CH 21

Zhu Yicheng got two companions and was very excited. With each one at his side, he happily continued to walk up the mountain.

The trial of Lingshan was still a long way at the top of the mountain, and the competition among Taoists had not yet begun. Now, spring was just right, it gives people a feeling of going out with friends for an outing.

The three walked leisurely on the mountain road together. While Zhu Yicheng was still chatting non-stop, Gu Qingqiao suddenly noticed something and slowed down. At the same time, Mu Xiyun also noticed it and pulled Zhu Yicheng to a stop.

Not far ahead, in a corner, a vague human voice was heard. The three of them restrained their breath and crept forward quietly.

A fat young man was standing in the road, and in front of him stood a wild person who was waving a long knife and yelling in a vicious voice. 

“Hey, give me your Qiankun bag!”

He was being robbed! 

The fat boy took a step back, guarding the bag at his waist with both hands. His legs trembled involuntarily and said with a pale face.

“What are you doing?”

The other party obviously had no plan of listening.

Zhu Yicheng asked quietly, “What should I do?” 

Gu Qingqiao glanced at him and smiled lazily,  “Whatever you want, you can do as you like.”

The eldest young master of Green Willow Villa had been familiar with street stories since he was a child. Ever since he was young, he had always yearned to be a  chivalrous man who would help people in the face of injustice. Now that the opportunity to become a chivalrous person was in front of him, how could he pass it up easily? 

The young master got up in a frenzy of joy and shouted excitedly in accordance with the standard routine written in the storybook. “Stop!”

This roar was really full of vigor. Although there was a slight tremor due to excessive excitement, it also completed the task perfectly. Not only was the robber stunned for a moment, he was frightened even and sat directly on the ground due to his legs going soft.

However, the robber was obviously experienced. After the shock subsided, he immediately returned to his senses and pulled himself up. With a swipe, he pulled out his long knife from his waist.

Mu Xiyun wanted to move forward, but was held down on his shoulder. 

Gu Qingqiao whispered softly to his ear, “I haven’t seen Young Master Zhu take action along the way, don’t worry, let’s have a look first.” 

The voice was right next to his ear, and the breath passed by his ear hole. Mu Xiyun’s whole body froze, and he only kept staring straight ahead. After a while, he felt that the hand on his shoulder was dropped casually as if nothing had happened.

There, Zhu Yicheng had already rushed forward to the bandit.

The robber was in the middle stage of foundation building, holding a sharp long knife that could easily reach the opponent in just a few steps. The sharp blade slashed straight at Zhu Yicheng’s nose like wind and thunder. Zhu Yicheng reached into his sleeve and took out a golden-edged folding fan.

When the robber saw the fan, he was overjoyed. Thinking about which young master of a rich family that overestimated his own strength. The bandit added a little bit of force and planned to split the fan in half along with him. The fat guy who rolled aside had closed his eyes. Zhu Yicheng’s footsteps changed. At the moment when he was about to meet the robber in close combat, he deviated slightly to the side. This move was very subtle, and immediately swiped the direct strike of the long knife. The folding fan collided with the blade at the moment before the blade was at its highest momentum.

The blade and fan were entangled with each other, and the folding fan did not resist the blade’s force, but slid out obliquely. The friction between the fan’s bone and the blade made a harsh sound. Zhu Yicheng was using an iron boned fan. The folding fan suddenly stabbed forward, the robber’s sword was suddenly caught, and the man and the knife fell forward. Zhu Yicheng turned around in an instant, kicked him out, and the robber immediately fell to the ground.

“Don’t, stop, help!” 

The robber immediately changed his stance based on his profound understanding that a “person who helps someone in distress” was a powerful practitioner.

Only then did Mu Xiyun and Gu Qingqiao come over. 

When the robber saw them, he deflated all the more. The fat guy had already stood up at this time, saluted towards the three of them, and stammered. “Thank you all for your help.” 

