She didn’t rush down immediately, instead creeping closer stealthily.

These weaklings, having lost the advantage of a hidden ambush, weren’t much of a problem for her.

The reason she was still waiting was to see who else, besides these two, was involved and might know the plan.

And she didn’t have to wait long. Less than half an hour later, two more people appeared in her line of sight.

Zhao Qingci frowned. Where was the last one?

When she saw the four of them meet up while the last person was still nowhere to be seen, she grew a little anxious.

She couldn’t help but glance at her left hand again.

They were all weaklings, but what if…

Forget it, no more waiting! I’ll take care of these four first!

No sooner said than done, Zhao Qingci leaped into action.

The moment the two unlucky bastards saw her, their faces paled in terror.

“Holy shit, the Shura Blade!”

“You really came!”

The two of them were filled with regret. If they’d known, they would have begged and pleaded for energy guns. Even if they weren’t very effective against Zhao Qingci, having a powerful thermal weapon in hand would have been a huge psychological comfort.

The area of the desolate planet where they had landed had no particularly dangerous large beasts; only the natural conditions were a bit harsh. As a fringe team, their weapon allocation was already low. Their leader, afraid a strong gust of wind would blow them away, guns and all, had refused to issue them firearms, forcing them to rely on their own strength.

Besides, if they needed rescue, they could just use up the resources of those two warships.

A classic case of men being cheaper than guns.

Their reaction, however, greatly fueled Zhao Qingci’s fury. Bastards! So you really were planning to set me up!

Killing intent erupted from her. She pressed her waist, and with a sharp clang, her twin blades were out, drawing blood!

The two unlucky bastards were both frustrated and furious. Damn it, what did we ever do to you? Why are you coming after us? If you need to blow off steam, can’t you go beat up the “cargo”? Why attack your own colleagues?

“Why are you attacking us for no reason? Have you no sense of decency?” the two unlucky men yelled, their hearts bitter as they parried her blows.

With a single move, she’d drawn their blood and nearly lopped off an arm. Although it had been a surprise attack, it was certain that when it came to killing and fighting, Zhao Qingci was leagues above them.

“Aren’t I reasoning with you right now? Idiots!” Zhao Qingci sneered as her blades flashed again, drawing the other two men into the fray.

With two swift slashes, two more lines of blood sprayed into the air.

The two who had arrived later were completely bewildered. They dodged and blocked on reflex, but still couldn’t stop a slice of flesh from being carved off their arms.

They were just here to gamble. Did they have to get hacked up for that?

But they were all space pirates. They could murder and plunder, but they couldn’t be cowards. Someone was attacking them head-on; were they supposed to just stand there and run their mouths?

Of course they had to grab their weapons and fight back hard!

One person couldn’t beat her, but if four of them teamed up and fought to the death, they could at least aim for mutual destruction, right?

The five of them were instantly locked in a fierce battle!

At first, the four of them could still curse while they fought, but as the battle raged on, Zhao Qingci grew more and more savage, pressing them until they could barely breathe. They had to use every last ounce of their strength just to stay alive, leaving no energy for trash talk.

Zhao Qingci had earned the name “Shura Blade” because her bladework was exceptionally beautiful, yet its effects were exceptionally brutal. First, she would slice away the flesh, then shave the bone, and only then take a life. For her opponents, it was like being in Shura’s hell.

The pain, like death by a thousand cuts, severely impaired the four men’s judgment and combat ability. Their loud, angry curses gradually turned into agonized wails.

The four were both shocked and enraged. “Are you trying to kill us?!”

Zhao Qingci’s lips curled, her hands never slowing. “Yes!”

“We’re companions!”

“And you all weren’t…” trying to kill me?

Before she could get the last few words out, Zhao Qingci sensed a rush of air behind her head. She jerked to the side as a small, gleaming knife grazed her cheek, leaving a line of blood, before whistling forward and plunging straight into the shoulder of a man in front of her who couldn’t dodge in time.

