Chapter 141

In a dilapidated Mountain God Temple, several people were huddled in front of a campfire.

Some were sharpening blades, some were regulating their breathing, and some were eating.

After a while, one person spoke up.

"Squad Leader, how far have we escaped?"

The one sharpening the blade stopped, looked up, observed the stars through a hole in the roof, and pondered for a moment.

"About three or four hundred miles."

"What, can't take it anymore?"

The man smiled bitterly and said: "You know the martial arts of the Shaolin monks; their realms aren't higher than those of their peers, but their foundations are pressed too thick."

"I took a punch that day and injured my right shoulder; hiding like this every day, I'm afraid I'll be left with hidden injuries."

The one sharpening the blade heard this and sighed as well.

"Do you think I don't want to settle down? But this matter was done too big; the Embroidered Uniform Guard will definitely come."

"The Sect Leader told us to scatter and flee, which was a plan to make the Embroidered Uniform Guard spread themselves thin. Whoever gets caught by the Embroidered Uniform Guard is a discarded pawn; let's not be that pawn. What else can we do but hide?"

The ruined temple fell silent, with only the sound of the wind, the sharpening of blades, and the crackling of burning wood occasionally ringing out.

After another while, the one sharpening the blade let out another long sigh.

"I really don't know where that Li Miao popped out from."

"Left Envoy Lan, Right Envoy Yun, Dharma Protector Mao, Flag Master Zhou, our Flag Master, and the hundreds of Gu soldiers accumulated in the sect—all died at his hands in a single night."

"If we hadn't received news that he went to the Miao territory, we wouldn't have dared to attack Shaolin."

"We can only hope the Miao people can drag him out for a while longer."

He shook his head, opened his mouth, as if he wanted to continue saying something.

"We—"

He stopped, his pupils shrank, and his fingers began to tremble uncontrollably.

His fingertips touched the blade, cutting a wound; a wisp of fresh blood flowed down the blade to the ground and seeped into the soil.

Yet he was completely unaware.

The person next to him was listening to him speak, but when there was no follow-up, he looked at him strangely and reached out to pat his shoulder.

"Squad Leader, what's wrong?"

In this ruined temple, there was only the sound of their breathing. Even the wind had stopped for a moment. In the dead of winter, there wasn't even the sound of insects.

They were fleeing for their lives; how could they not pay attention to their surroundings? Yet there was clearly not a single sound nearby.

He looked at another person and found that he was also frozen in place, his lips trembling uncontrollably, his teeth clashing together, making a "de-de-de-de" sound.

He was clearly looking behind him!

He turned around abruptly and drew the weapon at his waist at the same time.

"Who!"

He focused his gaze behind him.

Moonlight flowed through the hole into the ruined temple, dimly illuminating a corner.

In that corner, a man stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

The moonlight illuminated the lower half of his face, which held a trace of a smile.

"Finished? Do you know anything else?"

The man smiled.

"Li—!"

Thud.

Before the words were finished, a headless body collapsed with a crash.

Blood sprayed from the neck, splashing into the fire.

Sss—

The campfire was extinguished.

Darkness fell.

A violent sound erupted in the temple; the sound of drawing blades, cursing, and screaming rang out all at once.

Three breaths later, it became quiet.

No more sound.

————————

"Hahahaha, let's drink this cup to the full!"

"Please!"

In a mountain stronghold, two men sat in the main hall; one was a burly man with his chest exposed, and the other looked like a scholar, exchanging cups.

A plaque hung in the hall, inscribed with the four large characters "Gathering Righteousness for Hong."

"Brother, your martial arts are truly brilliant! If it weren't for you today, we wouldn't have been able to take down that group of escorts! That young lady was very moist indeed!"

"With you in my stronghold, it's like a tiger gaining wings!"

The burly man laughed boisterously.

"Big Brother is too kind; it was just a coincidence that I obtained a set of good martial arts."

"If Big Brother is interested, I will copy a set for you tomorrow."

The scholar also said with a smile.

"Oh? Hahahaha, then I will not decline!" The burly man was overjoyed, and the last trace of hesitation in his heart dissipated completely.

For a time, both host and guest were happy.

After three rounds of drinks, both were somewhat intoxicated and were about to leave the table to rest.

But they heard a hurried sound from outside the door.

"Big Chief! Second Chief! It's bad!!!"

A man crawled in from outside, his face pale.

"Someone, someone has attacked—"

Thud.

Before the words were finished, the man's head exploded with a crash.

The headless body fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and then stopped moving.

A man stepped into the room, stepped over the corpse, and stood in the middle of the main hall.

His gaze swept over the two, finally landing on the scholar.

"You know how to hide; joining a bandit stronghold and even becoming the Second Chief."

"Tell me everything you know about Ji Tianrui."

The burly man stood up abruptly, reached for his blade, and cursed: "Where did this hairy man come from, daring to—"

Thud.

The headless body fell, knocking over the wine table.

Wine and food splashed onto the scholar, but he dared not make a move.

His fingers trembled, his face turned pale, and his teeth chattered.

"Li, Lord Li..."

He said, trembling.

Li Miao looked at him and smiled.

"You brats of the Ming Sect all recognize me."

"I'll give you the time of one stick of incense to tell me everything you know. If you can't finish or don't want to say, I'll seal your acupoints and tie you behind my saddle."

"The next place I'm going is fifty miles away from here."

"Fifty miles is enough to drag you into a pile of minced meat."

————————

Quanzhou Prefecture, the prefectural city.

In a room exuding the scent of powder, the top courtesan was holding a pipa, playing and singing.

"It is not that I love the dust~ as if misled by past karma~"

"Flowers fall and bloom in their own time, always relying on the master of the East~"

Her voice was melodious, like weeping and complaining.

After the song, she put down the pipa, moved her golden lotuses, and walked to the table.

She reached out her slender jade hand to lift the wine pot, filled a cup, but did not offer it to the guest; instead, she brought it to her own lips and bit the rim of the cup lightly.

A trace of crimson was left on the rim.

This is called "tasting cinnabar," a way for brothel women to feed wine to their beloved patrons.

The rouge of brothel women is mixed with honey, carrying a hint of sweetness, which has a unique flavor.

She bit her lip lightly and brought the cup of wine to the man's lips.

"Young Master, drink this cup, and let us go to rest."

"Good."

The man, dressed as a wealthy young master, smiled and took the wine cup, but did not drink it; instead, he held the crimson trace on his lips, savored it carefully for a while, and then drank it in one gulp.

"Young Master... you are bad..."

The top courtesan blushed, her eyes filled with love as she looked at the man.

"In that case, let us go to rest."

The man said with a smile and was about to get up.

THUD!!!

In an instant, the roof broke open, and bricks and tiles fell together!

Amidst the flying dust, the man heard someone shout: "Rui'er! Rui'er! How are you!?"

The wealthy young master stood up coughing, waving his long sleeves to brush away the smoke and dust.

But he was stunned for a moment.

Because at this moment, a heroic man was standing in the room. And his Rui'er was being held by the throat, her face flushed, struggling incessantly.

"You! Let her go!!!"

The wealthy young master drew the sword at his waist and shouted angrily at the man.

Li Miao turned his head to look at him, then sneered.

"Fool, you've slept with a man for half a month and actually fallen in love."

Having said that, he turned his head to look at the top courtesan.

"You know how to hide even better, killing the top courtesan of the brothel and disguising yourself to receive guests. You have such ideas that I'm almost reluctant to kill you."

"Tell me, where is Ji Tianrui?"

(End of chapter)