Gu Qingqiao glanced at him and was slightly surprised. This little fat guy actually already formed a golden core. How could he not beat a small fry of a middle stage of foundation building?

The little fat man seemed to be aware of it, his face became even redder. He stood by with his head bowed speechless. Gu Qingqiao pulled the robber’s belt, tied his hands and feet. Took the robber’s knife, patted his face, and asked, “Come, tell me, why did you rob this guy?”

When the robber heard this, he almost burst into tears. “How dare I? I just saw that this young brother was timid and scared him.”

When it comes to cultivating immortality, most people think of traveling by swords and enjoying the world. But where are the many amazing talents in the world? Most practitioners even struggle hard at the threshold of foundation building and many may not be able to advance in their lives.

The robber was one of them. After finally going from qi refining to foundation building, his cultivation was stuck there. Since his aptitude was not good, and he cannot enter even in the eyes of the Xianmen aristocratic family, he begins to ponder some crooked ways.

He had just established his foundation three years ago and participated in the Lingshan discourse that year. However it goes without saying that he was eliminated from the competition as early as halfway up the mountain. But before going out, he unexpectedly picked up an embroidered pouch owned by some young master of an aristocratic family and it so happened to have a bottle of elixir that could improve his cultivation. Relying on these spiritual pills, he cultivated to the middle stage of foundation building.

Having tasted the sweetness, an idea naturally brewed in his mind. On the flying boat just now, he saw this young man dressed in high quality materials but behaved shyly, he was sure that he was timid. That’s why he regarded him as a fat sheep. It was also the bad luck of the young man. The two of them met shortly after entering the mountain, and the robber immediately became malicious.

“It’s your bad luck to have met us.” Gu Qingqiao pulled him up, and in a moment he found the jade plate on him, injected a trace of spiritual power, grabbed the robber’s hand and pressed it on the jade plate.

There was a flash of light then the figure of the robber disappeared. Only then did Zhu Yicheng pay attention to the fat young man. After a glance, he remembered that it was the one on the flying boat who was afraid of heights. He felt amused in my heart. How could there be such a timid immortal cultivator? He asked, “I don’t know the name of this little brother?”

The little fat man said quickly, “My name is Qin Le, from the lineage of the original Qin family.” His voice became lower and lower as he spoke. All three present were startled.

When it came to the Qin family in Taiyuan, everyone in the cultivation world knew them. Qin Zhishen, the ancestor of the Qin family, originally came from a Jiangnan aristocratic family, with extraordinary talent and intelligence. He had created countless arrays in his life, and was a recognized genius in the world of immortality. He was the first to seal Linmo Abyss with a barrier and save the northerners from fire and flood.

At the same time, this array master took up the responsibility of guarding the formation without hesitation, and moved his family to Taiyuan. Since then, the Qin family leaders in all dynasties have scrupulously abided by their duties, braved life and death, and maintained the border near the Linmo Abyss without compensation, and become the powerful barrier for the Central Plains in the north.

Fifty years ago in the Battle of Linmo Abyss, Qin Pin, the patriarch of the Qin family who died of serious injuries while repairing the barrier, should be Qin Le’s grandfather.

The children of the Qin family have lived in the north for many years, and most of them were cheerful and bold, and they were well-received in the cultivation world. The current head of the family was Qin Yu, the eldest son of the Qin family. This little brother, Qin Le, was not very famous.

After only a moment of silence, Mu Xiyun said softly, “Young Master Qin, it is dangerous to fight alone. One more person means more strength. I wonder if Young Master Qin is willing to join us?”

He didn’t mention the aide they provided him, as if it was just a friendly meeting, and only made a request for an alliance. Qin Le’s heart warmed, and gratefully said. “Thank you, immortal gentleman!”

Zhu Yicheng pulled Qin Le up and introduced everyone to him.

Walking on the mountain path in the dusk with Gu Qingqiao on his side, Mu Xiyun was looking at the two teenagers in front of him. The two seemed to be already very familiar with each other, and a sensation of tranquility washed over him. Maybe life should be like this, just follow your heart and watch as the world changes.

