Chapter 193: Twin Sisters Captured After Seeking Employment, Secret Realm Appears Behind the Mountain!

Meng Yueqin and Meng Yuehua are a pair of twin sisters.

Many years ago, the Meng family was also a prestigious and influential clan in the Jianghu.

Mention the Meng family, and perhaps very few people would know of them.

But if one were to mention the Xingyuan Escort Agency, within the entire Huaiyang Prefecture, there is likely no one who does not know of it, no one who is unaware.

Huaiyang Prefecture is located in the southern border of Qi, bordering the East Sea, with countless ports; almost all goods entering or leaving by sea are landed or shipped from Huaiyang Prefecture.

As a result, this gave rise to many escort agency businesses that help people transport goods.

The Xingyuan Escort Agency was the leader among them.

But good times did not last; when the sisters were born, the Xingyuan Escort Agency was at its peak, but by the time the two reached adulthood, a sudden disaster occurred.

The two hundred and seventeen people of the Xingyuan Escort Agency were buried in a sea of fire overnight.

That fire burned for three whole days and three nights.

It reduced the Meng family compound to ashes.

And the sisters, because they were away visiting relatives, luckily escaped this calamity.

After investigation, it was found that it was the Chen family of the Changwei Escort Agency—a peer that had been firmly suppressed by the Xingyuan Escort Agency—who had secretly colluded with the Demon Sect to commit the act; before the sisters could even think of taking revenge, they were discovered by the Chen family, and they were immediately hunted down.

The sisters had no choice but to drift through the Jianghu.

They fled from place to place, hiding by day and traveling by night, and not long ago, they escaped to the neighboring prefecture, Yonghang Prefecture.

It just so happened that they saw a notice at the city gate.

It said that in the Xima Mountain, located in the area bordering the Chu Kingdom to the south of Yonghang, there was a Mountain Stronghold that was recruiting talent.

They especially welcomed martial artists like them to come and join.

Not to mention the generous monthly salary.

Most importantly, this Xima Mountain is situated at the border of two kingdoms and is also the junction of two prefectures, which can be called an excellent place to hide.

After the sisters discussed it, they decided to go and join to avoid being hunted by their enemies.

At the same time, they would secretly accumulate strength to avenge their family in the future.

Thus, after a series of sign-ups, inspections, and registrations, the two of them joined the team heading to Xima Mountain, and they set off just like that.

In the team, there were strong and sturdy disaster victims who had lost their homes.

There were also martial artists like them.

But most were people with inferior strength who could not make a living in this Jianghu, people with high ambitions but little talent who wanted to gamble on a future.

Of course.

Among them, there was no lack of people like them who were fleeing to avoid being hunted.

The group of over a hundred people, among whom martial artists accounted for one-fifth, about twenty people, were responsible for guarding the team as they advanced toward Xima Mountain.

But they did not expect it.

When they reached the vicinity of Xima Mountain, they had not yet found the orientation of that Ningyang Mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, they were suddenly plundered.

Although there were twenty or so heroic martial artists and seventy or eighty able-bodied disaster victims, they were completely unprepared and had never thought that complications would arise on this road.

Almost at the first encounter, they were captured by the other side.

Even several martial artists were seriously injured.

Then.

Their group was blindfolded by the plunderers and escorted up the mountain.

This was a Mountain Stronghold built in a dense forest that blocked out the sky and sun.

The vast majority of their group was escorted to a place rarely visited by humans, where the woods were deep and mountain miasma ran rampant, to excavate a Salt Well.

But a small number, such as martial artists with some strength like Meng Yueqin and Meng Yuehua, were broken up and filled into the ranks of the Mountain Stronghold's thugs, though they were also responsible for guarding the safety around the Salt Well.

During this time.

They had already found out clearly from the old men excavating the Salt Well.

The ones who plundered their team were the Fenglei Stronghold of Xima Mountain.

This Fenglei Stronghold is located in the middle of Xima Mountain, within the Fenglei Mountain Group; the Stronghold Master, Zhai Dali, has the Cultivation Points of the peak Inner Profound Realm, and it is heard that he is currently breaking through to the Sitting-in-Observation stage to become a Grandmaster.

Under the Fenglei Stronghold, there are three thousand thugs, among whom more than one thousand have some cultivation and can be called martial artists.

Besides that, the old men said, especially the new wife that the Stronghold Master Zhai Dali recently took, she is born with a beauty that puts the moon to shame and sinks fish and geese, but she also has a heart of a scorpion.

It is heard that this Salt Well was discovered by that new wife of his, and she instigated the Stronghold Master to mine it privately, hiding it from the government.

And plundering passing disaster victims, and even farmers from surrounding villages and towns, to come here to serve as miners, also came from the hand of that lady.

"Sister, we still have to find a way to escape. Although it is hidden here, it is after all a beheading offense. It is hard to guarantee that it won't be wiped out by the government in the future, and for you and me to be like this here all day, it is ultimately not a long-term plan..."

Meng Yuehua said in a very low voice while gnawing on a steamed bun, looking at her sister Meng Yueqin, her eyes glancing around from time to time.

