They continued forward one behind the other.
After Shen Yu's warning, Aurora consciously kept a distance of three steps. She also understood very well that this Brother-in-law was not someone who welcomed closeness, especially from women. Otherwise, he would not have reacted so stiffly earlier, fainting at the slightest unexpected contact.
Thinking about it, she felt a little awkward.
He was older, after all. Whatever happened earlier was an accident best left unmentioned. Bringing it up again would only make things uncomfortable for both sides.
What lifted her spirits, however, was the forest itself.
The deeper they went, the richer it became.
As Shen Yu walked ahead, Aurora followed behind, her eyes lighting up again and again as she spotted herbs hidden among the weeds.
Many of them carried faint spiritual energy. Though they were not rare treasures, they were still medicinal plants infused with an aura, far more valuable than ordinary herbs.
With each one she collected, her mood grew lighter.
"Hm?"
Her gaze caught on a plant growing quietly among the grass.
Three-leaf red.
An excellent medicinal herb for treating external injuries.
Her eyes shone. She hurried over and carefully dug it out, making sure not to damage the roots. Three-leaf red was valuable, something that only appeared in the inner areas of Fengyue. It could never be found on the outskirts.
As she worked, she could not help noticing how familiar these medicinal plants felt. The names, the appearance, even their effects were almost identical to the herbs she knew in her previous life. The difference lay in this world's spiritual energy. Here, most medicinal plants were elixirs, their effects far stronger and purer.
Just as she finished collecting it—
"Swish!"
A sharp sound cut through the air.
Aurora did not even look up. Her body shifted instinctively, moving aside in one smooth motion. At the same time, the three-leaf red was safely tucked into her hand.
Shen Yu heard the sound and turned immediately. His hand lifted slightly, prepared to intervene, but when he saw Aurora avoid the attack with ease, he paused and lowered his arm again. His gaze shifted instead toward the direction the attack had come from.
Aurora looked down.
A sharp arrow was embedded in the ground where she had been standing just moments before.
If she had been even a step slower, it would have struck her.
She lifted her head slowly, a faint, harmless smile curving her lips. Yet her eyes were calm, without warmth.
Ahead stood a group of people, around twenty in total.
At the front was a composed middle-aged man. Beside him stood a young man in his twenties, and next to him a teenage girl. The rest wore similar attire, clearly members of the same family or faction.
Aurora's gaze settled on the girl.
She held a bow in her hand, an arrow already nocked. Her posture was confident, her expression proud. It was obvious who had fired the shot.
"Hand over the three-leaf red," the girl said coldly, staring at Aurora with open disdain. "A nobody like you dares to wander this deep into Fengyue. You're really asking for death."
Aurora did not bother hiding her glance. She tilted her head slightly and replied in the same tone, casual and sharp. "If you're not staying somewhere safe, why run into Fengyue instead? Looking for trouble?"
Shen Yu, standing ahead, twitched at the corner of his mouth and shook his head slightly.
This woman really knew how to stir things up.
The girl's expression darkened instantly. Her eyes sharpened, hostility pouring out unchecked. Behind her, several members of the group tensed, their gazes turning dangerous.
The middle-aged man and the young man said nothing. They simply looked at Aurora, their expressions calm, as if they were already looking at someone doomed.
The girl raised her bow slightly, her voice cold with anger.
"You're courting death."
The girl's face flushed deep red, whether from anger or humiliation was hard to tell. Her grip tightened around the bow as she raised it again without hesitation. This time, there was no warning, no restraint.
The bowstring snapped taut.
"Swish!"
The arrow shot out like a streak of cold light, wrapped in faint spiritual energy, heading straight for Aurora's chest. The intent was clear. This was not a warning shot. It was meant to kill.
The girl's companions did not move.
The middle-aged man at the front watched calmly, as if this outcome were already decided. To them, Aurora was nothing more than a weak outsider who had wandered too far by luck alone. Crushing such a person required no effort.
Shen Yu, standing a few steps away, also did not intervene.
He wanted to see.
From the moment he had been observing Aurora, he knew she was not foolish. On the contrary, she was sharp, composed, and far too confident for someone with no cultivation aura. If she dared provoke others here, she must have something to rely on.
The question was what.
His pupils shrank.
At the instant the arrow arrived, Aurora moved.
She twisted her body and dropped low, rolling forward as the arrow flew past her shoulder and struck the ground behind her. The sharp whistling sound faded without ever touching her.
The movement was clean. Precise.
Shen Yu was not the only one surprised.
The middle-aged man and the young man both narrowed their eyes. They knew very well how fast that arrow had been, how accurate. For an ordinary person, evasion would have been impossible.
Yet she had dodged it.
This meant one thing.
She was not simple.
The girl's anger flared at the failure. "Dammit."
She reached back again, nocked another arrow, and released it without pause.
Then another.
And another.
Arrow after arrow flew toward Aurora, each one aimed carefully, each one infused with intent. Yet every time, Aurora avoided them, sometimes by a hair's breadth, sometimes by movements so small they were almost invisible.
When the last arrow missed, Aurora straightened and smiled faintly, tilting her head as if genuinely curious.
"That's it?" she said lightly.
The girl's eyes burned with fury. She threw the bow aside and drew a dagger from her waist, charging forward. "You're asking to die!"
Shen Yu's gaze then suddenly sharpened.
He watched closely.
The girl rushed in fast, but Aurora moved faster.
In a blink, Aurora stepped inside the girl's guard. There was a brief flash of movement, too quick to follow clearly. When Shen Yu focused again, the dagger was no longer in the girl's hand.
It was in Aurora's.
The girl was frozen in shock.
Aurora had already moved behind her, one arm locking the girl's shoulder and forcing her off balance. The dagger rested lightly against the side of the girl's neck, not cutting, but close enough to make the threat unmistakable.
"Don't move," Aurora said calmly. Her tone was relaxed, almost casual, but there was no playfulness in her eyes now. "I'm not very patient."
The forest went quiet.
The middle-aged man's expression finally changed, his calm cracking into a dark frown.
The young man beside him clenched his fists, anger flashing across his face, but he did not step forward. The girl was too close to danger.
Shen Yu stared in silence.
This was no accident. No luck.
Her movements were efficient, ruthless, and precise. She knew exactly where to strike and when to stop.
For the first time, he realized something clearly.
This woman was far more dangerous than she appeared.