Chapter 672: Wuxia: Even Rivals Can Become Lovers 06

Near the outskirts of Yunshu Town, the distance between the two groups had narrowed considerably; Fu Zhiyuan and the other person always stayed ahead, but they had finally stopped making things difficult for Mu Huaizhi.

At this moment the sky grew slightly dark, as if heralding a storm; fierce winds rose, sweeping up fallen leaves across the ground.

Amid the howling wind, Mu Huaizhi faintly heard a baby's cry.

He tilted his head to make sure he wasn't mistaken; just as he was about to warn Jin Chen, the person behind him already urged the horse toward that direction.

"Whoa—"

Jin Chen reined in his horse, gazing into the opposite woods, "I hear clashing blades—probably bandits blocking the road."

Sang Ning, who possessed no martial ability, hurried to stay close to them.

The two ahead also noticed, stopping to examine carefully.

At that moment, two men shoved forward a woman clutching a child; one of them was gravely wounded, already on the brink of death.

Mu Huaizhi hastily dismounted to help them.

"What's going on?"

"Sir Hero! Sir Hero… please save my wife!"

The speaking man had three sword wounds in his body, still panicking as he looked behind, seemingly afraid someone would catch up.

He could barely speak, spitting blood as he talked, yet still wanted one last glance at his baby in swaddling clothes.

"Yun'er, take care of yourself… take care of our child…"

"Oh dear, don't worry about all that—just don't speak."

The mournful atmosphere was broken; Sang Ning hoisted the person up in one go, sweat pouring from his head as he resumed rescue efforts.

The woman named Yun'er, seeing her husband saved, hurriedly stopped her tears and kept kowtowing.

"Thank you, Sir Hero!"

"Don't kneel! You'll shorten your life!" Sang Ning shouted, "Mu Brother! Quickly help her up!"

The scene fell into chaos, but Mu Huaizhi timely helped the woman to her feet.

Jin Chen asked the middle-aged man with lighter injuries, "Who wounded you?"

"We… we're from this town; lately there have been so many strange occurrences! We wanted to go elsewhere to rely on relatives, but who would have thought that as soon as we entered the woods we were intercepted and forced to leave our child behind!"

The middle-aged man pointed backward, "They're still in the woods! Many more people are there, all tied up by them, including children!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Huaizhi immediately wanted to rush in, but Jin Chen grabbed him.

"What are you doing running around wounded?"

Meanwhile, Fang Xun had already charged in, with Fu Zhiyuan closely following.

"Save the people." Mu Huaizhi's voice was firm.

"Save, I never said I wouldn't save."

Jin Chen let out a sigh, thinking to himself that they hadn't even reached the town yet, and troubles were coming one after another.

"Sang Brother, please handle the medical care here; we'll go inside to have a look."

The two entered the woods, following the sounds of battle all the way.

"Who are you lot! Why are you slaughtering innocents!"

Fang Xun rescued three children, his long sword pointed straight at the bandits opposite.

"I am a disciple of the Nine Abyss Sect! You had better return the people at once!"

Jin Chen's steps halted, his brows knitting tightly.

He could now understand why the Nine Abyss name had sunk to such depths—how any Tom, Dick, or Harry could invoke the Nine Abyss banner to do evil!

"I truly don't know; they aren't my people!"

Noticing Mu Huaizhi's gaze, Jin Chen made a face at him, "You're doubting me again."

"Nine Abyss Demonic Cult! No wonder!"

Fang Xun gave a cold snort.

"What's there to be unsurprised about? They aren't members of the Nine Abyss at all."

Jin Chen could bear it no longer, stepping forward with arms crossed in dissatisfaction, "I… have wandered the four seas and met plenty of Nine Abyss folk, yet you lot bear no resemblance whatsoever."

He stroked his chin as if thinking, "You lot aren't perhaps the Right Protector's men?"

"... Right! Right! I, the young master, am indeed a member of the Right Protector!"

The leading lecherous youth, seeing this, hurriedly echoed.