Meng Yueqin nodded, looked at the surroundings, and seeing those dejected miners with dull and numb eyes, like walking corpses, drinking thin porridge, she sighed and nodded, saying: "We must get out."

Although they do not have to go down into the mine, the task they are responsible for is to supervise the miners.

If any miner is lazy or slack, or if the daily mining quantity does not reach the requirement, they are the primary persons in charge and must be held responsible.

Therefore, they have no choice but to impose punishments on those miners who are already in rags and skin and bones.

This makes them feel very unbearable in their hearts.

Moreover, the food here is extremely poor; even for supervisors like them, the daily supply is only two steamed buns and two bowls of thin porridge, not to mention those miners.

Compared to the mined salt, the miners are the least valuable.

The people of this Fenglei Stronghold send a batch of people up almost every three to five days.

She has inquired that the batch of people who came up the mountain these few days is the largest, with nearly three hundred people, and among them, there is even no lack of martial artists, all of whom were ordered to go down into the mine.

This group of people also came from Yonghang! She now even suspects that the notice in Yonghang was created by this Fenglei Stronghold to cover people's eyes.

In reality, there is no Ningyang Stronghold with generous monthly stipends.

It was all just a tall tale concocted for the sake of mining salt.

"Sister, do you have a way?"

Meng Yuehua asked immediately, her voice filled with joy.

The sisters had only recently come of age; though they were twins, one was frank and the other steady, their personalities completely different.

They were originally beauties, but the disaster of their family being destroyed and their clan wiped out, coupled with the fact that they hadn't eaten anything good for some time, had left them gaunt and sallow-faced.

Meng Yueqin threw the remaining half of a steamed bun into her younger sister Yuehua's porridge bowl.

She nodded immediately and said in a low voice, "If Ningyang Stronghold exists, our only way to be rescued right now is to find a way to let the people of Ningyang Stronghold know about our plight!"

"And if it doesn't exist?"

"Then... we can only fight for our lives!"

A flash of resentment crossed Meng Yueqin's eyes, and she then smiled bitterly: "Nearly five or six hundred people have come here one after another, all to join Ningyang Stronghold. So much time has passed, and it only takes a day or two by fast horse from Yonghang to here. Those Young Lady Jiang and Young Lady Jin who sent us here will surely send word to Ningyang Stronghold; the people of Ningyang Stronghold must have already heard the news."

"If Ningyang Stronghold exists, I estimate that within three to five days at most, they will know about us being abducted, and they will certainly negotiate with Fenglei Stronghold."

"If it doesn't exist... then we can only find a way to escape this deep mountain forest."

Having said this, Meng Yueqin sighed softly.

She then looked at her younger sister Meng Yuehua, pondered for a moment, and said solemnly, "Yuehua, let's prepare for the next few days. We'll suffer for a few days to conserve our strength, and try to save one steamed bun from every meal as dry rations. In five days, if there is still no news of Ningyang Stronghold, then we two will sneak away!"

Meng Yueqin looked at her younger sister Yuehua and said.

This was a last resort.

After all, in this deep mountain forest, they did not know the cardinal directions, nor the distance of the journey. Not to mention the surveillance of Fenglei Stronghold, even if they managed to escape, they would likely be stopped by wild beasts or the miasma in the mountain forest.

"... Alright!"

Several days passed in succession.

The dozens of acres of corn on Jigong Ridge were growing very well, and the tender corn was already ready to eat.

In another half month, the corn would be ready for harvest. Corn is a good thing; the stalks and cobs can be crushed to feed livestock, mules, and horses.

The silk can be used as medicine.

The plump corn kernels can also be used as a staple food.

It could be said that everything was put to good use.

Besides this, the potatoes were gradually ready to be dug up and eaten, though it would be better to wait a while longer for larger fruits.

The potatoes dug up now were all small ones; after being fried in oil and sprinkled with seasoning, they were delicious, one bite at a time.

During this period, Ningyang Stronghold was bustling with activity.

The land over at Leigong Ao had also been cleared and planted with late-maturing corn and other crops.

Two lookout towers were also built on the high points of Leigong Ao and Jigong Ridge.

Besides this.

The fifty Stranger Blades that the Gu Family helped forge were already finished and equipped to the fifty selected members of the Stranger Blade Team.

The Stranger Blade Team was placed under the Martial Hall, and the captain was concurrently held by Action Team captain Zhou Nanbiao, who was responsible for training.

Additionally, the Arhat Staff Technique taught by Liuli was also learned by most of the Martial Hall subordinates.

The current Ningyang Stronghold.

Although it had only been a little over two months since they went up the mountain.

Whether in terms of soft or hard power, or survival intensity, it had clearly improved by a grade, even far exceeding ordinary small mountain strongholds.

This day.

Ning Mu took the little fox Su Youyou and Liu Qingmei to inspect the back mountain.

This was a small path leading in from the edge of the Heavenly Pit in the backyard. The path had long been covered by thorns. According to Tong Yuyue, this place was desolate, the thorns were dense, and wild beasts often appeared and fell into the Heavenly Pit.

It was also adjacent to a cliff, with lush trees; the path was not only very difficult to walk, but also very difficult to clear.

