unusual reaction must have been noticed. He could handle whatever happened next, but Miss Jiu might not be able to.
Just then, before A Jiu could even process this, the sound of horse hooves echoed from the direction of the posthouse.
The refugees who had been camping by the roadside also scattered in terror.
"Let's go!" Zhao Kun pushed A Jiu.
A Jiu finally regained her senses. She got up and bolted towards Zhang Dadan's dilapidated house.
As expected, her parents were waiting anxiously.
They waited for A Jiu to return so they could hurry to Lingnan. The family of three, along with Madam Wang, stretched their arms and ran towards the direction of the sun along a small path heading for Lingnan.