Inside the building, Ayame stood contemplating what she should do next.

"Should I steal this artifact? It will be extremely useful in combat and cultivation," She asked herself as the palm of her hand stood beneath her chin. Her smile was so wide it appeared as if she was smiling from ear to ear, revealing her pearly white teeth.

The answer was obvious.

Ayame exited the building as she carried the cauldron overhead. She kept using Meikyo Shisui to avoid encountering the enemy.

The cauldron was very heavy. It slowed Ayame's movements as she ran through dirt, her feet digging deep on the dirt trail. Every time she stepped forward, she felt as if her footsteps were very loud.

She ran for an unspecified amount of time.

Ayame stopped and took a breather. She controlled her breathing and looked around her. She kept her eyes focused on the dirt trail while she carried the cauldron. She checked her surroundings, making sure she was in the right direction.

Another unspecified amount of time running away from the forest.

Her pace slowed down considerably as she felt the burden on her back was too much for her. She felt tired for a moment. Ayame took off the cauldron, placing it on the ground gently.

"I'll just take a short break." Ayame thought to herself.

She was about to run again when she noticed a figure in the darkness. It grew until it revealed a person.

Ayame stopped in her tracks and stared at the figure. A familiar-looking man appeared.

It was the unnamed leader of the forest bandits and human pill makers. Along with him was a group of his guards.

"You sack of shit! You ruined my plans. And you keep ruining it!" He shouted. His fake smile from before was gone, replaced by fury and resentment.

Ayame hesitated for a moment, unsure whether or not to run or fight. Finally, she decided to take a fighting stance and prepared herself for battle.

With a scream of fury, the group of guards attacked Ayame all at once. All of them were armed with swords, spears, and arrows. The spearmen were the first to rush forward, the blade of their spear staring in the direction of Ayame.

As the blade of their spear approached Ayame, she suddenly ran towards them, pivoting sideward as she evaded the edges of their spear. She immediately closed the distance before the spearmen could retract their spears. She punched the spearman in front of her, a left straight punch to the nose.

He retreated a step backward as his nose was broken, with blood gushing from his nostrils. His spear fell to the ground.

Ayame was not done with her attacks. She closed the distance once more.

The spearman noticing her actions, instinctively covered his face with his hands, but he miscalculated Ayame's attack. It was not a straight punch but a right hook that avoided his hands. Ayame's fist landed on his left cheek and sent him flying backward, his eyes became unfocused, and he dropped to the ground.

The other three lunged forward with their spear in response to her attack. As the spear in their hands thrust forward to impale her, Ayame crouched down before jumping high above the air, evading their stabbing attacks.

In her hands were two medium-sized rocks.

Using qi in mid-air, she enhanced her throwing power and aimed at the heads of the defenseless spearmen. Both rocks hit their intended target, and they collapsed with a gaping holes in their head.

Blood and brain matter oozed from the hole along with it were the stench of fresh blood and death, the metallic odor of blood drawn from the heads of the two spearmen, and the warm blood seeping into the ground.

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The last spearman appeared to be stricken with panic as the blood from his fellow guards splattered on his cheeks. He tried to run away in the direction of the swordsmen.

"You're not getting away!" Ayame said as she suddenly chased after him, grabbing his head from behind and driving it to the ground. His face made contact with the ground, his lips kissed the dirt, and the soil entered his nose. He couldn't breathe.

She looked at the man beneath her, "It takes a special kind of idiot to show his back on the enemy," she sneered at the man before she stomped his skull. With every stomp, the spearman's head sank more and more into the dirt. His skull appeared to be slightly caved in.

The group of swordsmen immediately ran to the aid of their companion, but it was already too late. The archer group shot arrows at Ayame, but she evaded every single one.

"Are they using some kind of combat technique to increase the speed of their arrow?" She thought inside her head after noticing the arrows were faster than they should be.

She easily evaded the arrows with her Meikyo Shisui as it allowed her to predict the arrow's speed, force, and trajectory.

The archers stopped firing. It was the swordsmen's turn to attack Ayame. But just like with the archers, Ayame evaded their attacks. The swordsmen were getting frustrated and tense with every passing second.

