The scene shifts to an underground hall where many people had covered their faces. Suddenly, an announcer steps forward and says loudly:
"Welcome, all honored guests. And to those who couldn't make it tonight... well, it's truly unfortunate, because today's deal is something you'll never forget. Now then—let's begin tonight's slave auction!"
A spotlight falls on a tall, elegant figure—an Elven girl.
"This here," the announcer continues, "is a High Elf, blessed with immense magical abilities!"
The bidding starts at 1000 gold coins, and in no time, people start bidding rapidly, shouting over one another.
Just then, the scene shifts again.
At the main gate, we see Xiao Yi entering, her face carefully hidden beneath a cloak. A guard at the gate steps forward and says,
"Excuse me, miss. May I see your invitation?"
Xiao Yi calmly replies,
"Invitation? I don't have one."
The guard frowns. "I'm sorry, miss, but in that case, you may not enter. Please cooperate—"
Before he can finish, Xiao Yi casually tosses a heavy bag of gold straight at his face. The bag hits him hard, and gold spills everywhere. Shocked, the surrounding guards look at her.
Xiao Yi gives a cheerful smile and says,
"Why the rush? I'll join you all soon enough."
Then, using a shadow walk technique, she disappears briefly and reappears in midair—kicking a guard aside—and lands right beside the announcer.
Seeing her sudden entrance, the announcer stumbles back in fear and bolts from the scene. Instantly, the hall is thrown into chaos as all the guards in the auction rush to surround Xiao Yi and attack.
She looks at them calmly and says,
"What a weak attempt. Come on—I know you can do better than this."
Dodging all their attacks gracefully, she mocks them,
"Is this it? You're facing me, after all!"
Among the crowd, a mysterious boy wearing a crimson mask watches her intently. After a moment, he smiles and says,
"Need a little help?"
Suddenly, a powerful arrow flies toward Xiao Yi. She narrowly dodges it, but the force reminds her of something. Her eyes widen.
"This technique… this power…"
Her mind flashes back to a past memory—a time when she was training Nikolash on how to fire arrows. Lost in the memory for a moment, she whispers:
"Could it be...?"
She then gives a slightly irritated smile and says,
"Playtime's over."
With that, she pulls out a long metallic chain—but this time, it's much longer than before. She swings it with immense strength, grabbing and pulling all the guards toward her at once.
Then, in an instant, the chain transforms into a scythe, and with one sweeping motion, she cuts down all the guards.
With no pause, she activates both of her techniques at once, rushing toward the masked person. Her scythe slashes down—but the person dodges at the last second and disappears using instant teleportation.
Watching him vanish, Xiao Yi clenches her fists and mutters with quiet resolve:
"Next time we meet… you won't escape."