Chapter 34

"Ah!"

Liu Qiaolian didn't expect Xia Daoming to take the initiative to propose revenge for her, and for a moment she opened her mouth and was stunned.

"I thank Master for his great kindness, I..."

After a good while, Liu Qiaolian suddenly turned off her horse, knelt on both knees, choked with sobs, and didn't know what words of gratitude to say.

"You silly woman, what are you doing? You are my Lian'er, your great feud, if I didn't have the ability, forget it, but now that I have the ability, how can I ignore it?" Xia Daoming hurriedly got off his horse, helped Liu Qiaolian up, and hugged her into his arms.

This day, the two couldn't reach the next market town or city before dark, so they had to spend the night in the wilderness.

That night, Liu Qiaolian took the initiative to ask Xia Daoming to play cards crazily.

It seemed that apart from this way, Liu Qiaolian didn't know how to repay this man's kindness and express her deep feelings for him.

Time passed quickly for another half a month.

In this half month, Xia Daoming obviously slowed down the speed of purchasing new elixirs, and his energy was mainly placed on searching for fierce medicines.

Because under normal circumstances, in another ten days or so, they would be able to reach the state capital of Mangzhou—the largest and most prosperous city in Mangzhou—Yuancang City.

It is rumored that there are several Martial Dao Grandmasters sitting in town there.

The herbs and elixirs sold there are definitely not comparable to other cities.

Xia Daoming wanted to save the silver and prepare to use it in Yuancang City.

This day, the two rode their horses and stood on a small hill, overlooking the winding road under the mountain, where groups of people were like winding long snakes, moving forward.

They were carrying large and small bags, helping each other forward, the crying of children, the shouting of adults, the neighing of horses, and the sound of cart wheels, one after another.

A scene of fleeing from disaster.

"Master, something is wrong. Logically speaking, the closer you get to the state capital, the denser the population should be, and the fewer refugees there should be."

"But in the past few days, a large amount of farmland in the places we passed has been abandoned, many houses have been left vacant, and the number of refugees we encountered along the way has also increased sharply."

"Today's situation is even more wrong, why are there so many people fleeing? Could it be that there is some war?" Liu Qiaolian frowned slightly.

"It is indeed a bit wrong, let's go down and inquire," Xia Daoming nodded and drove his horse down the hill.

After some inquiries, Xia Daoming stood on the side of the road, looking at the gradually receding refugee team, his brows locked, and his expression a bit ugly.

This refugee team came from the same place, Xin Clan Village outside Yuancang City.

The village head of Xin Clan Village told him that Emperor Liangjian of the Great Liang Kingdom wanted to cut down the vassal states, causing the rebellion of the kings.

Now, the great general Yan Yanfeng under the Lingzhou King is leading troops to surround Yuancang City and will launch an attack in a few days.

Outside the city, Yan Yanfeng's troops are grabbing strong men everywhere, burning, killing, and looting.

The village head of Xin Clan Village saw that the situation was not good and decisively moved the whole clan to the northwest.

That side is close to the Vast Mountains, the environment is harsh, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, and the materials are relatively barren. The Lingzhou King's army is unlikely to attack, and even if they attack, it won't be so fast.

"Master, what should we do now?" Liu Qiaolian asked.

"Let's go back!" Xia Daoming said helplessly.

Tens of thousands of troops rushing to kill, let alone him, even a Martial Dao Grandmaster would be swallowed up.

Not to mention, there must be powerful martial masters in the army, and the powerful soldiers and generals in the army are all tempered from the battlefield, completely different from the pampered young masters like Shi Yingdeng.

The return journey was much faster than when they came.

The news of the Lingzhou King's rebellion and the rebel army attacking the state capital had gradually spread.

Along the way, Xia Daoming and Liu Qiaolian obviously felt that the atmosphere of the cities along the way was different from when they came.

Hearts were panicked, as if an invisible evil spirit was shrouded over the city.

Bandits outside the city and gang forces inside the city took the opportunity to loot and make trouble.

The situation was even more chaotic.

Refugees and corpses could be seen everywhere in the suburbs.

Houses and fields were abandoned in large areas.

Along the way, Xia Daoming and Liu Qiaolian encountered more robbers than when they came.

This situation didn't start to improve until the two gradually moved away from the southeast region.

The south of Mangzhou has many mountains, and the closer to the direction of the main vein of the Vast Mountains, the more mountains there are, and the harsher the environment.

The mountain road is difficult to walk, and the news is blocked.

The news about the rebel army attacking the state capital has not spread so fast, and even if it spreads, judging from the war situation in past dynasties, the rebel army probably won't be in a hurry to occupy the remote cities close to the Vast Mountains.

On the return journey, Xia Daoming, who felt the urgency of the war, began to take fierce medicines.

The medicinal power of the three-hundred-year-old Fire-Scale Ginseng was indeed very fierce. When the medicinal power surged and collided in the meridians, even with Xia Daoming's powerful meridians, he felt a trace of tearing pain.

However, the effect was also extremely significant.

Before taking the medicine, his third-level meridian strengthening progress was at 38%.

After he finished taking the three-hundred-year-old Fire-Scale Ginseng, one small section every day for five days, he had reached 50% of the fourth-level meridians.

It is equivalent to a three-hundred-year-old Fire-Scale Ginseng helping him complete one level of meridian strengthening and more.

On the return journey, he took the remaining fierce medicines one by one.

