Flirting with the Villain's Mother - Chapter 34

Shen Su subtly circulated her spiritual power, using her divine sense to examine the weapons within her thumb ring. She was about to retrieve her favored Azure Flame Twin Blades when she realized she was facing only a group of children. Her gaze fell upon Jiang Xu’s Golden Sword.

The Golden Sword, nurtured by Jiang Xu’s spiritual power, had long since lost its luster after injuring him. Its blade was now mottled with rust, rendering it little more than scrap metal.

This sword will do perfectly.

Though its edge had dulled, the sword retained its weight due to its high-quality materials. It was heavy enough to deliver a blow without risking a fatal strike against the children, yet still possessed some offensive capability.

Shen Su didn’t underestimate these Little Mountain Bandits simply because they were children. Their audacity to rob travelers and control tigers suggested they possessed some skill. Her precarious situation demanded extreme caution with every step.

Her caution proved justified. Instead of attacking her directly, the children plunged their long knives into the ground. The moment the blades pierced the earth, they transformed into willow saplings, rapidly encircling Shen Su. The willow branches grew swiftly, coiling around her body.

Shen Su frowned and immediately drew the Golden Sword.

The young man riding the tiger was the first to notice the Golden Sword materializing out of thin air. Startled, he shouted, “Retreat! She’s a Cultivator!”

The Little Mountain Bandits were remarkably obedient. At the young man’s command, they swiftly retreated several meters. Through the gaps in the willow branches, Shen Su saw the bandits pulling back. She tightened her grip on the Golden Sword and swung it forcefully. The willow branches that had stretched toward her snapped instantly, falling to the ground.

However, the severed branches rapidly regrew. This time, Shen Su didn’t rely on brute strength alone. She channeled a cultivation technique, gathering spiritual Qi along the sword’s blade. Fine purple particles shimmered across the rusty surface. With another swing, a powerful surge of sword qi shattered the rapidly regrowing willow branches.

This time, a faint purple mist rose from the severed ends.

The willow tree trembled violently twice before ceasing to sprout new branches.

The Little Mountain Bandits’ faces darkened. Several younger children widened their eyes and exclaimed in awe, “Sister looks so delicate, but she’s so strong!”

“Yeah, yeah! Is she a Cultivator too? Will she try to capture Sister Tong?”

“We don’t seem to be able to beat her.”

“It’s okay, Brother will win!”

“……”

They didn’t really look like ruthless mountain bandits. Many of them seemed mentally immature.

But the strangeness lay in the fact that they weren’t demons, nor were they cultivators. There was no fluctuation of spiritual power around them, yet the swaying willow branches served as a constant reminder to Shen Su that these were not ordinary people.

This was too bizarre.

Shen Su turned to look at their leader, a young boy who was also staring back at her. He ordered the children, “Use the poison!”

As his words fell, the children formed strange hand seals. Driven by these seals, a sudden gust of wind arose. The verdant willow branches swayed gently, their slender trunks—thinner than a wrist—instantly turned jet-black and sprouted sharp thorns.

Poison.

Seeing the poison, Shen Su dared not hesitate any longer. Even if they were just children, if they posed a threat to her and Wei Nanyi’s lives, she had to treat them with absolute ruthlessness.

The hand gripping her sword hilt paled slightly, and a faint purple mist began to rise in her eyes.

With a light leap, she evaded the willow branch that had silently crept toward her feet. The sword tip plunged downward, piercing the ground, its dazzling purple light and razor-sharp sword qi severing the willow trees one by one. Poisonous bark rained down as Shen Su dared not land, instead stepping onto the sword hilt.

She cast a deep glance at the youth before retrieving the Jade Marrow and tossing it into the air. A soft, pale light enveloped her as the Jade Marrow’s protective aura shielded her. With this safeguard, Shen Su stepped onto the willow tree, climbed two steps upward, and sprinted to its peak. She flipped over and leaped beyond the willow encirclement, landing gracefully on the ground.

These days of relentless flight had honed her agility considerably.

As Shen Su broke free of the encirclement, the Little Mountain Bandits panicked. Their hands flailed wildly, and the willow trees teetered on the brink of losing control.