The Tong Family had lived here for two generations and had never set foot in this place.

Ning Mu thought about coming to take a look to see if it could be opened up.

One reason was to guard against the invasion of wild beasts, and the second was to expand the backyard and build some houses.

Otherwise, if things continued like this, the stronghold would become somewhat overcrowded.

Both of them held wood-chopping knives in their hands.

When encountering some thorns, relying solely on internal energy to shatter them was useless; one still had to use these labor-saving and time-saving wood-chopping knives to hack at them.

Before long.

The two of them had completely cleared the small path.

Looking back.

A small path cleared almost along the edge of the cliff was very steep; a moment of carelessness could lead to a slip and a fall.

No wonder Tong Yuyue said that wild beasts often fell into the Heavenly Pit.

In this place, even an ordinary martial artist would likely find it difficult to stand.

The little fox Su Youyou was already trembling with fear, her little face pale.

Standing here, one could see most of the layout within the stronghold.

Ning Mu raised his eyebrows and continued to clear the path forward with Liu Qingmei.

Before long.

Ascending along the small path to a height of nearly ten zhang, the end of the road, although full of thorns, had many more trees.

Ning Mu's eyes couldn't help but light up.

This indicated that the lush, tree-covered area ahead was no longer a steep, rocky slope, but an open space.

The two discussed it for a moment, then immediately began to ravage the forest.

They busied themselves for an entire afternoon.

Finally.

The thorns were all shattered by the two using their internal energy and piled up on the ground.

Beyond that, there were still many trees, but what the two found strange was that at a position about four or five zhang forward from the small path, the trees gradually decreased.

Walking over, one could discover.

This place presented an irregular circular area where no trees grew, and there were not many weeds either.

"There is heat."

Liu Qingmei squatted on the ground, supporting herself with one hand to feel it carefully, then immediately raised her head to look at Ning Mu.

"It should be hot spring water!"

Liu Qingmei's eyes brightened, and she immediately stood up and stepped back a few paces, then swung her palm, condensing a tyrannical true Qi, and blasted it toward the ground.

Boom! Mud splashed everywhere, and loose stones flew about.

In an instant.

One could see a pool of clear, bright spring water gushing out from beneath the ground with a hiss.

Looking at the clear spring, the two looked at each other, their eyes filled with joy; having busied themselves all afternoon, they were already thirsty, so Liu Qingmei immediately stepped forward, cupped a handful of water, and began to drink.

It was clear, sweet, and delicious, and full of heat.

Ning Mu, meanwhile, turned his head to look back.

Standing here, the drill ground at the foot of the mountain could no longer be seen at all, but one could overlook the path up the mountain and the mountain ridge opposite the Yixiantian.

Looking further inward, there was an extremely steep cliff face.

In the direction closer to the cliff, the vegetation grew more and more lush, almost blocking out the sky and sun.

A thought could not help but sprout in Ning Mu's heart.

Building a hot spring pool here might be a good idea.

If this hot spring water was sufficient, it could not only be supplied to the stronghold at the foot of the mountain for drinking, but also used to build a hot spring pool to enjoy the cool and relax here; wouldn't that be wonderful? Thinking of this.

Ning Mu immediately told Liu Qingmei his idea.

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingmei nodded in total agreement, then her little face couldn't help but flush slightly, and she looked at Ning Mu with shimmering eyes, teasing him: "Husband, if the hot spring pool is finished and you bring the sisters, maids, and bondservants here, wouldn't that be a beautiful sight, making Husband's days even more comfortable?"

"With the sisters lined up by the pool, waiting with their bottoms raised, hmm~ Husband probably wouldn't even be able to tell who is who~"

Liu Qingmei's eyes were charming and shimmering, her expression filled with deep joy.

Hiss...

Ning Mu didn't think much of it at first.

But when Liu Qingmei said that last sentence, that scene couldn't help but emerge in his mind.

One might ask.

When Liu Qingmei, Tong Yuyue, Liuli Shitai, Wei Youqing, as well as Yang Yanqiu, Ning Xiaoxiu, Zhu Yaluan, and Liu Xiaoya, Chunzhi, Xia Chan, and even Wan Wu'er and the others—this group of stunning beauties—wore cool swimwear and played and frolicked by the finished pool.

Just this scene alone was already extremely refreshing to the heart.

If they were to do as Liu Qingmei said, showing off their proud figures, standing by the pool, bending over and bowing their heads, waiting for his favor.

This scene, these days...

Even if someone offered him an emperor's throne, he wouldn't want to trade! "Damn it, Master, you bewitching temptress, I'll take you first..."

Ning Mu immediately stopped suppressing the desire in his heart.

He immediately lunged forward.

He pulled Liu Qingmei into his arms.

"Hmm~ Youyou, go keep watch!"

Liu Qingmei let out a sudden cry of surprise, first ordering the little fox Su Youyou.

Then she struggled out of Ning Mu's embrace, feigning weakness and pity, and retreated with a look of resistance and rejection, while saying softly: "Hmm~ you flower-plucking thief, what do you want to do? Stop trying to defile this girl; this girl would rather die than submit..."

(End of chapter)