The hundred-year-old Ice Purple Shouwu, the three-hundred-and-sixty-year-old Fire-Scale Ginseng, and the three-hundred-year-old Red Flame Ganoderma were all taken by Xia Daoming one after another.

Speaking of which, the later Fire-Scale Ginseng had a longer age and fiercer medicinal power, and the medicinal power of the three-hundred-year-old Red Flame Ganoderma was even fiercer than the later Fire-Scale Ginseng, but the requirements for meridian strengthening become higher the further you go.

When Xia Daoming saw Li Cheng from afar a month later, his sixth-rank meridian strengthening progress finally stopped at 90% of the sixth level.

After three and a half months of long-distance travel, except for not being able to reach the state capital, leaving some regrets, Xia Daoming was very satisfied with everything else.

Especially the huge change in strength, which made Xia Daoming most satisfied.

He now has the confidence to defeat a seventh-rank Great Wu Shi by one level.

Even an eighth-rank Great Wu Shi, if he has just broken through or is older, he has the confidence to fight.

The sun set, and the residual sun was like blood.

After three and a half months, Xia Daoming and Liu Qiaolian returned to Li Cheng.

Before entering the city gate, Xia Daoming and Liu Qiaolian found that the atmosphere in Li Cheng was a bit different.

There were few pedestrians on the official road outside the city, and even if there were, they were in a hurry.

From time to time, yamen runners would pull carts with corpses out of the city like pulling goods.

A considerable part of those corpses had wounds from fighting and killing.

After entering Li Cheng, Xia Daoming and Liu Qiaolian found that the atmosphere was even more wrong.

In the past, the Xu Clan and the three major forces sat in town in the city, which was much more stable and orderly than outside the city.

But this time when they came back, Xia Daoming found that the phenomenon of bottom-level gangs fighting for territory had obviously increased.

On the short way to the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan, he actually encountered three group fights.

However, the people participating in the fighting were basically ordinary people, and the most powerful were only second or third-rank martial masters.

Not long after, the two arrived outside the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan.

The vermilion martial hall gate was actually closed.

Xia Daoming looked back at the blood-like setting sun that had not yet fallen behind the mountain, and his expression sank slightly.

It was still far from the time to close the martial hall.

Xia Daoming took off his veiled hat, stepped forward, grabbed the copper ring, and knocked hard several times.

"Creak!"

After a long while, a young man in martial attire opened the door.

"So it's Instructor Xia!" Seeing it was Xia Daoming, the young man was obviously relieved.

"Little Wei, why did you close the hall so early today, where is Instructor Yuchi?" Xia Daoming asked.

"They are all in the inner courtyard, the Hall Master is gathering them to discuss matters," the young man replied.

Xia Daoming breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

As long as Master and the others are still there, it's fine.

As for what they were discussing, Xia Daoming couldn't think about it for the time being.

"Lian'er, you wait in the outer courtyard first, I'll go to the inner courtyard," Xia Daoming turned to Liu Qiaolian and explained.

"Yes, Master!" Liu Qiaolian bowed and took orders.

"Little Wei, this Miss Liu is my person, you help me entertain her first," Xia Daoming specifically explained to Little Wei before leaving.

"Yes, Instructor Xia." Little Wei hurriedly agreed, then led Liu Qiaolian toward the guest hall in the outer courtyard.

Liu Qiaolian entered the guest hall and took off her veiled hat, revealing her delicate and dripping face, which made Little Wei lose his mind for a while, secretly admiring how good Instructor Xia was at enjoying life.

The four maids, Xia He, were already water-spirited enough, but he didn't expect that there was such a delicate beauty beside him.

Inner courtyard, meeting hall.

Liang Jingtang sat in the upper seat, with Yuchi Xiao, Zhuo Xingji, Jiao Yongbao, and Liu Xiao Qiang sitting on the left and right sides.

The atmosphere in the hall was oppressive.

"Master, you are advanced in age, it's definitely not okay to go alone. If I follow, at least there will be someone to take care of you," Yuchi Xiao said.

"I am old, even if I escape this disaster, how many years can I live? Now that Gu Ren can no longer be counted on, this Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan depends on you. If you follow and something happens, the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan will be completely without successors!" Liang Jingtang said.

"Master is right, this Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan still has to rely on Senior Brother in the future. I'd better go with Master this time," Zhuo Xingji hesitated for a long time, gritted his teeth and said.

"No, your Zhuo family business is large, and many mouths still have to rely on you, and you just had a unicorn son the year before last. I am at this age, how can I bear to take you to take risks together!" Liang Jingtang waved his hand without hesitation.

"Let the disciple go!"

Just as Liang Jingtang's voice fell, Jiao Yongbao and Liu Xiao Qiang spoke at the same time.

"Your strength is not enough, it's too dangerous to go, and it will only distract me. Alright, you don't need to say anything more, I will go to the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan alone!" Liang Jingtang slapped the table and said unquestioningly.

Yuchi Xiao and the others looked worried and anxious, but they were at their wits' end.

"Where is Master going?" Just at this moment, a young voice sounded outside the meeting hall.

PS: Suddenly realized that the monthly tickets for the new month have started to recalculate the ranking. Although it hasn't entered V yet, I still beg for monthly ticket support to strive for a better ranking and attract more readers. In addition, with everyone's strong support, this book rushed to the third place in the Xianxia signing new book list in the first round of water testing. The two books in front were released half a month earlier than me, so the future first place is very hopeful, charge duck!