Teacher by day, Farmer by passion - Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Inn [2]
Then she moved.

Lightning-fast, Liu Mei lunged into the crowd.

Blades clashed, sparks flew. The air filled with the scent of blood and burning flesh.

Liu Mei twisted, ducked, spun—a storm of precise, merciless strikes. She was small, but that only made her faster, slipping past swings and spears like water.

She wasn’t dodging—she was toying with them.

A beast lunged at her, fangs bared. She vaulted off its back, flipping mid-air, slicing a Gold Rank’s throat as she landed behind him.

A spear thrust toward her ribs. She caught the shaft—snapped it in half—and drove the broken edge into its wielder’s heart.

Aria’s pulse hammered.

“This—this isn’t possible.” Her voice came out breathless, almost shaking.

But she gritted her teeth, shoving down the fear.

She still had the advantage. The girl was fast—but the boy?

The boy seemed to be dying.

Shan Yifeng was surrounded, blades flashing from all directions. He was barely blocking, barely keeping up.

His soul power was depleted. His body was slowing down.

Aria felt a surge of triumph.

Yes.

If they killed him—if they took him down first—the formation would be gone.

“Kill him! Now!” she roared.

Aria gasped, taking in the chaos. Her grip tightened around the hilt of her sword, knuckles white from the force.

She had to move—now.

She launched herself forward, cutting through the battlefield with singular purpose.

She had to stop the girl from reaching the boy.

Kill the boy, and the formation will fade.

That was her only hope.

The girl was a nightmare, a walking catastrophe in child’s form.

But if she was distracted—if she was stalled—then there was still a chance.

The thought itself was terrifying.

Even now, ten Gold Rank warriors had surrounded Liu Mei, their Soul Beasts looming like towering shadows.

A suffocating pressure filled the air, a force that would have crushed any normal child.

Yet—

Liu Mei moved like a specter.

Blades slashed through the air, each strike meant to cut her down—but she was too fast. A blur.

A wraith weaving through the storm of steel, her dagger gleaming in the dim light.

A streak of red.

A choked gasp.

One man staggered back, clutching his throat as blood poured between his fingers.

Then another fell—his chest carved open, his eyes wide with disbelief.

She had killed two Gold Ranks in the blink of an eye.

Aria’s heart pounded.

This wasn’t just a monster.

This was the Goddess of Death in human form.

And yet—

When she finally closed the distance, blade poised to strike—

She realized something.

The girl had no intention of helping the boy.

Liu Mei stood there, her stance relaxed, almost amused.

Why?

Aria’s stomach twisted, an uneasy feeling creeping into her bones.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw it—

A knife, gleaming under the light, slicing across Shan Yifeng’s throat.

Blood spilled.

His body wavered.

And then—

Poof.

His form vanished.

A clone.

It had all been a deception.

Aria’s mind barely had time to register what had happened before—

BOOM.

A deafening explosion erupted from the battlefield.

The force ripped through the ranks, a wave of fire and shrapnel consuming everything in its wake.

Silver Rank warriors were erased in an instant, their screams swallowed by the roaring inferno.

Bodies disintegrated.

Ash and embers danced in the air.

Where once stood a force of trained assassins—there was now nothing but charred remains and dust.

Aria stared, her breath caught in her throat.

Shock.

Disbelief.

Horror.

She turned—slowly—to look at her.

Liu Mei.

The little girl’s head tilted slightly, dark eyes gleaming with something unreadable.

Then—

She smiled.

A slow, lazy grin, as if the carnage around them was nothing more than an amusing trick.

Then, with unhinged delight, she asked—

“What do you think? Did you like our present?”

Hearing the girl’s taunting question, irritation flared in Aria’s mind.

Yet, she didn’t move. Didn’t attack.

She simply stood there, staring.

Her subordinates—useless.

All they could do was watch. Helpless.

So many of their comrades had fallen—for what? Fighting a mere clone?

This wasn’t an assassination. This was a massacre.

Then, a voice broke through the tension.

“Ahem.”

Aria’s head snapped toward the source.

The boy.

He was sitting at the same table as before, eating.

The same chicken he had discarded at the start of the fight.

Her breath caught.

The entire inn had been overturned during the battle. Tables shattered, chairs broken, bodies strewn across the floor.

And yet… that one table remained untouched.

Even the food was exactly as it had been.

A cold realization crept up her spine.

“This formation,” the boy spoke between bites, “reduces your power.”

“Impossible!” Aria snarled, whipping her head toward him.

She wanted to deny it.

But she couldn’t.

Because deep down, she already felt it.

The way her movements had been just a little slower. Her strikes a little weaker. The way her instincts—normally so sharp—had failed her.

The boy continued, as if discussing the weather.

“Oh, and aside from reducing power, this formation also numbs common sense.”

Her stomach twisted.

No.

That couldn’t be—

But the way she went against her instinct, which she usually trusted with all her heart.

“That’s why none of you even noticed.”

A deep, suffocating silence filled the room.

Aria swallowed hard. Why was he telling them this?

Her fingers tightened around her blade. Desperation clawed at her mind.

“Why… why are you saying this now?”

The boy took another bite, chewing leisurely.

“I thought it was a pity. You all actually thought you had a chance of escaping.”

Aria’s breath hitched.

This entire time—he had just been playing with them?

Then, his expression shifted into something almost amused.

“Oh, wait… did I fail to mention?” His voice carried a note of mock surprise.

“I deliberately circled around that alley over and over. Just to let you all know I was snooping.”

Her eyes widened.

He had baited them!

She quickly searched his face for any hint of deception, any sign that he was bluffing.

But there was nothing.

For a boy no older than ten, he was eerily calm.

And then—

“I was confident.” He smirked, then cleared his throat. “Ahem.”

Beside him, Liu Mei beamed.

“Oh, and you guys didn’t account for a Dark Gold Rank, did you?”

A chill swept through the room.

Shock rippled through the survivors.

Dark Gold?!

Aria’s blood ran cold.

No.

No, no, no—

That wasn’t possible.

This girl—this child—was barely ten.

And yet… the aura she released—

It was real.

It was undeniable.

Now it made sense.

Now she understood why Liu Mei had never summoned a soul beast.

She didn’t need one.

Her strength alone was enough.

Aria’s heart pounded. Then why? Why reveal all of this now?

Then she saw it.

The boy was smiling.

And suddenly—she remembered.

“This formation numbs common sense.”

Her breath caught..

Aria’s instincts screamed at her—MOVE!

But it was too late.

Beneath her feet, the floor glowed ominously.

A formation. Another one.

A surge of blue light erupted.

It wasn’t a blinding flash—no.

It was cold. Silent.

And in the next instant—

Everything stopped.

Aria’s breath hitched. Her vision blurred. Her body refused to move.

Around her, gasps turned into strangled gurgles.

Swords clattered. Knees buckled.

The air itself seemed to collapse.

One by one—they fell.

Every. Single. One.

Lifeless bodies crumpled to the ground—eyes frozen in shock, mid-thought, mid-breath.

No screams. No struggle.

Just silence.

And then—

Darkness.