Jin Er, the Quest target frowned at the girl in front of her.
The Woman had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail, with a wooden brocade adorning it. The ornament indicated that the woman was someone with a poor background, the ones that are likely to take up a mission that would pull them into the Primordial Space where the other creatures resided for Jin Er's miserly father's few scrapes of coins.
No rich person would take on such a dangerous task for so little a reward.
Jin Er's eyes fell on the woman's pale face. Jin Er felt that if there was any woman that had the chance to be a Goddess of Beauty, this woman's face would land her that title. It made Jin Er want to destroy the person herself, even though a sense of awe still permitted through to her.
The woman was beautiful. The kind of creatures that she had hated to associate with the most.
Her eyes went to the Troll with the armband, the leader of the group of Trolls.
"Liso, don't look at her anymore! I am more beautiful than this girl!" Jin Er shouted towards the Leader Troll.
Cheng Xiu choked. "Wait…what? Are you not waiting for your lover to save you or something?"
Jin Er glared at the white-robed woman. "What? Do you also want to try to take me away from my love?"
Cheng Xiu felt like she had fallen into a rabbit hole that she was not able to escape from. Her eyes went to the leader Troll who was glaring at the pink-robed human captive.
"Pathetic woman! Who are you calling Liso? Do I look like a blonde idiot to you?"
The chubby woman burst into tears, and she glared at Cheng Xiu. "My Liso is scolding me! You seductress! How dare you try to take my love away from me!"
Cheng Xiu sweatdropped.
"Who is trying to seduce who? Lady…I…are you okay in the head? Does this look like a romantic gesture to you?" Cheng Xiu asked as she pointed towards her wounded body and that of the healer.
It was only after that gesture that Jin Er understood that there was something more suspicious about the situation. Her eyes fell on the longsword in the white-robed woman's hand, and looked towards the Healer Troll that she was sure was her love rival before the other human came along.
"I see what is going on here!" the pink-robed woman said. "The two of you are competing to see which one of you will bed my Liso! I tell you now! I won't allow it! Is my Liso an unfeeling object that you will wager him!"
Cheng Xiu felt her head spin at the woman's words. "You really are out of your mind, aren't you?"
Jin Er glared at the woman. "Let me tell you now, little girl! As long as I am alive, Liso can only belong to Jin Er."
Cheng Xiu frowned. The quest that Cheng Xiu had to save the girl from the troll so that she can go find her lover…wait…there was another clue in the quest! The woman Cheng Xiu had to rescue was a female cultivator and she was supposed to be wearing a tiara of some sort.
Cheng Xiu observed Jin Er. The girl did not seem to have anything on her that would indicate that she had anything that even remotely resembled a tiara, and the girl did not seem like a cultivator but a rather normal person.
Did that mean Jin Er was not her quest target?
As though an answer to her thoughts, two more men in yellowish tunic walked out of the golden portal behind Jin Er. Another woman was held in shackles between them.
The woman was graceful in a pale blue dress, and her figure seemed to be floating, There was an ethereal glow to her entire frame. Her hair floated in visible blue wisps. Her eyes were deep blue coloured, and on her head sat a beautiful piece of the silver tiara with pink stones embedded onto it.
Cheng Xiu's eyes widened. The Quest Target.
Jin Er also looked at the woman, her face paling.
The woman with the tiara on her head looked at Jin Er with apathy for a moment before her deep-set eyes widened in surprise.
"Liso! What are you doing here!" the woman asked Jin Er.
Cheng Xiu frowned. She turned to Jin Er. "Weren't you saying the Troll leader was your lover Liso?"
Jin Er, or Liso, cringed and glared at Cheng Xiu. "Outsiders should not interfere in sect matters. This is between me and my Junior sister!"
Cheng Xiu raised an eyebrow.
"Liso?" the beautiful woman called in confusion.
"I can explain, DaYin!"
"Please do."
"That woman was sent by father to capture me!" the woman in pink said, pointing towards Cheng Xiu. "I introduced myself as Jin Er, and said that the Troll Leader was my lover Liso!"
DaYin raised her eyebrows. "Why would you do that?"
"So that the person would think that they got the wrong person."
Cheng Xiu sighed. "I really have no idea what you are accusing me of, lady."
The pink-dressed woman pointed towards Cheng Xiu and then looked towards DaYin. "See DaYin! She is even that good at lying!"
DaYin nodded with a frown on her face. "Young Cultivator, Liso's heart is in the right place, and she does not require your help."
Cheng Xiu raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You are both shackled."
The pink-robed woman, Liso, huffed. "Clearly I am letting myself be dragged away by these creatures!"
Cheng Xiu tilted her head. "Why?"
The beauty spoke before her friend could. "It is a personal matter for this person. Great Cultivator must forgive DaYin as she is unable to answer you."
"I really thought she would say something," a female troll commented.
"Me too," a young Troll responded.
"Enough of this nonsense," the leader Troll said. He turned to the healer Troll. "Finish this!"
The healer frowned and took out a bottle from its storage ring.
Cheng Xiu recognised it as the poison bottle that the woman had brought out to destroy her spear.
Her hackles rose at the sight of it, and Cheng Xiu raised her sword.
The healer glared at Cheng Xiu, hatred brewing in its eyes.
Cheng Xiu saw the intense emotions in its eyes and fell into confusion. "If you are so angry, why did you not attack me while I was talking to miss crazy over there."
"How dare you!" Liso called. "Do you have the guts to say it to my face!"
"Shut up!" the leader troll growled.
The yellowish tunic wearing Troll pulled on Liso's chain and brought out a muzzle from its storage ring.
Liso stepped back in chagrin.
"If you don't want to be muzzled, be quiet," the leader troll warned her.
Liso nodded.
DaYin looked at the interaction with dull eyes and turned to look towards the battle that was about to begin not far away.
"I have more honour than that," the healer said.
Cheng Xiu scoffed. "You people are the ones to attack me first to try to eat me, I don't see your honour."
"Stupid human," one of the watching trolls commented.
The other trolls snicked.
The healer Troll gave her a mocking smile. "I was talking about the fact that the named ones were coming in."
Cheng Xiu understood. "My words still stand…not very honourable. Then again…not many people would show good behaviour with their food."
The healer tilted its head. "I hate you for what you did to my brethren. But I do admire you for your thoughts."
Cheng Xiu shrugged.
The Healer Troll splashed poison towards her face.
Cheng Xiu evaded it by stepping to the side.
The healer troll smiled. "You have great reaction speed."
Cheng Xiu nodded. "Thank you. It keeps me alive when my enemies have the advantage."
The healer Troll nodded as well. "That makes sense."
The healer Troll brought out a few thin needles from its storage ring and dropped them tip first into the poison bottle.
Cheng Xiu did not need to be a genius to realise what the troll had planned.
The troll took placed its metal club on the ground and took out a single needle from the bottle.
Purple poison dripped from the needle tip and fell to the ground.
Cheng Xiu stepped back on instinct as the purple drop fell to the ground and the floor started to corrode. She looked up at the Troll with a grim face.
The troll gave her a mocking smile. "Let's see which one is faster. Your reaction speed, or my ability to throw these ZhenJiu at you."
Cheng Xiu dodged the needle thrown her way.
The needle struck Cheng Xiu's sleeve lightly and went through to the other side, and embedded itself into the floor.
Cheng Xiu quickly cut off the sleeve at the place that touched the needle tip with her long word.
The cut off sleeve part fluttered to the floor as it slowly turned to dust.
Cheng Xiu glared at the healer troll.
The troll smiled sweetly in response.. "Very quick indeed. Let us put that to the test, shall we?"