They kept yelling and cursing at her.

"Wow, that's the first time I've heard a talking dog. You know, if you guys joined a dog show, you would probably take the first, second, and third place." She smiled while making fun of them, "Come on, doggies, let's go on a walk~ I'll even give you a treat or two if you shit on the neighbor's sidewalk." She laughed out loud, mocking the swordsmen.

The swordsmen's faces were distorted in rage, and they rushed at her, swinging their swords. Their bodies started moving fast as their swords flashed, trying to slice her to pieces.

Unfortunately for the swordsmen, Ayame was faster than them. They aggressively attacked Ayame when suddenly she stepped forward. They couldn't notice what Ayame had in her hand.

It was an arrow.

Ayame suddenly stabbed an arrow each at the swordsman's eye sockets. Blood dripped from the swordsman's eye sockets. The smell of fresh blood wafted into the air, and it seemed like a waterfall. Ayame retracted the arrows from his eye sockets as the swordsman dropped to the ground lifelessly.

The other swordsmen were horrified, but they kept attacking. They have already seen what would happen if they let their guard down or tried to run away.

"What's wrong? Are you scared? Your friends are waiting on the other side. Don't worry. It'll be quick. You won't even feel the pain." Ayame stated as she smiled at the swordsmen.

But they continued to attack. They were determined to kill Ayame no matter what. With their swords drawn, they circled around Ayame and waited for their chance to attack her. The swordsmen were frustrated and vengeful after seeing their comrades being killed one by one by Ayame.

She evaded their attacks, waiting for the opportunity to attack.

"You guys aren't giving up. I like that, but I'm a bit tired. If you keep on using the same tactic, you'll be tired, too." Ayame said with her hand on her hip and her face looking at the swordsmen.

She continued evading the swordsmen's attacks and waited for an opening. She watched the swordsmen, waiting for them to get tired. The swordsmen stood in a half-circle and kept attacking, attacking, and attacking as if they had never planned on stopping. Just like Ayame said, they were getting tired of attacking. They kept swinging their swords, and it turned from a neat slice to a sloppy

Just as the front swordsman was about to retract his sword after slashing, Ayame kicked his knees violently, forcing him to kneel on the ground. Without giving him a chance to attack, Ayame struck his face, specifically his nose, with the arrow. She repeatedly attacked until his nose appeared as if it was about to detach. His face was filled with blood and tears from the pain and fear of death. He didn't want to die.

Ayame impaled the swordsman from the bottom of his jaw, killing him. Another swordsman tried to take advantage of being behind her, but Ayame was already expecting him. She evaded his attack and stabbed his neck with the arrow. The swordsman bled to death from a neck wound.

"Don't think you'll get away after killing my comrades!" The last swordsman yelled as he tried to attack her.

"Is that so?" Ayame replied before punching the man in the face, knocking him to the ground.

She mounted the man and raised her hand.

In that hand was an arrow.

She drove the arrow into the swordsman's mouth, but his teeth blocked it. "Ooh, what tough and pretty teeth." She smiled, "Too bad they won't be enough to stop me from making you swallow this arrow." She said before repeatedly driving the arrow into his mouth.

She kept stabbing. His tooth was knocked off, and the blood from the gums filled his mouth. He cried from the sharp pain of losing a tooth, but the merciless and demented Ayame pushed the arrow even more until it began to reach the back of his mouth. He died from the pain and shock.

The archers wanted to shoot while Ayame was mounted on the swordsman, she was defenseless, and they could've hit her with an arrow. But they couldn't shoot. Their hands shook in fear. The screams of their comrades, the thick and metallic smell of blood in the air, the sight of blood, flesh, and brain matter scattered in the dirt. They couldn't do it. They had never felt this kind of dread before.

The archers dropped their bows and arrows and ran away in all directions. They know they couldn't defeat Ayame. Before they could escape, the golden-haired man who was watching his guards die as if it were a movie suddenly released the black smoke-like projectiles after the archers. They died as their bodies were dissolved by the smoke.

"You're next," said Ayame cheerfully as she smiled.