Shen Su extended her hand toward the willow encirclement, and the Golden Sword shot from the ground, returning to her grasp.

Retreating two steps, she gripped the Golden Sword with both hands. With a swift forward slash, a streak of purple light sliced through the air, instantly severing all the willow trees. They reverted to their original form as long, blade-like branches. The Little Mountain Bandits controlling the trees were instantly drained of their strength, collapsing limply to the ground.

Suddenly, a chilling wind slammed into Shen Su’s back. She whirled around to see a massive tiger claw slashing through the Jade Marrow’s weakened Light Barrier, lunging toward her chest. Shen Su gripped her Golden Sword, holding it horizontally across her chest, and pushed with all her might, blocking the tiger’s claw. But the Golden Sword trembled violently in her hand, startling her.

A monster beast!

Her pupils constricted as she retreated more than three meters, clutching the Golden Sword. Only then did she properly assess the tiger. Its eyes reflected Shen Su’s figure, its fur a dull yellow with little luster, yet its pupils shimmered with a faint spiritual mist.

This was no ordinary tiger, but a demon with intelligence and cultivation.

Though the Jade Marrow’s protective barrier was weak, it usually deterred ordinary demonic creatures and could even withstand attacks from cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage. In the tomb chamber, the Mantis Demon hadn’t breached the Jade Marrow’s Light Barrier, though it had been severely wounded at the time. This tiger’s cultivation couldn’t be much lower than the Mantis Demon’s.

The Little Mountain Bandits clearly lacked spiritual power, yet they could wield techniques and control a powerful demon.

Everything about this was deeply unsettling.

The young man sat atop the tiger, holding its chain and looking down at Shen Su. “Little girl,” he said, “I didn’t want to make things difficult for you, but you hurt my companion. Now you’ll have to pay the price for your actions.”

Shen Su’s lips twitched. Who taught this kid to talk like that? she wondered. Calling me “little girl” at every turn.

She didn’t believe this young man was merely young in appearance.

Though his words sounded mature, his eyes lacked the weathered weariness of age—a quality impossible to fake. Wei Nanyi’s eyes, for example, were filled with a desolate weariness that evoked endless sorrow and helplessness.

Thinking of Wei Nanyi reminded Shen Su that she was still hungry.

Suddenly, she lost all interest in tangling with these Little Mountain Bandits. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll give you money. Just give me the token to leave this mountain.”

The young man, who had braced himself for a life-or-death struggle, was stunned by Shen Su’s sudden surrender. His icy composure faltered for a moment, his pupils widening in shock, but he quickly regained his composure. “No, it’s too late to back down now! You hurt my companion—you must pay the price!”

Can’t he be reasonable?

When they first ambushed her on the road, Shen Su had no intention of harming a group of children.

In the end, they resorted to poison, and Shen Su only broke the Little Mountain Bandits’ Technique in self-defense.

Yet the bandits blamed her for the backlash caused by their Technique’s collapse.

The youth tugged slightly on the chains in his hand, a faint crimson glow seeping from his palm into the metal, tightening around the Tiger Demon. The demon’s eyes became bloodshot, its ferocity intensifying as it lunged at Shen Su with its gaping maw.

This youth possessed spiritual power!

He was a Cultivator!

Yet Shen Su couldn’t discern his Cultivation level. Did he also possess a treasure to conceal his aura?

Sensing the imminent danger, Shen Su instantly swapped her longsword for the Azure Flame Twin Blades. Her fingertips brushed lightly against the rings of the blades, causing them to separate. The Crimson Blade shot toward the Tiger Demon’s face, while the Azure Blade hurtled toward the youth perched on the demon’s back.

The sudden appearance of the Azure Flame Twin Blades caught the youth off guard. Before he could react, thorny vines erupted from the Azure Blade, binding him securely. The Tiger Demon, however, easily deflected the Crimson Blade with its head. Though the blade scorched a patch of fur on its forehead, it didn’t slow the demon’s charge toward Shen Su in the slightest.

The youth was already bound, making it difficult to grip the chains and stay seated securely on the Tiger Demon’s back. As the beast charged forward, the youth was quickly thrown from its back.

Seeing the youth fall, the Little Mountain Bandits cried out in unison, “Brother, watch out!”

