The Beauty and the Swordsman

Pingping was dejected, feeling that the world was too hard and making money was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Pei Lingyou, on the other hand, was quite invigorated.

She knew that the whole affair at the prefect's mansion was ruined because of her drinking and making a mistake.

She kept encouraging Pingping, promising her a basketful of promises, and the two of them rallied and once again ambushed her on the official road under cover of night.

Pei Lingyou said:

"This won't do. We need to pull off the biggest heist ever, make a hundred thousand or twenty thousand, and then the Hun Tian Gang won't have to worry about surviving the next ten years!"

Pingping felt that her senior sister was going crazy again.

Even a single silver ingot is heavy enough to carry in your pocket; how could you possibly carry 100,000 or 200,000 ingots without a cart?

Moreover, for ordinary people, a few taels of silver to get through the winter is considered quite wealthy. Who would carry 100,000 or 200,000 taels of silver with them when they go out?

Moreover, the two had only ambushed the caravan on the official road once, and no caravan was willing to travel that way anymore.

Pei Lingyou, however, was very confident and said:

"You don't understand! There are some people who insist on taking the paths others don't take, because that's how they appear authoritative. Others can't carry that much money, but they can."

"Who is it?" Pingping asked. Before Pei Lingyou could answer, they heard the sound of horses' hooves and wheels coming from the official road.

The two quickly shut their mouths, crouched down, and hid completely in the bushes.

Two teams of officials approached from afar, forming a tight formation to guard the dozen or so large boxes on the carriage. They were imperial officials escorting someone on official business.

Pingping's eyes lit up. Pei Lingyou raised an eyebrow at her smugly.

The officials must have already heard about the robberies and ambushes along the official road.

But they would still choose to take this official road instead of going the long way around.

Firstly, Pei Lingyou knew very well that these people in the imperial court loved to slack off. They preferred the official road to the long detour, and were unwilling to endure hardship and suffering.

Secondly, they insist on taking the roads that others dare not take. These lackeys of the imperial court are used to exploiting the people and always think that the emperor is the most powerful person in the world. They do not believe that anyone would dare to rob the imperial court's caravan.

Pei Lingyou had grasped these two points and decided to ambush and wait here.

Pingping was filled with admiration for this, and her gaze toward her senior sister became even more adoring.

The two reached for the longswords hidden beneath their clothes, their eyes fixed on the slowly approaching group.

After the procession passed in front of them, the two women saw it clearly:

There were fifty officials and eight horse-drawn carriages in total.

Pei Lingyou gave Pingping a wink, and the two of them immediately used their lightness skills to leap into the air like night owls.

The officials only felt two gusts of cold wind sweep over their heads, and before they could see anything, they were kicked off the carriage.

The ranks instantly erupted into chaos, with officers shouting "Protect the military pay!" and drawing their swords to fight back.

Unfortunately, a fake skill can never beat a true amateur.

The officials were no match for Pei Lingyou and Pingping. They were quickly dealt with, leaving them lying haphazardly on the ground, clutching their wounds and groaning in pain.

Pei Lingyou and Pingping did not want to take the lives of the officials, as that would cause too much trouble.

The two went straight to the large chest on the carriage, but when they opened it, they were immediately dumbfounded—

The box was completely empty; there was nothing inside!

All eight boxes contained them!

Pei Lingyou was stunned. After a moment of concentration, she immediately realized that something was amiss!

She immediately pulled Pingping along to retreat, but as she turned around, she ran into nearly a hundred soldiers who had come to receive the military pay.

These are not the incompetent officials; they are tough men who have fought countless battles on the front lines, possessing genuine skills.

Nearly a hundred soldiers surrounded Pei Lingyou and Pingping, shouting, "Take them down!"

Pei Lingyou and Pingping hastily engaged in battle. Although they were not using weapons that suited them and had to be careful not to expose their identities, the two still managed to defeat a large number of enemies in the blink of an eye with their superb martial arts skills, break through the encirclement, and escape into the deep alley under the cover of night.

Dozens of soldiers pursued relentlessly from behind, blowing an emergency assembly whistle.

Soon the city's garrison was alerted and surrounded the two from all directions.

Pei Lingyou never expected that a simple robbery would turn into such a dramatic turn of events.

The situation is escalating and seems to be spiraling out of control.

She was in a state of confusion, but not flustered at all.

She's not afraid of making a big scene. If she's that kind of person, she'd only blame herself for having too long a golden cudgel, not for the cudgel's owner being too arrogant, even if she caused a huge mess.

Moreover, the more chaotic the surroundings became, and the more city guards and officials chased after her, the more nervous she became, and she also felt inexplicably excited.

With her superb lightness skills, she repeatedly evaded the pursuing and intercepting city guards.

During this time, he even dared to steal the hats of several soldiers.

