Chapter 8: If you like, I will teach you...
Chapter 8: The Fake Fox's Power is Weak Before the Gunfire
Qing Guiyu was running fast among the reeds on the riverbank, with the roar of the river crashing against the shore in his ears, flames shooting up into the sky behind him, and the remains of the river temple burning red in the night.
She didn't dare to stop. She stepped on the slippery moss, tried her best to use her lightness skills, and quickly disappeared into the dense forest on the river bank.
The flames of the Jiang Temple had long been left several miles away. At this moment, she still had half a piece of crystal silk wrapped around her wrist, warmed by her body temperature.
The hem of her skirt was soaked in dew and turned black, feeling cold against her legs and abdomen.
——The coolness reminded her of the sound of a sinking kettle. She frowned and shook her hair.
When it was dawn, Qing Guiyu finally found a village near Baidukou and stepped into the inn in the village.
Baidukou is a bit run-down, so it was unexpected to find a two-story inn here.
The wooden walls of the inn were mottled, and there was a row of lanterns under the eaves, with faded wine flags hanging on the lanterns. A few tattered fishing nets were hung in front of the door, and it was obvious that the back of the inn was connected to the dock.
There were a few peddlers and porters sitting scattered around in the shop. In the lobby of the inn, the floor was filled with the smell of low-quality wine dregs, and an old shopkeeper was weighing the bills in front of the counter.
Qing Guiyu glanced around and saw the door curtain of the back kitchen shaking. Four men dressed in Cao Gang clothes were piling boxes in the corner.
However, Baidukou is very small and there are not many places to stay, so we have to stay here for the time being. After all, if we don’t have enough food, we really can’t do anything.
Qing Guiyu found a long bench to sit down, put the green bamboo beside him, and shook the bamboo chopstick holder on the table.
"Three fresh noodles, a plate of asparagus, and half a pound of rice wine, please."
"We have some freshly caught shad this morning. Would you like to try it?" The waiter came over and asked her while wiping the table with a smile.
No, no, Qing Guiyu waved her hands repeatedly. The fishy smell in the river breeze last night made her feel scared, and she really didn’t want to touch fish again.
She was sure that she wouldn't want to eat fish for at least two months.
But she doesn't eat it, but someone else wants to eat it.
Footsteps were heard on the stairs on the second floor. An apricot-yellow figure flashed by and someone walked down.
"Give me a bowl of mandarin fish soup, and a bowl of water shield soup, and cut the ginger into thin slices." The girl's voice was crisp, her apricot-yellow clothes swayed slightly with her steps, and a emerald white sash from Yaowang Valley hung around her waist.
When Qing Guiyu saw that it was Murong Qing, he quickly held his forehead with his hand to cover it up.
——I feel like my head is going to explode. This silly girl ran to deliver a message and finally found an inn run by the Cao Gang to stay in. Why isn’t she with her senior brother?
Although her Mi Li was lost in the Jiang Temple, Murong Qing didn't recognize her face. She pricked up her ears and looked around, but she didn't see Lu Guiyan.
Still have to eat first.
Murong Qing found a table to her southeast and sat down. Because the room was too small, she recognized Qing Guiyu and was a little curious, so she asked her.
"Sister," she said, "I've just said goodbye to you at the ferry. Is everything going well?"
Qing Guiyu choked in fear and quickly swallowed the noodles. He raised his head, with a sesame seed still on the corner of his mouth.
"Thanks to the young lady's blessing, all the herbs have been sold."
Murong Qing nodded, and the waiter came over with a bowl to interrupt her. Qing Guiyu lowered her head and continued to eat her meal, wishing she could get away quickly.
Suddenly, there was a sound of horses neighing and people shouting outside the inn. Everyone looked outside, and Qing Guiyu also glanced over.
There were about twenty men outside, all dressed like members of the Caogang gang. Their footsteps were not muddy at all, and it was obvious that they were all martial artists. Behind them followed a horse-drawn carriage, pulling a large box.
The box was large enough to hold a person. Qing Guiyu had a good nose and could smell a foul odor from afar. It shouldn't have been so foul in the still chilly spring weather; it was clearly soaked in water.
Her heart sank, fearing that the body inside was that of a "river drifter". She didn't know whether it was transported from the charity cemetery or was going to the charity cemetery.
If she was lucky, there might still be a few of her golden needles engraved on the corpse inside.