"Pah! You're nothing but a fart."

Jin Chen rolled his eyes, sizing up the lot of them.

As far as I know, the Right Protector of the Nine Abyss Demonic Cult is a guy whose face is bigger than heaven; his underlings, if they aren't good-looking, get killed.

Looking at you lot, all misshapen like lumpy melons and cracked dates, he'd probably want to gouge out your eyes just at the sight.

The lecherous youth: "..."

"You little brat, you're trying to cheat me!"

"You little brat, you're really not worth deceiving."

Jin Chen shook his head repeatedly, "Worthless."

Fang Xun gave this person a strange glance, wondering how he knew so much about the Nine Abyss Demonic Cult.

But now is not the time to dwell on that.

Several people rescued these children and handed them over to the wounded adults not far away.

The lecherous youth was even more pressed by Jin Chen's questioning, nearly driven to suicide.

Yet even so, he refused to utter a single word, only muttering one phrase over and over.

"Yunshu Town is surrounded by nightmares! Anyone who touches the filth will die—none can escape!"

He clutched Jin Chen's sleeve, repeating these words, his expression gradually turning mad.

Jin Chen thought, uh-oh, and instinctively went to wrench his jaw, but was too late.

Several people had already taken poison and killed themselves.

He rose, glanced at the weeping townsfolk cradling a child, then met Mu Huaizhi's gaze; both looks were grave.

Fang Xun and Fu Zhiyuan also temporarily put aside their feud, analyzing the meaning of these words.

"Everyone, a storm is imminent; let's head back to town first. We are all jianghu folk, here especially to investigate this."

Fang Xun went to persuade the townsfolk; passing Mu Huaizhi, they exchanged a silent stare; eventually Fang Xun looked away first, and as they brushed past, he heard a soft whisper.

"Watch out for Fu Zhiyuan."

Fang Xun frowned, turned his head in surprise, but saw Mu Huaizhi had already turned and left the woods with Jin Chen, without looking back.

"A Xun, let's go."

Fu Zhiyuan saw him dazed and called out.

"Coming." Fang Xun gave him a smile.

In the end, he never told Fu Zhiyuan about it.

Back outside the woods, that family's injuries had already been bandaged by Sang Ning; seeing Jin Chen approach, they thanked him repeatedly, and upon learning they were coming to town to investigate, they invited them to stay at their home.

This was naturally perfect—being able to stay in a household with an infant also meant they could spot any strange occurrences right away.

To escort the townsfolk, none of them rode anymore; Fang Xun and Fu Zhiyuan still led the way, leading their horses far ahead.

Sang Ning needed to tend to the wounded, so she walked in the middle.

"You just reminded Fang Xun—aren't you afraid he'll tell Fu Zhiyuan?"

The two at the back began to whisper.

Mu Huaizhi didn't answer, but countered, "You're so blatant—aren't you afraid they'll discover you're a demon cult member?"

"I'm not afraid; even if they find out, they can't beat you, yet they still want to beat me?" Jin Chen snorted.

As always, despicable.

Mu Huaizhi didn't want to waste words with him, so he remained silent.

It must be said that Sang Ning's medicine was extremely effective; Mu Huaizhi could no longer feel any pain from his wound, his strength had returned to normal, only his internal energy was somewhat depleted.

Upon reaching the town, almost every household's Main Gate was tightly shut, the fallen leaves on the road left uncleared, occasionally swept up by gusts of wind.

Fang Xun and Fu Zhiyuan also stayed in a household with an infant; coincidentally, their lodging was not far from where Jin Chen and the others were staying.

Jin Chen thought, "What bad luck," and pulled Mu Huaizhi inside.

They were ordinary homes; there weren't many vacant rooms, only two were available.

This was convenient for Jin Chen; he lamented that it was fate, and he dragged the wooden-faced Mu Huaizhi into a room to rest.

"Don't keep that deadpan face—either hurry up and recover so we can settle our score, or just obey me."

Jin Chen's tone was laced with a smile, utterly wicked.