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Swinging her stick to block a man’s long sword, Lin Yuan resigned herself to fate and closed her eyes as a large saber rushed towards her from behind. The last image in her mind was Xia Zheng’s excited, nervous, and ecstatic face as he personally placed the Jade Pendant on her that night.

"Goodbye, Xia Zheng."

In her past life, she died at the hands of bandits; unexpectedly, in this life, she was to die the same way. Lin Yuan hadn’t even had time to mourn her tragic fate when suddenly she heard the sounds of stabbing and the clang of long swords falling to the ground beside her.

Not feeling the pain of the saber entering her body, Lin Yuan opened her eyes in shock. She saw a shadow moving like a whirlwind among the bandits, darting back and forth. Bandits didn’t even have time to cry out before their throats were slit and they fell to the ground dead.

Lin Yuan’s eyes widened as she stared at the bloodthirsty demon-like man in black, whose cold temperament and bloody aura made him especially terrifying.

In the blink of an eye, the man had captured the last bandit, the bastard who intended to take Lin Yuan as the Bandit Chief’s Wife.

"You, to even dare covet my Young Lady? Dream on!" the man flicked his finger, and before the bandit could beg for mercy, his throat was already cut. With a slap to his forehead, he disdainfully tossed him aside.

"Wait!" Lin Yuan managed to say only half a word, and the bandit leader was already silenced.

The man in black turned around and with an inadvertent flip of his hand, hid the weapon he used for killing into his sleeve without a trace.

Lin Yuan grimaced, attempting to squeeze out a smile, only to find her face had frozen.

The man curled his lips and frowned as he looked at the young village girl in front of him, who looked to be in her teens, and a slight twitch tugged at his mouth.

Then, he knelt on one knee, thudding down in front of Lin Yuan, his hands in a fist salute. His voice unemotional and cold, he said, "This humble one, Yi, has seen the Young Lady!"

Lin Yuan stumbled back two steps in shock. Young Lady? Whose Young Lady?

Yi’s mouth twitched again. Wasn’t this girl quite fierce just now, swinging a stick and hitting people? Why has she become so scared all of a sudden? He had thought that the Second Young Master had found a decent wife, but at a glance, how disappointing.

"You, who are you?" Lin Yuan guessed something but still asked uncertainly.

Yi saluted with his hands again, "This humble one, Yi, has been specially left by the Second Young Master to protect the Young Lady."

As expected, it was Xia Zheng. Only then did Lin Yuan heave a sigh of relief, feeling warmth in her heart.

But it was only for a moment; Lin Yuan suddenly exclaimed, "You’re here to protect me?

Why didn’t you show up earlier? Oh, right, was it you who left that basket of apples at my doorstep?

I knew it, who would suddenly bring me apples?

So it was you all along! Ah, how did you know I wanted apples? Were you eavesdropping on us talking?"

"You wouldn’t have, at night..."

Lin Yuan, thinking of something, clutched her neckline tightly, her face full of indignation, as if ready to gouge out his eyes with a knife if he dared to nod.

This time, not just Yi’s mouth, but his entire body jerked. What was this girl thinking? Although he was a Hidden Guard, he had his principles. He wouldn’t peep at someone sleeping at night.

However, he hadn’t shown himself immediately because he was actually eager to size up the girl. After all, a woman who could catch the Second Young Master’s eye was truly rare in this world.

Upon evaluation, he was indeed amazed. She was calm and composed in a crisis, knew how to seize the moment to acquire a weapon, and most importantly, she was quick, accurate, and ruthless in her attack, showing no mercy to the enemy.