Chapter 169: Hu Xiaocao makes a move, the might of cultivation!

Yang Wen and the others kept a certain distance, their movements very concealed; even an adult might not necessarily notice their tracking.

Hu Xiaocao walked along the road, lost in thought; just as Fan Ming had been lecturing earlier, she felt that the purple qi within her seemed to have undergone a subtle change, entering an extremely mysterious state, but she could not describe the specifics.

"Perhaps when I return to Longyuan Village for the next break, I can ask Mountain God Grandfather to see what exactly is going on."

Hu Xiaocao was so lost in thought that she did not notice a few small tails following her behind, nor the impending danger.

As Hu Xiaocao arrived at an artificial lake beside Nanchuan University, there was a small bridge and an old pavilion; the scenery was not bad, but at this moment most people had gone to eat, so there were hardly anyone here.

Hu Xiaocao had originally intended to take a shortcut back; this road led closer to the South Gate, but she never expected it to give Yang Wen and the others an opportunity to strike.

"Little one, wait a moment."

A sudden unfamiliar male voice pulled Hu Xiaocao's thoughts back to reality.

Hu Xiaocao sized up the several men before her, her expression somewhat wary.

Yang Wen was also looking at her; in person he had more spiritual aura than in the photo, not at all like someone who came from a mountain village, with that fair complexion that even city dwellers could not cultivate.

Hu Xiaocao's senses were sharp; seeing the several people before her who clearly bore ill will, her clear black-and-white eyes showed no fear, instead she calmly asked, "What do you want?"

The thin man blinked, seeing that Hu Xiaocao had discerned his purpose, he dropped the pretense at once and gave a sinister smile: "We don't want anything; we just have a matter we'd like you to take care of."

Hu Xiaocao's thoughts turned; her social circle was tiny, she knew only a few people, let alone having offended anyone—who would go to such trouble to seize her?

Besides Longyuan Mountain, what else could attract these people's attention?

Hu Xiaocao quickly realized, "You're after Longyuan Mountain."

"Your mind works pretty fast."

As his words fell, the thin man reached out to grab her, but Hu Xiaocao nimbly dodged.

Seeing this, the sunglasses man chuckled, "Old Li, you're useless—you can't even catch a kid."

The thin man rolled his eyes, ignored him, and lunged at Hu Xiaocao again, only to miss yet again; Hu Xiaocao seemed able to anticipate his moves in advance.

Seeing this, Yang Wen's patience gradually ran out: "Let's all rush together! Otherwise, if more people show up later, it'll be awkward to act."

Several people came from all sides, surrounding Hu Xiaocao completely; even though she was agile, there was nowhere to hide.

The more critical the moment, the calmer Hu Xiaocao became.

"What should I do?"

She wanted to shout for help, but knew it would be useless—there were few people nearby; as for fleeing, she probably didn't have time.

Suddenly, recalling the ancient poem from class earlier, images of the contents recorded in many ancient books she had read surfaced in her mind, and the purple qi within her surged up unbidden once again.

This had not happened before, but after today's lecture it caused a change.

Her body was moved by a mysterious force; following her inner instinct, Hu Xiaocao placed her hands before her chest, left hand outside, right hand inside, palms facing inward, left thumb pinching the right hand's "zi" mark, right thumb pinching the right hand's "wu" mark.

Her clear pupils seemed veiled by a thin mist, giving an unfathomable feeling.

Watching Hu Xiaocao's strange, antiquated movements, Yang Wen looked puzzled, thinking the little girl was acting all mystical and weird.

"Whoosh—"

Suddenly a strong wind blew up, lifting Hu Xiaocao's hair and making the trees rustle; the air filled with a killing chill.

Yang Wen and the others felt their hearts tighten, goosebumps rising on their skin; they weren't sure if it was an illusion, but they sensed that the formerly harmless little girl now carried a hint of danger.

Yet Hu Xiaocao's stature barely reached their chests, slender arms and legs—what threat could she pose?

The sunglasses man, closest to Hu Xiaocao, lunged forward a step like an eagle snatching a chick, his fan‑sized palm brimming with power as he reached for her.

At the critical moment, a voice echoed from the void, seeming to be a passage from an ancient book she had once read.

Hu Xiaocao also instinctively blurted it out.

"Lin bing dou zhe! All ranks, advance!"

Faintly, the sound of metal weapons rang in the air, as if sharp blades were attacking, even the air seemed split in two.

Her small body concealed immense power, which burst forth suddenly; an invisible current surged, shaking the sunglasses man so he staggered and fell to the ground.

He stared up in disbelief—just moments ago Hu Xiaocao had done nothing, yet he had fallen for no reason.

Not only the sunglasses man, but Hu Xiaocao herself was astonished, looking at her own hands as if she had not expected to unleash such great power.

