The Peach Blossoms White by the Village Edge

Chapter 2: Rescue

The sudden turn of events left the shorter man stunned. When he realized there was a fourth person present, he instinctively tried to flee. However, faster than his legs was the foot that had just descended—his head was struck by the green figure's spinning kick, causing him to see stars and his consciousness to be enveloped by darkness.

Qu Qingjiang felt the surroundings were eerily quiet. After an unknown amount of time, the black mist in front of her cleared, and she heard her own heartbeat. She began to feel her cold hands and feet gradually regain sensation.

She sat up and looked down to see that the tall man's head was pressed against the ground at an odd angle, his face half-buried in the mud, lifeless.

She was terrified and at a loss. However, thinking about how she had nearly fallen victim to this man, she felt he deserved his fate.

Looking at the other man, his chest was still rising and falling, though he had fainted.

Her gaze fell on the sickle lying a short distance away. Qu Qingjiang staggered over to pick it up and, in a fit of anger, rushed to the unconscious shorter man, raising the sickle to strike.

At the moment she was about to strike, her wrist was firmly grabbed, and a voice with an indeterminate gender said, "Wait."

Shocked by the recent events, Qu Qingjiang was extremely frightened by the sudden appearance of someone next to or behind her and instinctively attacked. Luckily, her hand holding the sickle was restrained, so she only struck out with her fists.

Her fists couldn't hurt the person beside her; the person was quick and agile, blocking her punch before it could hit their face.

Realizing she had attacked the person who had just saved her, Qu Qingjiang retracted her hand as if stung by a bee. The sickle fell to the ground, and she began to tremble uncontrollably.

Seeing that she was no longer attacking, the green figure finally released her hand and said softly, "We'll deal with him later."

After a brief moment of stimulation, confusion, and chaos, Qu Qingjiang's mind quickly cleared.

She carefully observed the tall, green-clad figure and suddenly noticed how unusual their attire was—this person was about five feet five inches (171 cm) to five feet seven inches (177 cm) tall, with messy shoulder-length short hair, wearing a green round-neck garment that resembled pine tree branches and leaves. The sleeves only reached the elbows, exposing half of the arms. The lower half consisted of brightly colored pants, and the black boots were unidentifiable.

When Qu Qingjiang's gaze fell on the figure's chest, she paused slightly. Although not particularly obvious, it seemed to be the chest of a woman. So, this was a woman!

Qu Qingjiang was slightly surprised. She had thought the person might be a trained soldier or a ruthless bandit, but it turned out to be someone else?

...

While Qu Qingjiang was lost in thought, Zhao Changxia expressionlessly stripped the two men of their clothes.

The clothes were filthy and blackened, with a foul odor that made her feel nauseous. However, she had no other warm clothing available and had to make do with what she had.

After removing everything except their pants, Zhao Changxia picked up the sickle and handed it to Qu Qingjiang, saying, "You can act now."

Qu Qingjiang came to her senses and looked at her with a slightly confused expression, "Huh?"

"Aren't you going to kill him?" Zhao Changxia asked.

Qu Qingjiang stared at the sickle Zhao Changxia handed over, and fell silent.