Four men from the Cao Gang drove the carriage toward the inn's backyard. The leader, with a green dragon tattooed on his neck, gruffly urged the men to unload the cargo, "Be careful! These are medicinal herbs personally entrusted to the Dragon Hall Elder!"
"Big brother," Murong Qing suddenly stood up, her emerald white sash swaying with her movements, "I have some knowledge of medicine, but this herb smells a little off, and it doesn't look fresh. Could you help me take a look?"
Qing Guiyu almost spit out a mouthful of noodles and slapped his thigh in anxiety.
The tattooed man turned around suddenly, and the nine-section whip on his waist shook open several sections.
Hearing that she had some knowledge of medicine, he squinted his eyes and looked at the girl's waist. When he saw the emerald white ribbon, his face suddenly changed.
"You little bitch from Yaowang Valley?" He chuckled. "My Cao Gang has lost over thirty of our brothers, and you still dare to talk nonsense here?"
A pockmarked man with a forced smile then spoke up, "Young lady, it's such a coincidence that you show up at Baidukou. Why don't you let Xiangzhu Zheng search you?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
The old shopkeeper's abacus clacking behind the counter abruptly stopped. Four Cao Gang men from the back hall also gathered around.
Murong Qing had never suffered such injustice before. As her apricot-yellow clothes moved, she suddenly raised her hand, and three golden needles rubbed the pockmarked man's earlobe and nailed into the wooden box.
The man named Zheng Xiangzhu wielded a nine-section whip, whistling it towards the girl's hair. Murong Qing spun around to avoid it, and the medicine bag on her waist hit the corner of the table.
She drew her sword, carrying with her aura akin to a newcomer to the martial arts world. A flash of cold light swept across the man's upper body.
The clanging sound of weapons clashing could be heard all around, and more than twenty men drew their weapons and walked towards the lobby of the inn.
Qing Guiyu secretly cried out in alarm, and seeing them fighting, he took the opportunity to hide behind the carriage.
Murong Qing was still able to hold on for the time being, and the sword had not yet been released from her hand, because the inn was too small to accommodate too many people.
Facing so many people, let alone Murong Qing, even Qing Guiyu herself could still save her life and escape thanks to her proficient lightness skills.
But if she were to single-handedly pick off so many good fighters from the Cao Gang, and even protect Murong Qing among them, it would be impossible for her, even if her tendons were intact, as she did not have the martial arts skills of Lu Guiyan.
Qing Guiyu was in a panic and looked around.
The corpse box on the carriage smelled very bad, which made her frown. She glanced over and saw that the carriage frame was stained with a lot of white powder.
Qing Guiyu leaned over to reach it, picked up some with the tip of the green bamboo, and put it under his nose to sniff.
It turned out to be some saltpeter powder.
She twisted them, her mind racing, and immediately came up with an idea. She gently held the bamboo in her left hand, a smile curling up at the corner of her mouth:
——Chen Juansheng, it's time for you to repay your kindness.
She took out the broken crystal thread from yesterday, pressed it lightly in the saltpeter powder, leaped up, and went behind the fishing net in front of the inn. She pulled out the green bamboo and used the silk blade to draw a long mark in the mud on the ground.
Then he took out a golden needle from the needle bag, bent it into a hook shape with his fingers, and put it on the top of the crystal wire.
She mobilized her inner strength and used the "Swallow-Catching" technique. The crystal silk whizzed through the air and ignited the lantern hanging at the door of the inn.
With a slight shake of his wrist, the golden needle hooked onto the wine flag of the inn. With a "crash" sound, the flagpole tilted down.
The saltpeter powder applied to the crystal silk suddenly dropped in temperature as soon as it came into contact with water, and the entire silk thread was filled with a cold light.
She didn't have the powerful martial arts of Chen Juansheng, who could turn a strand of silk into a blade and condense his energy to create a chill. She could only imitate him with some tricks, but she managed to imitate him about 70% of the time.
Everyone turned around when they heard the sound. Qing Guiyu took the opportunity to lower his voice and coughed a few times behind the fishing net.
"Golden Wire Blade!"
"Jin, Master Jinsheng?"
The Cao Gang members were in an uproar, and there were several clanging sounds. Some people were so frightened that they dropped their weapons.
Zheng Xiangzhu stopped the attack, and Murong Qing took a few steps back, holding the long sword tightly in his hand, but he looked quite embarrassed, with his clothes in disarray.
She looked around, her face full of surprise and confusion. She was obviously shocked by the scene before her and was frightened to the point of being stunned.