She didn't do anything else after snatching it; she just slowed down her light footwork to let others catch up.

When she felt the distance was about right, she suddenly turned around and swung her sword, the blade severing the opponent's belt and trousers, resulting in a "crotch-opening cry".

The opponent was completely unprepared for this low-class move. His pants fell to the ground, and he was immediately tripped, causing the people behind him to also fall down, instantly piling up in a heap.

Taking advantage of the moment, Pei Lingyou flicked her hat back, and it flew so fast that it landed on the other person's exposed white underpants. She then laughed and used her light-footed skill to quickly leave.

After several attempts, the city's defenders were clearly enraged and shouted, "Catch this shameless bandit!" while whistling to signal the archers to take their positions.

As countless arrows whizzed past overhead, Pei Lingyou finally restrained her playful nature, grabbed Pingping, and plunged into the dense forest.

Using the dense branches as cover, the two used their light-footed skills to leap between the treetops and disappear without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The pursuers' movements gradually fell behind, growing farther and farther away.

But Pei Lingyou and Pingping didn't have time to catch their breath.

Pei Lingyou estimated that the search of the city and mountains would begin soon, and she needed to find an absolutely safe place to spend the night.

She ran at top speed using her light-footed skills, while looking up into the distance.

In the darkness of night, the moonlight faintly illuminated the shape of the solitary peak surrounded by mountains.

Having made up her mind, she concentrated her inner strength to make her run even faster. Pingping had to use almost all her strength to keep up.

The two climbed up the back mountain and headed straight for the Xinghan Hall.

It was nearly midnight, and the lights in all the temples of the Divine Palace had been turned off.

Only the Starry Sky Hall was still lit up, with even a small window open, as if it were waiting for someone.

Pei Lingyou had a gut feeling that the window was left open for her, and that the person inside knew she would come tonight.

Without saying a word, she bypassed the night patrol officer, grabbed Pingping, and jumped through the window.

The two landed heavily on two cushions that had been laid out under the window.

Pei Lingyou was upside down, her head facing down and her feet pointing upwards. In this inverted world, she saw Si Lin sitting in front of the incense table playing with leaves. On a low tea table next to him, two sets of bowls, chopsticks, and pastries were neatly arranged.

She couldn't help but smile and let out a silent laugh.

Beside her, Pingping, whose intestines had almost burst, lay on the soft cushion.

She was so exhausted she could barely breathe, her mind still replaying the terrifying moments when she almost got caught.

She gasped for breath, swallowed hard, glanced at the hem of her dress riddled with arrow holes, raised her arm, which was trembling whether from exhaustion or fear, and gave a thumbs-up:

"Senior Sister, you're getting crazier and crazier..."

Pei Lingyou put two fingers together and flicked them at her forehead, returning the gesture triumphantly.

On the incense table, Si Lin shook his head and was about to speak when a commotion arose outside the hall.

It seems the city garrison has gone mad; they caught up with the Divine Guards so quickly.

Pei Lingyou nimbly rolled over and got up like a cat, glanced at Si Lin, and became wary.

Pingping, who was standing next to her, was too exhausted to move, so she simply closed her eyes and left her fate to fate.

No, it's all because of my crazy and wild senior sister.

Pei Lingyou glared at Si Lin, making a fierce expression. She pointed at his head, then slightly bared her teeth and made a gesture of touching his neck, meaning that if he didn't want to die, he shouldn't betray them.

As before, Si Lin's face was cold and blank, without any reaction. He was completely oblivious to Pei Lingyou's threat and simply walked calmly to the door.

Outside the palace, the official conveyed the city guards' request to search the palace through the door, but before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a gruff male voice.

This person sounds like a deputy general. He speaks very rudely and has a very assertive attitude when searching the palace. It seems that the people in the army don't buy into the idea of ​​serving gods or diviners.

Si Lin did not answer. Through the door, in a cold tone, he recounted the deputy general's family background, military career, and the current situation of his wife and children.

Even the scars on his body from battles were clearly described.

Having witnessed Si Lin's abilities, the lieutenant remained silent for a moment, then became much more polite, but still insisted on searching the palace.

This time, Si Lin didn't say anything more. Instead, he walked to the desk, picked up a pen, and wrote a few words on the paper.

The note slipped through the crack in the door and was passed from the official to the deputy commander of the city's garrison.

Pei Lingyou heard a long silence fall outside the hall.

The deputy general, who had initially been so assertive, suddenly led his men in retreat for some unknown reason.

The area outside the Xinghan Hall has returned to tranquility.

Pingping couldn't help but ask out of curiosity:

"What did the note say? It's so powerful, it can even repel the city's army?"

Si Lin maintained his aloof and godlike demeanor, seemingly having no intention of answering.

Pei Lingyou smiled, held out two hands, indicating that it should be just two words:

"Empty box".