Chapter 144: Throwing a Mule with One Hand

The onlookers, seeing this, all stepped back a few paces as if avoiding a snake or scorpion; no one went to check the blue-robed man's injuries, let alone extend a helping hand.

Just then, a thin, small figure darted out from the crowd gathered on the bank, trotted a few steps, and came before the man in blue robes.

The blue-robed man's face was deathly pale; he lay prone on the stone pier, his back wounds combined with the immense exhaustion from repeatedly using lightness skills leaving him utterly drained and powerless to tend to his injuries.

If this trend continued, the man would likely die from excessive blood loss.

The small figure squatted down, while the blue-robed man struggled to lift his eyelids and look at the other.

He saw a girl of about six or seven years old, dressed in a pink gown, with two horn-shaped buns on her head; her face was rosy, her lips red and teeth white, making her appear exceedingly pitiable and lovable.

The blue-robed man, Jin Zhengjie, opened his mouth slightly, wanting to speak, but truly could not make a sound.

Just then, the little girl, appearing quick-eyed and fast-handed, suddenly reached out the moment Jin Zhengjie opened his mouth and directly stuffed something into it.

Then, without saying a word, the other party quickly ran back in the direction from which she had come.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

A sound of horse hooves came from behind the crowd; someone turned to look and saw an old man leading a mule walking slowly toward the riverbank.

Every time the old man passed, the surrounding crowd felt themselves pushed by an invisible force, unconsciously making way to create a clear path for one person and one horse.

"Grandpa."

The girl in pink clothes ran up to the old man's front and called out in a crisp, clear voice.

The hemp-clothed old man, with deep furrows on his forehead and a mouth drooping like a broken eaves, looked at the little girl with full affection, reached out a rough, aged palm to pat the other's head, and grinned, saying:

"Don't run around recklessly."

Speaking thus, he slightly raised his head and looked toward the stone pier on the riverbank.

Jin Zhengjie, who had originally been lying powerlessly on the stone surface unable to move, was now actually sitting up, closing his eyes and sitting cross-legged to circulate his energy to stop the bleeding and heal his wounds.

Seeing this scene, the onlookers immediately kept glancing at the old man and the little girl, guessing that what the girl had stuffed into Jin Zhengjie's mouth must have been some kind of healing pill.

At the same time, Hu Rui's gaze fell upon the hemp-clothed old man, and he slowly nodded:

"Indeed, he is a master."

Li Musheng touched his chin and said:

"That old man is indeed quite good at pretending!"

The Thousand-Household Officer Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, standing nearby, frowned slightly, looked toward the opposite riverbank, and said:

"Although we have all passed thirty years of age, we have not yet married; those people on the opposite side will probably not let us cross the river."

Hearing this, Hu Rui withdrew his gaze from the hemp-clothed old man, glanced across the river, seemed not to care at all, and simply said:

"I observe that the bridge over the Julu River ahead shows signs of human damage, and those people on the opposite side have made such strange demands; I suspect there must be some other underlying matter here."

Speaking thus, he glanced at Wu Shang and the other two and said:

"Wait a moment, you two just follow behind me to cross the river; the other party naturally cannot harm you. As for how to act after crossing... we will discuss that later."

Clearly, Hu Rui still adhered to the principle that it is better to avoid trouble than to invite it.

Moreover, since they were currently within the territory of the Zhanlu Mountain Villa, he seemed unwilling to create any more trouble.

Just then, a cry of pain came from the stone pier on the bank.

After gritting his teeth and pulling out the arrow from his back, Jin Zhengjie took out a bottle of golden wound medicine from his bosom and, enduring the pain, applied medicine to the wound on his back.

Seeing this, several martial artists who had originally wanted to cross the river just like Jin Zhengjie now looked fearfully at the group on the opposite bank and no longer dared to attempt crossing.

However, the crowd suddenly saw that the hemp-clothed old man had taken hold of the mule carrying a bundle and was slowly walking toward the stone pier.

Arriving before the stone pier, the old man bent down, picked up the girl in pink clothes, and placed her on the mule's back, saying aloud:

"Sit properly."

The girl in pink clothes nodded very obediently and gently, holding the mule's neck with both hands.

The surrounding people, seeing this scene, completely failed to understand what the other party meant.

However, in the next moment, the crowd suddenly opened their eyes wide one by one.

Without the hemp-clothed old man appearing to make any move, the surrounding people were shocked to see that the other party had casually lifted the mule beside him, estimated to weigh over six hundred catties, with one hand to shoulder height.

The mule, covered in dust, obviously sensed something, yet its legs seemed to be trembling.

The girl in pink clothes on the mule's back merely blinked her dark eyes, appearing very calm about it.

Then, before the crowd could recover from their astonishment, they saw that the mule, which had just been lifted, suddenly flew out in the next moment.

The mule's entire massive body flew through the air toward the opposite riverbank, momentarily attracting everyone's gaze.

The crowd watched with their own eyes as the mule leaped across the hundred-zhang-wide river surface and then fell toward the opposite bank, each person displaying an expression of disbelief.

At this time, someone discovered that the hemp-clothed old man, momentarily ignored, had disappeared at some unknown time, and furthermore, arrived at the opposite bank a step before the mule, calmly and effortlessly catching the mule falling from mid-air and steadily placing it back on the ground.

Having witnessed this scene with their own eyes from start to finish, the people on this side of the riverbank were left dumbfounded, while the black-clothed man on the opposite bank who had attacked Jin Zhengjie had not made a move from beginning to end.

Whether it was because the hemp-clothed old man, the little girl, and the mule were not within the scope of the other party's restrictions, or whether they were awed by the hemp-clothed old man's skill of crossing the river by throwing a mule with one hand and dared not act, the people on this side could not know.

"Good, good, good!"

Li Musheng lightly clapped his hands and suddenly spoke.

Hu Rui, Wu Shang, and others looked over, thinking only that Li Musheng was awed by the hemp-clothed old man's techniques.

In reality, Li Musheng was praising that the old man's skill at showing off was truly remarkable.

At this moment, Hu Rui looked at Li Musheng, suddenly narrowed his eyes, and said:

"Young Master need not envy; actually, I also know this kind of technique."

Having spoken, Hu Rui raised his hand and struck the ground beneath him without warning, and in the next moment, the carriage beneath him suddenly soared into the air.

Cao Gaoshan, sitting at the front of the carriage, was slightly stunned, obviously not yet having reacted, when he felt an invisible true energy envelop his entire body.

Then, the carriage, which he had been driving, flew through the air toward the opposite bank; in just a few breaths, it crossed the hundred-zhang Julu River and landed steadily on the ground on the opposite side.

All of this happened too fast; the martial artists gathered on the bank were still recovering from the shock of the hemp-clothed old man throwing the mule across the river.

Yet suddenly, they were shocked to discover that a carriage had again flown through the air across the hundred-zhang river surface.

By the time they barely reacted, that carriage had already long reached the opposite shore.

(End of this chapter)