It was because of that purple qi and Mountain God Grandfather!

Yang Wen furrowed his brows, "What's going on with you?"

The sunglasses man pointed at Hu Xiaocao, "Boss, this girl is a bit strange; we need to be careful."

The thin man was unconvinced, "I think you just weren't watching where you stepped—just a little girl, how much ability could she have? Even if we all rush her, we're still afraid we can't subdue her?"

Having said that, the thin man rolled up his sleeves and charged at Hu Xiaocao, with Yang Wen and the sunglasses man close behind.

Recalling the feeling just now, Hu Xiaocao instinctively thrust out a palm!

Yang Wen and the others didn't even touch her clothes; they only felt a strong wind rushing toward them, as if an invisible giant wave rose in the air, enveloping them, countless gusts swirling within and striking them blow after blow.

Their faces turned pale, they faintly heard their bones creaking; the pain was beyond words.

Faced with this girl like an angel, they no longer held their earlier contempt, only endless regret and lingering fear.

"You—"

Yang Wen opened his mouth, only to feel blood surging in his throat, unable to utter a complete sentence; his eyes widened wildly, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

At the same time, not far away, a person was slowly approaching.

This scene happened to be seen by Qi Xueqing, who had come looking for them.

Since Yang Wen had his back turned, he could not see the painful, panicked expressions on the others' faces, but from their movements it seemed they were about to act against Hu Xiaocao.

Qi Xueqing's expression changed abruptly; he shouted loudly, "What are you doing!"

He hurried forward, seeing only Hu Xiaocao's hand slightly raised, not even touching those people, still two or three meters away; yet they somehow collapsed for no apparent reason!

"Are you alright?"

Hu Xiaocao shook her head, merely staring blankly at her own hands, never expecting that unconscious counterattack to unleash such tremendous power.

What on earth is going on?

"Perhaps only Mountain God Grandfather knows what my situation really is right now..."

Qi Xueqing looked at the several people collapsed on the ground, suspecting they were deliberately faking an accident; how could they fall as soon as he spoke?

"Xiaocao, what kind of people are they?"

Hu Xiaocao shook their head, feigning innocence as they said: "I'm not sure either; they said they wanted to take me away—could they be traffickers?"

Qi Xueqing couldn't help but widen his eyes: "In broad daylight, right on campus they dare to act—these traffickers are too arrogant!"

He quickly dialed the police.

"Beep—beep—"

Half an hour later, a white-and-blue police car drove into the campus, attracting much attention,

"What's going on? Why are the police here? What happened?"

"I don't know, let's go over and see."

"It seems there are traffickers in the study area."

"What?! Traffickers so brazen, openly abducting college students!"

"Not college students, seems like a little girl; I'm not exactly sure what's going on."

People love to join the excitement; an artificial lake's side was already surrounded by a crowd of people, the perimeter completely sealed off with yellow warning tape, with police guarding order nearby.

Many students were standing nearby, pointing and commenting.

Such a big incident occurred, and the school leadership was alarmed.

Upon receiving the police's news, they practically broke out in a cold sweat behind their backs—how could traffickers have infiltrated the school? Fortunately nothing major happened; if something had occurred, the school would surely be unable to shirk responsibility.

The police didn't blame them much, merely urging the school leadership to strengthen security.

After all, we were lucky this time and avoided an accident; next time who knows.

As the involved party, Hu Xiaocao also had to go to the police station to give a statement, and as an eyewitness, Qi Xueqing inevitably had to make a trip as well.

The officer in charge of taking Hu Xiaocao's statement was a young policewoman with a gentle appearance; originally a guardian was supposed to be present for Hu Xiaocao.

But Hu Xiaocao's mother is in a vegetative state, still lying in the hospital; her family lives too far away, and she boards at school, so in the end they could only notify a teacher to come and take her back.

Upon learning Hu Xiaocao's family situation, the policewoman couldn't help but show a sympathetic expression, even giving her a lollipop and softly comforting:

"Little one, don't be afraid; tell everything you know."

Although Hu Xiaocao was naturally composed, she deliberately hid a few points, obediently nodding as she recounted the whole course of events, except she concealed the truth of her own action; even if she spoke, the police probably wouldn't believe it.

Of course, the clever little Hu Xiaocao couldn't possibly say that.

"Was anyone else present at the time?"

Hu Xiaocao shook her head: "No one else—afterwards the big brother rushed over, and they suddenly fainted."

The policewoman's expression was a bit odd; she opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, hesitated a moment, and ultimately didn't speak so as not to leave Hu Xiaocao with psychological trauma.

After all, she's just a little kid—how could she possibly have such ability to deal with those people?

The policewoman patted Hu Xiaocao's head: "Everything's fine now; you and your teacher can go back. If anything else comes up, you might need to come again."