It’s a pity that most people were already going farther and farther on the road of pursuit, either for fame and profit, or for money and gold, or for Taoism. Few people can really calm down and look at the world.

The four of them walked less than a stick of incense when another group of robbers came to their door. This time, Zhu Yicheng didn’t need to say hello and rushed out, while Qin Le stood there, a little overwhelmed.

Afraid that Zhu Yicheng would suffer, Mu Xiyun joined the battle in a flash. Two against eight, but it was still handled easily.

Gu Qingqiao stopped a robber who rushed up, kicked him aside, turned around and patted Qin Le’s shoulder, and asked with a smile, “Aren’t you going to go up and play?”

Qin Le had a look of fear. “I can’t do it.” 

Gu Qingqiao wanted to test him. He didn’t say anything afterwards and turned around and joined the battle. He fought with a man in black in a cat and mouse chase, and unknowingly approached Qin Le.

Qin Le shivered, took a step back, avoided the meteor hammer of the man in black in a hurry. 

“Not bad, not bad.” 

Gu Qingqiao said with a smile. After that, he left the robber, flew away, and threw himself into the melee on the other side. The robber and Qin Le stared at each other with big eyes, and neither dared to take the first move. There was a cry of “ ahhh” “uugghh” in the distance, and the robbers were about to lose their support. The man in black soon gritted his teeth and the meteor hammer shot out and went straight at Qin Le’s face. Qin Le was so frightened that his face turned blue and his lips turned white, and unconsciously stretched out his hand to block it.

No one came to help. 

The man in black was secretly delighted, stepped forward, prepared to restrain Qin Le when he was knocked down, and thought that maybe he could get some money out of him.

Ping

The meteor hammer made a crisp sound. At some point, a golden light emitted from Qin Le’s left hand, and a defensive barrier half a person’s height stood in front of him. The barrier had firmly blocked the heavy blow of the meteor hammer, then Qin Le stretched his right hand forward, grabbed the chain behind the hammer, turned around and shouted loudly. With the meteor hammer as the center, he directly swung it around towards the robber.

Everyone: “…” 

The battle was immediately over. The group of robbers staggered around, activated the jade plate under the watchful eyes of the four, and left Lingshan.

“I didn’t expect that there would be so many robbers in Lingshan.” Mu Xiyun sighed. 

Gu Qingqiao said with a smile. “The disciples of Xianmen have family sects to support them and do not worry about their livelihoods, but it is different for folk cultivators. Many people come to Lingshan, but they don’t really care about the discourse. Lingshan is full of spiritual energy, and celestial herbs and beasts are everywhere. You can go out and sell them for money. As for robbery, to be honest, if you can’t even win against such robbers, what qualifications do you have to climb to the top of the mountain?”

Mu Xiyun nodded silently. The rule of Lingshan was that the strong are kings, and those who were too weak cannot be blamed onto others. Thinking of this, he turned to look at Qin Le. The little chubby still looked like he had lingering fears. Zhu Yicheng came over and shouted at him, took Qin Le’s hand and said, “What a powerful enchantment, hurry up, show me another one.”

Qin Le smiled and waved his hand. “It’s not that powerful, my brother’s enchantment is much more powerful than this. I, I’m not good at learning…” The three smiled at him, patted him on the shoulder and continued on the road.

Probably because of the rise of the Golden Pavilion in the past few years, the Lingshan guide books have spread all over the Central Plains. Not only were the experiences of successful competitors was widely known, but also the way of mining, animal hunting and herbs digging have become popular. The four of them encountered five groups of robbers along the way. In the end, even Qin Le was no longer afraid. Although he still does not take the initiative to fight, when someone picks a fight against him, he can successfully subdue the opponent.

Unknowingly, the bright sky gradually turned to night.

In the mountains ahead, there flickered many tiny lights. It was… a village.