Qing Guiyu didn't say anything, but just coughed softly again, imitating some of Shen Juansheng's mysterious style.
The pockmarked man was puzzled and was about to speak, but he saw the dragon-patterned Zheng Xiangzhu clasped his hands first and said:
“Since Shen Tianji is here, we dare not compete with Tianji Pavilion for it.”
He said to the crowd,
"Three years ago, I took the blame for the headquarters and got a position as the leader of Jiaotang. Now the headquarters won't even give me a meal!"
He turned his head, staring at Qing Guiyu's direction, and waved his hand, and the nine-section whip clanged:
“If Shen Tianji can give me a clear way out, the lives of the three hundred brothers in Jiaotang will be mortgaged!”
The pockmarked man hunched his back and glanced at him with fierce eyes.
Zheng Xiangzhu took two steps back and signaled everyone. The Cao Gang members saluted and prepared to leave.
Seeing him like this, Qing Guiyu understood that this incense master who was promoted for taking the blame for the chief leader must have been planning how to seize power by using the power of Tianji Pavilion.
She had no choice but to take this risky move, but unexpectedly she happened to run into an internal fight within the Cao Gang, which she managed to fool and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Zheng Xiangzhu turned around, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and turned back to bow to "Master Jinsheng" and said,
“The elders of the Jiaotang Hall ask Shen Tianji how to deal with the cargo that was unloaded from the ship yesterday?”
Qing Guiyu's heart trembled, and he thought to himself, "Oh no! How can I know this?" He was instantly speechless.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zheng Xiangzhu and the man with the pockmarked face became suspicious. They exchanged glances, drew their weapons, and slowly walked towards the fishing net.
Qing Guiyu gritted his teeth, pulled out the green bamboo, clasped the golden needle in his hand, gritted his teeth and used his internal energy, then raised his hand and threw the crystal silk out.
After all, she lacked internal strength and had injured her tendons, so the crystal thread slipped down halfway through its throw.
Seeing this, the two men roared in unison, brandishing their broadswords and nine-section whips, and attacked her. Qing Guiyu suddenly raised the green bamboo horizontally.
A cold and slender hand gently covered the back of her hand.
The crystal thread in her hand suddenly flashed with cold light and flew rapidly through the air like a white rainbow across the sky, accurately piercing through the chest of the pockmarked man with a knife.
The moment the crystal thread pierced through his chest, the blood beads condensed into red ice crystals in the morning light.
The pockmarked man looked down at the bloody hole on his chest. The machete in his hand fell to the ground with a clang. He drew in air and a whirring sound came from the hole in his chest.
The dark embrace caressed her back, and the long silk sleeves hung beside his hands.
It is a deep engraved sound.
The real Young Master Jin Sheng rested his fingertips on the back of Qing Guiyu's hand, rested his chin on her shoulder, and his sickly pale cheeks flushed.
"Miss Qing is shaking violently."
The Cao Gang retreated in horror. Zheng Xiangzhu, the dragon-patterned master, stared at the ice crystals on his companion's chest and suddenly cried out, heartbreakingly, "Cold Marrow Technique!"
The deep engraving sound rubbed against the back of her ear, their crystal threads entangled, and their wrists touched.
He leaned close to her ear, whispering softly and tenderly like a lover, "Do you know what I did last night..."
Qing Guiyu couldn't bear to listen any longer and pointed at his acupoint. He smiled softly and shut up.
The wide black sleeves embraced her, and Master Jinsheng looked up at the people of the Cao Gang, with a hint of red in the corners of his eyes.
"If you like this thread, I will teach you."
His cold hand held her fingers.
"Miss Qing lacks the killing intent when she uses this weapon,"
He raised his fingers slightly, pressed and pushed, and the force was like a long river picking up stars. The thread flew out from his wrist with a little blood.
The blood light was actually Shen Juansheng's own, even Qing Guiyu was frightened.
"Less cold soul."
He hooked his index finger back, and a drop of blood attached to the silk thread. Driven by the cold air, it suddenly condensed into blood-colored ice crystals. The silk thread took advantage of this solid point to change its direction, turned strangely, and drew a circle in the air, just like a show of skill.
Young Master Jin Sheng's unique martial art, "Tian Ji Bai Bian", narrowly hit Master Zheng Xiang's neck.
At the moment the blood mist splattered, he waved his finger sideways, lowered his eyelashes, and smiled at her. Like the spring sun sending away the wind, lingering on the vines and the moon.
"I'm also reluctant to use my life."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com