Zhao Qingci’s heart went cold. It was the fifth person!

So strong!

Then, she heard a steady, powerful voice say, “Attack her left side!”

In an instant, blood rushed to her head, and her eyes turned crimson. So it really was the Second-in-Command and his bastards who harmed my brother! All of you can just die, die, die!

With a backhand slash, she sent the idiot who had just taken a knife to the shoulder to meet her brother in the afterlife.

A chill ran down the spines of the other three.

This wasn’t just a beating from Zhao Qingci—she wanted to kill them!

With no time to identify the newcomer, seeing their companion killed sent their survival instincts into overdrive. They subconsciously obeyed the command and attacked her left side in unison.

Zhao Qingci’s left hand was now far weaker than her right, possessing not even half its original strength. Now that her weak point was being targeted, she began to struggle, especially since she had to split her focus to guard against a sneak attack from the fifth person.

For a moment, despite losing one man, the remaining three actually felt the pressure lessen slightly.

She was trying to kill them, so what else was there to say? If they didn’t kill Zhao Qingci, none of them would make it out alive!

They actually managed to hold their ground.

But under the weight of absolute superior strength, holding on for a moment didn’t mean they could hold on forever. Even though they were fighting for their lives and desperately attacking Zhao Qingci’s weak point, after ten minutes, they were gradually pushed back into a disadvantageous position.

Ji Changqing’s intervention had disrupted Zhao Qingci’s attack rhythm and prevented the two sides from discovering through their verbal sparring that they had both been deceived. Now one was dead and the other three were heavily injured. Even if the misunderstanding were cleared up, knowing Zhao Qingci’s style, she wouldn’t leave any of them alive.

Seeing that all four combatants were fighting with bloodshot eyes, it was clear that no matter what, either they would all die, or only one side would survive.

This put her at ease.

By the time Zhao Qingci sent the second person to meet her brother, the two remaining unlucky bastards were covered in wounds, with not an inch of unscathed flesh on them.

This was only because Zhao Qingci believed these two were the ringleaders and wanted to keep them alive to interrogate them about the story behind it all.

Ji Changqing, however, remained perfectly calm. Even if she knew what Zhao Qingci was planning, it didn’t matter if her double deception was eventually exposed. They were already mutually wounded; she was confident she could finish her off.

Therefore, she watched Zhao Qingci’s every move with rapt attention, simulating each of her techniques in her mind, analyzing her attack patterns, the force of her strikes, and her defensive footwork.

Yes, she had never intended to perfectly imitate Zhao Qingci. After discovering that Zhao Qingci’s left hand likely had a persistent old injury, she decided to go with the flow: “Zhao Qingci” would lose the use of her left hand in this battle. Naturally, her dual-blade style would become unusable, leading to a logical switch to a single blade—which would inevitably require her to practice a new blade style.

A perfect solution to the problem of being exposed the moment she fought!

Just as she noticed Zhao Qingci’s moves becoming more and more repetitive, the two unlucky bastards finally collapsed, curling up on the ground and groaning.

Just as Zhao Qingci was about to start her interrogation, Ji Changqing made her move. She casually picked up the modao from one of the two who had already died and wielded it like a long spear.

Zhao Qingci had been wary of the fifth person all along. The moment Ji Changqing moved, she struck back without a second thought.

When the modao clashed with her twin blades, Zhao Qingci felt a slight sense of relief upon initial contact. The fierce battle just now hadn’t drained her too much, but because her opponents had desperately attacked her left side, her injury had worsened, leaving her left hand almost useless.

Ji Changqing’s first strike failed. She quickly retracted the blade and struck again, just like the others before her, slashing diagonally toward Zhao Qingci’s left side.

