Leading the group was Cecilia Chen, flanked by two unfamiliar men whose aura screamed Spirit Master.
Three Spirit Masters!
Grace glanced at Anna, who was scrambling to escape in a panic.
"Lily Bai, today is the day you die!" Cecilia Chen spat out each word with venom.
"You want to kill me?" Grace retreated, already preparing her hidden weapon. "No matter what, I saved your life once. If you won't thank me, fine, but now you want to kill me?"
"Hmph! I warned you—if you save my life, I'll give you money, status, anything! But the General? Absolutely not!" Cecilia Chen's face twisted with malice. "You dared seduce the General, so you're dead!"
"But if you kill me, will he really marry you? Whether I live or die doesn't seem to have much to do with whether you'll become his wife!"
Cecilia Chen shot back, "If you're dead, maybe he'll change his mind!"
"And why do you think that?" Grace asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Hmph!" Cecilia Chen glared at her, eyes burning with jealousy. "Still pretending to be clueless?"
"What do you mean?"
"The General never touches anyone, especially women!" Cecilia Chen said. "But with you, it's different."
She hesitated, then grudgingly admitted, "I guess... maybe he's fallen for you."
Grace's heart skipped a beat. Was it true?
"That's why you have to die!" Cecilia Chen declared. "Once you're gone, he'll give up on you—maybe then he'll accept me!"
"So when you said that if I could get him to marry you, I'd get to be your personal maid—was that just a trick? Even if I helped you, you'd still kill me?"
"You've only got yourself to blame! Born with a face that could topple kingdoms, but you're just a useless girl with no Spirit Root! Destined to be cannon fodder for the strong!" Cecilia Chen sneered.
A cold light flashed in Grace's eyes. She raised both hands—one poisoned sleeve arrow shot at the scar-faced man on the left, while a drugged bracelet flew toward Cecilia Chen and the other Spirit Master.
The sleeve arrow was heavy and fast.
The scar-faced man clearly didn't expect such a delicate girl to be armed with deadly weapons.
Caught off guard, the scar-faced man failed to dodge and took an arrow to the arm—he collapsed instantly, foaming at the mouth.
But the needles from the bracelet were lighter, and the distance was too great. Both Cecilia Chen and the other man swept their sleeves, easily deflecting the attack.
Grace fired two more sleeve arrows at them, but they were ready this time and dodged.
Without spiritual power, hidden weapons have serious limits—speed and force just aren't enough.
The two shielded their faces with their sleeves, drew their own weapons, and began closing in on her, step by step.
They were patient, not rushing at all.
Grace was the one who was panicking.
She couldn't stop firing her hidden weapons. If she did, they'd close in and kill her.
But if this keeps up, she'll eventually run out of weapons.
She had to escape!
Otherwise, once she ran out of hidden weapons, it would be the end for her!
She fired off two more sleeve arrows, then shot a signal arrow into the sky and dashed toward the big tree.
The signal arrow was for Tenner.
They'd agreed on three types of signal arrows ahead of time.
Green meant she was making a desperate escape and needed him to ride in for backup.
Yellow meant she was trapped in the General's Manor but not in immediate danger—he should figure out a way to get her out.
Red meant she was in grave danger—he should rush to the Prime Minister's estate and get her father to send help.
Just now, she'd fired a green one.