Hu Xiaocao nodded and waved at the policewoman: "Thank you, sis, and the candy you gave is really sweet."

Seeing Hu Xiaocao so sensible and well-behaved, the policewoman only felt her heart warm.

As for Qi Xueqing, there was no problem either; he truthfully recounted everything he saw, which was much the same as Hu Xiaocao's account.

"When I approached, those several people were about to harm the little girl, but then they suddenly fainted; I don't know what happened either, officer—you must interrogate them strictly, they're too arrogant, daring to abduct people in the university."

Upon hearing this, the interrogating officer's face looked a bit strange: "I'm afraid we can't interrogate them strictly."

Apparently noticing Qi Xueqing's confusion, the police explained: "Because they're already dead."

They had originally planned to send them to the hospital for rescue, but they lost vital signs on the way.

Qi Xueqing couldn't believe it: "What? Dead!"

At the time he saw those people lying on the ground, he didn't examine them closely,

The police officer nodded: "So when you went over then, did you see anyone else present or taking action?"

The police also didn't believe Hu Xiaocao could have beaten several strong men into serious injury or even death, which is why they raised such a question.

Qi Xueqing thought carefully and confirmed there was no third person; Hu Xiaocao's hands didn't even touch them, after all they were two or three meters away.

Even if we concede that, even if they had made contact,

With such a petite frame, how could Hu Xiaocao possibly knock out several burly men in one go? Who would believe that?

After finishing the statement, Qi Xueqing also left the police station; he had originally wanted to find Hu Xiaocao, but was told she had already left with her teacher.

On the way back, Qi Xueqing kept thinking about this matter, as if he had realized something, and he froze in place.

Qi Xueqing realized he had overlooked a point; when he arrived, those people just happened to collapse, and although Hu Xiaocao hadn't touched them, her expression was extremely calm.

It seemed she wasn't afraid at all?

If it were an ordinary child, no matter how precocious and clever, encountering such a thing would have made them burst into tears long ago—how could they stay so calm?

She seemed certain those people couldn't threaten her, unless Hu Xiaocao had confidence…

Qi Xueqing showed an incredulous expression, yet he also felt it unlikely that Hu Xiaocao had done it.

Because he personally saw that, when those people made their move, Hu Xiaocao didn't touch them.

Striking from a distance?

This surely can't be magic, can it?

The police on their side didn't suspect Hu Xiaocao and Qi Xueqing of colluding in their statements, because doing so would be meaningless for them; even if the two of them acted together, they wouldn't be a match for those burly men.

Fortunately, there was a nearby camera that happened to capture footage of Hu Xiaocao and Yang Wen et al.

The on-site surveillance was quickly retrieved,

In the footage, Yang Wen and the others tried to grab Hu Xiaocao, but she nimbly dodged them all; afterward they seemed to want to strike, yet for some reason they suddenly collapsed on the ground, after which came the scene of Qi Xueqing rushing over.

From beginning to end, neither Hu Xiaocao nor Qi Xueqing ever touched those people's bodies, and no other person appeared.

Police repeatedly reviewed the surveillance footage.

"It's really strange—how did these people just collapse for no reason? Could they have some physical ailment?"

"Did that little girl say something? Then they all fell down?"

But judging from their previous skills, their bodily functions were completely normal, with no issues.

What happened was truly sudden, with no warning, as if some mysterious force had suddenly knocked them down.

The police were puzzled, yet no one suspected Hu Xiaocao.

Not to mention their height and build differences; even if Hu Xiaocao wanted to fight back, with her strength she couldn't possibly kill several people in one strike, let alone she hadn't even touched them.

Whether it was a sudden illness or something else, we'll have to wait for the autopsy results.

Autopsy Room.

Forensic doctor Li Mingzhang, wearing a white coat, held a precision instrument aimed at Yang Wen's corpse: "The deceased's body surface shows no obvious injuries; preliminarily ruling out external force."

Li Mingzhang furrowed his brow, lifted Yang Wen's arm for close inspection, his eyes narrowed, expression somewhat puzzled: "The blood vessels here seem off."

Normally, after death, a person's blood vessels turn bluish, but these people's vessels were conspicuously red, even raised.

He took out a knife and dissected each corpse one after another, then revealed an expression of utter shock.

"How could this be!"

Even the assistant beside him opened his mouth wide in disbelief.

Since the Longyuan Mountain incident was resolved, over these years Li Mingzhang has not encountered such a strange corpse.

After all, those who died earlier on Longyuan Mountain had their bodies examined by him.

Their blood vessels were all in a ruptured state, as if struck by a powerful external blow, like being strongly compressed, yet no wounds were found on their skin, not even a bruise.

The ruptured blood vessels thus appeared highly suspicious.

Li Mingzhang repeatedly checked but could not find what caused these blood vessels to burst.

