I had to be honest; seeing Ye An's eyes widen as she saw Song Song elbow-deep in her cousin's rib cage was satisfying. All the bravado Ye An had built up until now slipped away as she struggled to control her expression.

I was not usually the kind of guy who got hung up on petty things like this, but today, these people dragged me to my lowest.

"How the hell did she break through so fast?" Ye An cursed under her breath.

With a sickening crunch, Song Song pulled her arms out of her cousin's chest and did the same to her other friend. Song Song's arms were covered in blood up to the elbows, with it dripping onto the thawing floor.

She stared at Ye An, but her gaze soon settled on me, specifically my stump. "Your arm..."

"What?" I smiled. By now I had lost all sensation in my body, and couldn't even feel the pain. "Giving up an arm for a life is a pretty good deal, all things considered."

Perhaps my sense of humor was lost on Song Song, as she didn't even give a polite smile out of courtesy. Instead, her gaze wandered toward my severed arm, which lay on the ground with a bit of frost around it from the Qi Ye An had been releasing.

Losing an arm was terrible, but a part of me was also excited at the possibilities. I was curious about the kinds of prosthetic arms available in this world. However, the most exciting part was creating a whole new translucent arm from my Dancing Jade Armour Technique.

Some artifacts or miraculous medicines could probably regenerate an arm or two in case I regretted this. Sure, I might not get them now or anytime soon. But it was my left arm that was cut off, so it was no big deal. It wasn't like I lost an arm on Earth where there was no chance of growing it back.

There was a sound like a hushing wind, and Song Song disappeared from my vision, even though I had been looking directly at her. I sensed her presence next to me, but her gaze was on Ye An and she asked the ice girl. "What are you doing here?"

Ye An smiled, hiding her previous cautious look as she asked, "Do you want a lie or the truth?"

In a twisted way, she mirrored my usual quote, and her smile widened slightly when she saw Song Song's eyes narrow dangerously. At first, Song Song didn't respond and kept a cold mask, but her eyes... there was a coldness in them that made even Ye An's ice feel warm.

"You have grown stronger, but we both know you won't be able to kill me in one hit like you did them. That's why you didn't even try," Ye An said and turned toward me. "Do you think his life is more important than your revenge or not? He seems pretty injured. Sure, he is stopping himself from bleeding out for now, but how long will that last? We both know there is no healer nearby that can take care of wounds like that-"

Whatever she was about to say next, she stopped as Song Song's Qi exploded out of her. It felt like a tidal wave crashing against the mansion. The walls cracked, and the roof looked like it would cave in. Even Ye An was forced to step back, immediately surrounding herself in a cocoon of ice.

It was a wise decision because the next instant, Song Song disappeared from her previous position and was within arm's length of the cocoon.

An astronomical amount of Qi gathered into the palm of Song Song's hand, the kind of Qi that could easily destroy a whole building in one attack. She shot her palm forward, and a wave of pure dark-colored Qi slammed into the ice cocoon, smashing it through the mansion walls and blasting it far into the destroyed parts of the town.

Thankfully, no servant in the mansion was hurt, and I sensed that Ye An was still alive despite the devastating blast.

At the same time, I felt Song Song come and grab me like a sack of potatoes under her arm, careful not to nudge or move the sword in my chest. Then she used her other hand to hold my severed arm. It all happened so fast that I could barely see anything, but I could still sense what she was doing.

It was surprising that she wasn't going after Ye An. After all, if I could sense that Ye An was alive, then Song Song definitely could too.

She jumped out of the large hole in the wall where there used to be a window before Ye An had blasted an opening. Before we touched the ground, a sword came out of her storage ring. It was a jian sword with the yin and yang symbol on its hilt. It was so sharp that just hovering in the air created a strange cutting sound.

As soon as her feet touched the sword, Song Song formed a spherical barrier around us and blasted off like a rocket. She moved so fast that it felt like we were on a plane, with everything blurring past us.

Though it was hard to tell where we were going, she was moving northwest, where the Sect was.

I glanced at Song Song, and she had an uncharacteristically determined look in her eyes.

When she noticed me looking at her, she said, "Whether they can reattach your arm or not, I promise that I will repay your loyalty."

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After that, she no longer said anything and stared into the distance, not even meeting my gaze. This was very much unlike her usual self. That unbreakable confidence, the smirk that showed no matter how dangerous the situation, she had everything handled, and that bravado that seemed almost suicidal at times.

Her Qi output increased, and the flying sword she was standing on sped up. There was a loud boom around us as she broke the sound barrier.

We passed many towns and even a monstrous beast army in the distance. We went from forests covered in snow to long white fields and wet dirt before we finally saw a glimpse of the Sect's white walls.

Song Song took out a wooden medallion from her storage ring and, with a thought, used her Qi to float the medallion in front of her as we approached the Sect's outer barrier. Suddenly, the barrier rippled like a pond when a drop of water landed on it, and we flew through the barrier without a problem.