“Did the Second-in-Command send you? Is he afraid I’ll come back for revenge for what he did to my brother, or does he want to use me to get rid of you?” Zhao Qingci thought to herself that this was the person who had just called out, directing the others to focus their attacks on her left side. What kind of person would relentlessly exploit an opponent’s weakness? Naturally, someone of equal or slightly lesser strength, who would fixate on a weak point to increase their chances of winning.

“If you want to eliminate someone root and stem, you should at least send a few decent fighters. You lot are just here to die!”

She had nothing better to do, so why not try to sow some discord? She might even get some information out of it.

“Don’t be so sure of yourself,” Ji Changqing said coldly. “You tried to hide your crippled left hand because you knew your strength had declined, and you were afraid the people you’d offended in the past would kick you while you’re down.”

Struck a nerve, Zhao Qingci’s gaze turned frigid. In the past, she wouldn’t have given someone of this strength a second thought. But now, she wanted a quick victory. Any further delay, and her left hand might be beyond saving.

As this thought crossed her mind, they had already exchanged more than a dozen blows as fast as lightning.

Huddled in the shadows, watching them fight to the death, He Qingzhi and Saiweiyala both thought Ji Changqing was truly infuriating, hitting people where it hurt with every word.

From He Qingzhi and Saiweiyala’s perspective, Zhao Qingci’s attacks suddenly intensified. They could barely see the trajectory of her blades, only a blur of light, followed by a dense series of clashes—ding ding ding ding ding—so fast it almost sounded like a single continuous tone.

If not for the occasional spray of blood, they would have thought they were in a blacksmith’s shop.

Ji Changqing parried almost mechanically. Zhao Qingci’s dual-blade style was light and swift, fighting speed with speed. Her opponents would find themselves constantly enveloped in the light of her blades, and those with insufficient eyesight or slow reflexes would be under immense psychological pressure.

Though she wielded only two blades, she could make her opponent feel as if they were facing dozens of sharp edges at once, a sky full of raining blades that was impossible to evade.

She wasn’t adept with a blade. Even though she was using the modao as a long spear, every clash, retraction, and subsequent strike was distinctly different from a real spear.

She could only continuously adjust her angle and force.

Zhao Qingci, initially full of confidence, grew more and more anxious as the fight wore on. This person before her fought with increasing valor, like a thousand overlapping waves, the pressure mounting layer by layer. Toward the end, her opponent’s strikes became heavier and more powerful, gradually suppressing her light and swift twin blades.

Something was wrong. Who used a blade like this? Ignoring its edge and only using its length?

“No, who are you?! There’s no spear master like you in the crew!” Zhao Qingci realized.

But Ji Changqing had no intention of answering her questions. Villains die from talking too much—she always kept that in mind. She simply smiled faintly. On her blood-splattered face, the smile looked particularly sinister and ferocious.

Then, she made her final move.

The modao thrust forward in a single, unadorned, and unremarkable stab. There were no superfluous movements, only a direct, killing charge. It seemed slow but was deceptively fast—at least three times the speed of her previous attacks!

Zhao Qingci’s pupils contracted, her face a mask of disbelief.

Speed, in itself, is an enhancement to any attack. Zhao Qingci’s blades were fast, which was how she became the infamous “Shura Blade,” with countless people dying by her swift strikes.

But this move from Ji Changqing was at least twice as fast as her own!

A surging will to survive made her try with all her might to block it.

But she still couldn’t keep up with Ji Changqing’s pace.

She could only watch as the long, slender body of the modao slipped through the gap between her twin blades with sublime precision, and then felt its tip touch her throat.

With a soft pop, like a bursting soap bubble, the immense force sent Zhao Qingci flying backward to slam heavily onto the ground, pinned firmly in place.

It was so fast she didn’t even have time to feel the pain.

Ji Changqing stood where she was, head lowered, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.

Only when fighting a strong opponent could she truly feel the immense benefits the repair serum had brought her.

This time, although her opponent was a level eleven who was exhausted and injured from a previous battle, she herself wasn’t drained. A third of her acupoints remained untouched.