"Logically, to cause this degree of damage, there should be marks on the body surface, yet these corpses have no traces at all."

Li Mingzhang and his assistant were baffled; finally he sent this report to the police handling the case.

Upon seeing the report, the police's doubts did not lessen but grew even more.

Li Mingzhang said uncertainly: "According to the examination, the deceased had no external injuries, all blood vessels burst; death may be due to sudden illness or palpitations."

At the same time, the identities of these individuals were also investigated.

Originally thought to be ordinary human traffickers, as the police investigated they quickly found something odd: these people's names and information were all fake, and their true identities were not simple.

"Notify Officer Sun quickly!"

At that moment, Sun Zhenbang was out on a mission, so he missed Hu Xiaocao and the others; upon receiving the message from bureau colleagues, he hurried back.

"What happened?"

Another officer nodded: "Officer Sun, this is this morning's case, occurring at Nanchuan University; they said someone was abducting a little girl. We initially thought it was traffickers, but discovered they are linked to the overseas artifact trafficking group we previously investigated."

Sun Zhenbang's gaze immediately turned stern; from the moment the first wave of tomb robbers appeared, he began investigating the overseas cultural relics trafficking syndicate.

However, the syndicate's headquarters is overseas, its boss extremely cunning, and with its vast power and deep-rooted development, the investigation has met many difficulties.

As later waves of people arrived, they followed the clues step by step, uncovering many useful leads, but hit a bottleneck; the mastermind seemed to have sensed it, went into hiding, and has remained inactive.

Now, having finally encountered their people again, Sun Zhenbang felt energized: "Any results from the interrogation?"

The police shook his head: "They're already dead."

"Dead?"

Sun Zhenbang raised his voice: "Did you accidentally beat them to death during the arrest?"

Several officers looked odd, quickly shaking their heads: "No, this is a long story; in short, their cause of death is very strange."

Hearing the words "strange cause of death," Sun Zhenbang reflexively thought of the cases related to Longyuan Mountain.

But this happened at Nanchuan University, which seems unrelated to Longyuan Mountain.

Sun Zhenbang looked at the case materials in his hand, brows tightly furrowed: "Since they're connected to the overseas cultural relics group, why abduct a little girl? Did they switch from trafficking relics to trafficking people?"

"We also find this puzzling; we don't know their motive."

"Is that little girl alright?"

Sun Zhenbang lifted the teacup beside him and asked casually.

"The girl named Hu Xiaocao was lucky; when we arrived, these people had already collapsed—"

"Pfft!"

The tea in Sun Zhenbang's mouth almost sprayed out; realizing his lapse, he quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe the spill and coughed a few times.

"What did you just say the little girl's name was?"

The police didn't understand why Sun Zhenbang reacted so strongly, and repeated: "Her name is Hu Xiaocao, Officer Sun, what's wrong with you, why such a big reaction?"

Sun Zhenbang thought to himself: "Could it be just a namesake? Hu Xiaocao shouldn't be appearing at a university, after all."

However, after asking about age, he found it matched as well.

Earlier, the village head had mentioned that Hu Xiaocao boards at school and only returns home during holidays, so Sun Zhenbang rarely sees her.

Seeing Sun Zhenbang seemed very interested, the officer thought of something: "By the way, there's still surveillance at the crime scene; Officer Sun, want to take a look?"

Although it's been a while since he last saw Hu Xiaocao, her facial features and distinctive aura let Sun Zhenbang confirm it was indeed her without doubt.

Thus, perhaps it can explain why these people sought out Hu Xiaocao.

They must have come for Longyuan Mountain!

Sun Zhenbang thought more and more that this possibility was high.

After all, the previous waves had all perished in the mountain; the mastermind is no fool, realizing the danger of Longyuan Mountain, decided to start with Hu Xiaocao to extract its secrets.

Indeed, Sun Zhenbang is quick-witted; he soon inferred the whole cause and effect.

"I know why they came!"

After hearing his analysis, the two matters were indeed related; many police officers showed expressions of admiration and couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

「Officer Sun, as expected of you, you could even guess that. 」

「However, there is still one point, concerning their cause of death——」

Sun Zhenbang watched the footage; although Hu Xiaocao hadn't touched these people, he had a feeling that it was definitely Hu Xiaocao's handiwork.

In other words, she might be like himself and the villagers, a disguised human……a supernatural being!

And the reason for all this is naturally that he received the blessing of the Mountain God!

But regarding the secret of "supernatural being," Sun Zhenbang has never spoken of it outwardly, and with the villagers there is also a tacit understanding—chosen to comprehend without words.

After all, Hu Xiaocao also absorbed the purple qi back then; moreover, according to what the village chief said, Hu Xiaocao is very perceptive, and her relationship with the Mountain God is close, so her abilities are no weaker than his—if anything, stronger.

(End of chapter)