Essence Chapter 18 of 'The Forbidden Codex: Revision' - The Mysterious Woman

On the ground not far to the right of Long Qian's shallow neck, there was a deep scratch, about fifty centimeters long, like a sharp blade cutting horizontally through the soil from right to left. This was obviously the mark left by Long Tao's right hand, which emitted a silver glimmer when slashing shadows.
However, this cut stopped just a dozen or so centimeters away from Long Qian's neck and then bent upwards, forming an L-shaped mark!
Long Qian could be certain without a doubt that this L-shaped scratch was not caused by him cutting Long Tao's throat. It clearly looked like someone had forcibly grabbed Long Tao's right arm at the most critical moment, diverting its direction and saving Long Qian's life from the brink of death.
As Long Qian carefully examined Long Tao's right arm, he confirmed his suspicion even more, because there was a distinct mark at Long Tao's wrist!
At that moment, pressing his ear to the ground, Long Qian suddenly heard a very faint sound, like the noise of a leaf drifting from a tree and landing on the ground. Then, within his sight, appeared a small figure.
It was a young girl, a black girl with a high ponytail, only about fifteen years old, with two scars on her face, like two swords embedded between her eyebrows and eyes, giving her appearance a ghostly and menacing aura.
She was not tall and somewhat petite, giving the impression that a gust of wind could blow her away. She wore a tight-fitting black combat outfit, with thin hemp ropes tied around her wrists and ankles. As she moved, the long ponytail on the back of her head swayed slightly, looking at a glance like a stalk of black rice, straight and unyielding.
The black rice stalk girl silently approached Long Qian, her ice-like blue eyes glancing over Long Tao's corpse before finally resting on Long Qian, his face covered in blood. She stared at him quietly and seriously for nearly ten seconds.
Long Qian quietly gazed at the black rice stalk girl as well. He realized that her facial features were actually quite attractive. If it weren't for the two scars, she could have been a very beautiful girl.
However, Long Qian was not used to being stared at by a girl for too long. Although she was merely a girl, he struggled to open his mouth and forced out a sentence from his throat: "Hello, can you help me move this guy behind me?""The Black Rice Ear girl didn't respond. She reached out her hand quietly to grab the corpse and then casually threw it away. Long Qian blinked in surprise. Although he couldn't see where the corpse went, judging by the sound of it hitting the ground, it was thrown at least ten or twenty meters away.\n\nLong Qian had always thought he was already a monster among children, but he didn't expect there to be an even more monstrous child—and it was a girl.\n\n'Who asked you to come save me?'\n\nLong Qian asked again, feeling it necessary to get to the bottom of this.\n\nThe Black Rice Ear girl ignored Long Qian. She quietly crouched down, took a small bottle from her waist, gently poured out a pill, opened Long Qian's mouth with her hand, and flicked the pill into his throat. Then she grabbed the collar at the back of Long Qian's neck and shook his already broken body as if shaking a bottle. After four or five shakes, she gently placed Long Qian back on the ground.\n\nAfter doing all this, the Black Rice Ear girl stood up and quietly looked at Long Qian, though it was unclear exactly what she was watching.\n\nLong Qian groaned in pain, realizing it seemed unlikely to get any information from this girl. Enduring the pain, he laboriously said, 'If you don't want to tell me, then forget it. But could you keep a secret for me? I don't want anyone else to know what I did today.'\n\nThe Black Rice Ear girl neither agreed nor refused. Facing such a mysterious girl who would not speak to save her life and showed nothing on her face, Long Qian felt quite frustrated. Enduring the pain, he held onto the last hope and asked one final question: 'In the future, will you hide in other places like today?'\n\nAs Long Qian wished, the Black Rice Ear girl finally spoke softly, then turned and disappeared into the old forest in an instant.\n\nHowever, those words from the Black Rice Ear girl gave Long Qian a feeling of being trapped in a harsh winter. The girl had said that she had given up the only chance to kill him! Naturally, she would not appear again.\n\nAfter being forcibly given that unknown pill by the girl, Long Qian's injuries slowly began to heal. The broken bones gradually mended, and as for the dislocated joints, they would have to be adjusted after complete recovery."After about an hour, Long Qian finally managed to struggle to stand up. He couldn't stay in this place for too long, and he also dared not return to Qitan Town by the same route he came, as who knew if he would run into Long Tao's accomplices along the way. After struggling to stand, Long Qian helplessly realized that it was still somewhat impossible for him to walk in a normal state. He could only enter the control state, controlling his legs to move deeper into the old forest, planning to take a detour to return to Qitan Town. Even after taking the pill provided by the girl, it would take at least more than ten hours to fully recover, which was already quite fast; under normal circumstances, recovery would likely require lying in bed for several months. Long Qian didn't dare to use his Xuan energy to heal his external injuries either, as his most severe injuries were actually internal. The Xuan energy in his body was only enough to heal the internal wounds, and full recovery would also require about ten hours. At this moment, Long Qian still felt some lingering fear. This was his first time facing a Xuan practitioner head-on, and it was an Insect Lord-level Xuan practitioner. His only chance to act at the best moment had been miscalculated. If it weren't for the Black Rice Ear girl using some strange method to restrain Long Tao's right arm, he would have become a lost soul. Long Qian didn't know whether the Black Rice Ear girl's last words were true or not, but that did not stop his gratitude toward her. No matter what, the reason he survived today was ultimately thanks to her help. The pleasure of surviving after a calamity gave Long Qian an indescribable feeling and strengthened his resolve to continue that inhuman form of cultivation, because he believed the Long family would never let things go so easily. He knew he would not have the same luck next time. In the dense old forest, Long Qian, covered in blood, moved his legs step by step like a puppet. His pace was very slow, even less than half that of an ordinary child walking, and at this rate, it would likely take until the next morning to return to Qitan Town. About an hour after Long Qian's figure disappeared into the depths of the forest, several masked men in black urgently entered the old forest following Long Tao's route. These people leaped through the thick trees like monkeys, extremely agile, and within just over two hours arrived at the place where Long Tao had last stopped. Then, almost simultaneously, they jumped down from the trees and landed directly in front of Long Tao's corpse, which lay on the ground like rotting mud. (Who exactly were they?)Please see the next chapter—new discoveries!)