Chapter 44: Rescue
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Zhu Rong didn't take long before reaching the source of the commotion.
"Hm? Aren't those two…"
Arriving at the scene, he found two battered looking girls, while in front of them what looked like a black panther with blue stripes was glaring in their direction, eyes filled with ferocity.
It didn't take much to grasp the situation, but what surprised Zhu Rong was the identity of those people.
'If I'm not mistaken, that's the eldest daughter of the current Mu family patriarch,' he thought, recognizing the girl.
The Mu family was one of the many high status families in the capital of Lushan province.
Even though they weren't on the same level as the four great families of the capital, their standing wasn't that far behind.
They had a long history behind them, and while in the eyes of common people they might have seemed weak, the reality was very different.
Ordinary people mostly knew them because of one of their many businesses,
the Jinfeng Auction House.
It was the most popular auction house in the capital, not to mention the most important and prestigious, where only people of a certain status could receive an invitation to attend.
In his past life, he'd had a chance to go there at some point, even though that had been over a hundred years from now, and many things had changed since,
but the quality and rarity of the items sold there had never dropped.
In short, what was standing before him now was a goose that lays the golden eggs.
While he was momentarily lost in thought, the panther decided to put an end to its hunt.
Seeing the beast's obvious intent to attack, the girl standing beside Mu Qinglan steeled herself and stood up, pulling the last arrow from her quiver and readying her bow.
"Sister Mu, I'll try to hold it off as long as I can. Please, use the chance to escape," she said, as a thin bluish energy began to wrap around her hands, slowly enveloping the arrow she held.
"No, Sister Lin, how can you say something like that?
Do you think I'm the kind of person who'd leave you behind?" Mu Qinglan said,
forcing herself to stay strong as she moved beside her, wearing an exhausted but determined expression.
"We got into this mess together, and we'll get out of it alive together," she said, as her emerald green eyes began to shimmer and the ground beneath her feet lit up faintly.
Lin Shuiyao, who had already prepared her attack and was ready to face the beast head on, didn't say a word and simply nodded as she braced herself to strike.
She knew that even if she tried to hold off the beast, she would be overwhelmed almost instantly, and most likely it would then be her friend's turn.
They both knew they wouldn't die, an instructor would probably arrive in time to save them.
but the real question was whether it was worth using their academy token and being disqualified from the exam.
She wasn't sure how she did on the written test, but she knew that without earning any points from the practical one, there was no way they'd pass.
They both understood they had no choice but to face the beast and hope to bring it down.
The panther, seeing its two prey aiming at it, seemed to sneer before, in a flash, it lunged toward them.
Its speed was high, and both girls struggled to keep up.
Lin Shuiyao wasted no time and precisely aimed at the beast, which was already halfway to them.
Swish.
The arrow flew swiftly and soon reached the beast,
but just as it was about to hit, the panther seemed to vanish from the trajectory, instantly appearing to the side, already dangerously close to the two girls.
Just as the beast was a few meters from them, Mu Qinglan, who had been preparing, made a gesture with her hand, and two thick roots burst out from the ground, aiming at the beast.
'Got you,' she thought excitedly as she saw the vines almost reach the panther's head, but her expression didn't last long, because the next moment,
Crack!
With a swipe of its paw, the black panther shattered those vines as if they were paper, and under the terrified gaze of its prey, it pounced on her.
'Is this the end?' Mu Qinglan thought as she instinctively closed her eyes, fearing what was about to happen.
Lin Shuiyao, who was beside her, tried to turn and protect her friend, but she realized it was too late to do anything.
"No…"
Just as she too was falling into despair, out of the corner of her eye, a shadow appeared, and before she could even register what it was,
She heard an explosion, followed by the massive body of the panther being sent flying to the side.
Eh?
Still trying to process what had just happened, she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something heavy crash down, and soon her gaze fell upon the beast's body, now embedded in the trunk of a tree.
'The hell was that?!' she thought, in shock,
her eyes shifting to where the panther had just been, and landing on a tall figure standing there,
with long black hair tied back and an impassive expression, as if nothing in the world could disturb him.
Her heartbeat quickened, and so did her thoughts as she tried to process what she'd just witnessed.
'Am I dreaming?'