Before using the repair serum for body tempering, even fighting a level ten wouldn’t have been this easy.

She took off her own tattered clothes, which were mostly stained red. Then she bent down, picked up Zhao Qingci’s twin blades, and began stripping the clothes off the guy she had used for practice with her modao-spear technique, the one who had died with his eyes wide open.

From this moment on, Huantu Prison, Fourth District, Inmate 220702, was dead on this desolate planet.

The next afternoon, the only one who returned to the cargo ship was “Zhao Qingci”—betrayed by her companions, her left hand crippled, who had now switched from twin blades to a modao.

Lately, the pirates had been enthusiastic about treasure hunting on desolate planets. It wasn’t uncommon for those without assignments to boldly take off for a few days. So, when Zhao Qingci didn’t return for a night after going out, it didn’t attract any attention.

What did attract attention was that the five personnel on duty that day failed to return on time. The person in charge of the cargo ship was quite annoyed, assuming the men had neglected their duties to go treasure hunting like the others. He resolved to punish them severely.

Simply outrageous!

By the next afternoon, just as the people who had gone out were trickling back to the ship, Ji Changqing—who had spent a day and a night successfully performing minor cosmetic surgery on herself—returned, pale-faced, dragging four corpses and carrying Saiweiyala.

Everyone who saw this scene, whether cargo or pirate, couldn’t help but gasp.

Truly, the four corpses had not an inch of good flesh left on them; their deaths were too gruesome.

The cargo ship leader’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably. Such a manner of death was clearly Zhao Qingci’s handiwork!

“Stop! You know the consequences for harming a companion without reason! What is the meaning of this?” Although he was a little afraid of this vicious woman, the cargo ship leader still had to step forward. He might have been more convincing if his hand wasn’t constantly resting on the energy gun at his waist.

Zhao Qingci obediently stopped, looked up at him, and narrowed her eyes. There was even a hint of a smile as she advised with particular sincerity, “You don’t want to know. Really.”

The cargo ship leader made a gesture. Though he was a marginal figure, he was still a minor boss with a few capable men under him.

These men walked over and stood by his side, all broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with fierce expressions. Their actions mirrored their leader’s; they all rested their hands on the energy guns at their waists and had quietly unfastened their holsters.

“Those who wantonly kill their companions will be put to death. You know that, don’t you? If you don’t explain, I’ll have no choice but to follow the rules.”

Just cooperate with me, damn it!

Every pore on the cargo ship leader’s body seemed to be screaming this message.

Some who were on good terms with the four dead men indignantly demanded that the minor boss avenge their brothers.

The cargo ship leader was rolling his eyes internally. He wanted to, of course. But Zhao Qingci was not to be trifled with. Even with energy guns, if they missed their first shot, they’d probably be the ones lying on the ground the next second.

“You really want me to say it here?”

“Of course! Say it clearly in front of everyone so we can all hear!” How would I dare speak to you alone? If you suddenly attacked, who would be to blame?

Zhao Qingci paused for a moment. “You can’t handle the consequences.”

The pirates grew restless.

“Whether we can handle it or not isn’t for you to decide!”

“Are you the boss or is he? If he tells you to talk, then talk!”

“Kill her!”

…

Zhao Qingci’s gaze shifted toward the source of the “Kill her” shout.

The people in that direction unconsciously backed away, their actions screaming, It wasn’t me!

The cargo ship leader looked at this bunch of cowards who had suddenly created a dent in the formation and felt his heart grow weary.

If you’re going to be a coward, then don’t run your mouth. It’s fun to talk big for a moment, but then you get beaten to a pulp.

“Fine, since you insist. The Second-in-Command gave them orders to ambush and kill me. So I killed them.” Zhao Qingci looked at the cargo ship leader, malice practically radiating from her face. “They asked you for energy guns before, and you refused, right? I have to thank you for that. Otherwise, I might have really been done for. But, what do you suppose the Second-in-Command will think when he finds out?”