Some people immediately began chasing us on their own flying artifacts. Due to the sound of the wind crashing against the barrier, I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I roughly guessed it wasn't anything nice. There must be rules about flying in the Sect grounds; otherwise, those arrogant elders might have their views interrupted.

Darkness slowly crept at the corners of my eyes as a wave of tiredness settled over me. I was so exhausted that it was hard to think straight.

Would I open my eyes again with these kinds of injuries? It was hard to tell. Perhaps the sword in my chest had hit something critical, and I just hadn't experienced the aftereffects yet. There were a lot of vital parts in the chest besides the heart and lungs.

"Don't die on me now. We're almost there," Song Song said, waking me up as we neared a large building resembling a mansion in the inner Sect.

Soon, we landed in the mansion's front yard, where people were coming and going with bandages and various injuries. Some were using rudimentary treatments, like just bandaging a deep cut. I immediately didn't have much confidence in the healers.

As we entered the mansion, I noticed that besides the usual blue inner sect disciple uniforms, many people were wearing yellow and white robes, walking around and treating patients. They were likely this world's equivalent of doctors or nurses.

"Healers!" Song Song called out with authority. "Get the Song Clan healers here!"

She looked at me and gave me her first smile since breaking through, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Don't worry. With how many people I've cut the arms off, these guys have a lot of experience reattaching limbs, and the Song Clan healers are the best in the Sect."

One of the white and yellow-clothed people, bandaging a man's shoulder, turned toward Song Song and bowed his head. "Lady Song, the Song Clan healers are treating one of your cousins. Just like you, he also had his own team and suffered a grievous-"

Whatever the man was about to say next was cut off as Song Song kicked him in the ribs before he could react. He flew, smashing into the wall and leaving a crack in the stone. The poor guy slumped down with blood coming out of his mouth, and Song Song walked past him without a care in the world.

Damn, I hoped the guy was alright and didn't die there. It seemed like Song Song wasn't in the mood to hold back today.

The smell of medicine and iron grew more intense as we went deeper into the building. However, it wasn't the usual smell associated with hospitals; it had almost a smoky aftersmell.

Were they burning incense or something?

Song Song led me through a backroom into a traditional Chinese-themed room with green decorations. There was even a drawing of a green dragon on one of the scrolls on the wall.

There were many tables with pillows and what looked like rudimentary hospital beds. What stood out were the dozen or so people wearing white robes and working with scalpels and sewing needles. They were crowded over one wooden bed, and I couldn't see who they were treating.

Song Song immediately put me down on my side in one of the wooden beds and placed my severed arm next to me. It wasn't the most comfortable position or place to lie down, and the pillow felt like it was made of solid wood. Also I couldn’t lay down on my back because I had a sword sticking through my chest.

She then turned toward the healers and called out, "Hey! I need you to treat someone here!"

When the healers heard her voice, they all turned around. That gave me enough of an opening to see who they were working on. It was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. He had feminine features, a thin build, and a fresh scar from the edge of his eye to his jawbone. Though the wound was stitched, it clearly was going to leave quite a nasty scar.

From how the guy seemed sweaty and pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and had difficulty breathing, it was clear a face injury was not his only problem.

The healers looked at me, and I could tell by their gazes that whatever urgency they felt due to Song Song's call was gone.

"Sorry, Lady Song. But we have clear procedures about this, and when it comes to circumstances where we have to choose who to treat between an outsider or a clan member, the latter is always a priority. We have to save your cousin first, Lady Song," one of the lead healers, an old man with a close shave and slicked-back hair, answered.

"Oh, is that so?" Song Song asked.

Before they could answer her rhetorical question, she blitzed past them and was next to the wooden bed where her cousin lay. She had a sword in hand, pointed it down at her relative, and swung it without hesitation.

Every one of the healers stared as their wide-eyed patient gurgled and clawed at his throat, where Song Song held her sword in place with an iron grip. Then she glanced at the healers while the guy in the wooden bed struggled. Without breaking eye contact with the healers, she pulled the sword from the patient's throat. Then she swung it down again, this time decapitating her cousin and sending his head rolling to the healers' feet.

With nothing more than a headless corpse left in the wooden bed, Song Song turned toward the healers with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

She stated, "It seems like there is no longer a patient you need to save."

The healers ogled at the scene before them as if they could not believe their eyes.

I was shocked, also. But Song Song wasn't done. The fake smile slipped off her face and settled into a cold glare. "What are you waiting for? Get back to work."

The coldness in Song Song's eyes intensified to a degree that it sent a chill down my heart, even though I was not the target.

"Try your best to save him because if something happens to him, I will find all your families and slit their throats in front of you. Only then will I give you the sweet release of death," she threatened them.

What the actual fuck?

With those words of "encouragement," the healers no longer wasted time and immediately came to my aid.