Hearing the commotion, the Tiger Demon immediately halted and turned its head to check on the youth.

The youth was completely entangled in thorny vines.

With such a fall, the excessively long black thorns could easily pierce the youth’s meridians.

They were all too young, and their crimes didn’t warrant death.

Shen Su sighed, sheathing the Azure Blade and leaping forward to catch the youth. With a swift backhanded strike, she sealed the youth’s spiritual power.

Up close, Shen Su noticed how thin and pale the youth was. The delicate features suggested malnutrition, yet the youth possessed striking eyes and finely sculpted brows. The slender frame seemed almost too delicate for a boy, and a faint, sweet fragrance lingered about the youth.

Shen Su landed with the youth in her arms, scrutinizing the youth from head to toe with a peculiar gaze. Her eyes finally settled on the youth’s fear-flushed face. “You’re a girl?”

The young woman didn’t deny it, but she stiffened her neck, her face flushed as she glared at Shen Su. “You cheated!”

Shen Su had no idea that simply changing weapons could be considered cheating.

With the Little Mountain Bandits’ leader held hostage, the bandits and the Tiger Demon calmed down, staring with their dim-witted eyes at Shen Su and the girl in her grasp. Only the girl grew angrier with each passing moment, her face reddening further, her gaze burning with a desire to devour Shen Su alive.

Shen Su found the situation amusing. “Is this all the skill you have for robbing travelers?”

The girl ignored her, her long robe torn by thorns, her skin scratched and still bleeding. Yet she refused to cry out in pain or yield, stubbornly glaring at Shen Su.

Her refusal to yield silenced the Little Mountain Bandits, who dared not speak to her. Only the child who had wanted her rabbit hesitated before speaking. “Sister, don’t blame Brother. We ran out of rice, and A’Ling wanted white rice, so Brother said he’d find a way. You’re the first person we’ve ever robbed. We usually just let travelers pass down the mountain without taking anything.”

A’Ling patted her pockets again and pulled out a leaf-shaped token. Trembling, she approached Shen Su and held it out. “Sister, A’Ling is giving you the Goddess Mountain token. Please don’t hurt my brother, okay?”

The rabbit in Shen Su’s arms sensed the commotion and poked its head out. “Miss Shen, they’re just children. Let them go.”

Shen Su wasn’t injured, nor was Wei Nanyi. Even if Wei Nanyi hadn’t spoken, Shen Su had no intention of harming the children. They were all injured, and she figured they wouldn’t dare try robbing travelers again.

But the little girl Shen Su was holding refused to back down. She pouted. “A’Ling, she’s cheating! Don’t bow to her!”

“But… but Brother, you’re bleeding!” A’Ling’s eyes reddened with panic as she gazed up at her brother, her voice pleading.

A’Ling looked no older than five or six, with a tiny face and a soft voice. Clearly frightened, she had still stepped forward to protect her brother. Her tears made Shen Su look like the villain.

Shen Su bent down, took the token, and placed Jin Chuangyao ointment and two silver ingots in A’Ling’s palm. She ruffled the girl’s hair. “She’s a girl. Why do you call her ‘Brother’?”

A’Ling’s eyes widened at the sight of the two silver ingots, each larger than her hand. She looked up, her face beaming. “Brother, we have money now!”

As A’Ling’s bright smile lit up her face, Shen Su suddenly noticed that one of the girl’s eyes had turned an icy blue, resembling a beautiful, fragile glass bead.

Heterochromia!

A’Ling realized Shen Su was staring at her eye. Terrified, she covered the changed eye with her hand and hid behind the younger girl, her muffled voice reaching Shen Su’s ears: “Aunt Lin and the others never wanted a daughter. They’ve always raised Brother as their son.”

The younger girl stepped forward, her gaze defiant. “Don’t think giving us money means you can interfere in our affairs.”

Shen Su shook her head. “I don’t meddle in other people’s business.”

She turned to leave, but before she did, she glanced back at the Little Mountain Bandits. As their Technique collapsed and the backlash hit them, she noticed they no longer looked as healthy as before. Many of the children bore visible scars, and two even appeared to have disabilities.

Startled, she changed her mind. “I’ll take you back.”

A’Ling peek