Chapter 31 Countdown to the return of the hero

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

During these three years, apart from occasionally asking Liu Qingge to help him clear his meridians and cure poison, asking Mu Qingfang to help him prepare four medicinal herbs, and assigning leveling tasks to the disciples at Shangqingjing Peak, Shen Qingqiu spent most of his time wandering outside.

In his previous life, he stayed at home, watching anime, playing games and reading novels. After being reborn here, he had no more entertainment related to computers, so his interest in traveling was rekindled. He lived a leisurely life until Yue Qingyuan suddenly sent him a letter, summoning him back to Cangqiong Mountain.

At this time, he had not been seen for a long time, and suddenly returned to the mountain. The disciples of Qingjing Peak had already gathered at the mountain gate to welcome their master. When they saw Shen Qingqiu slowly climbing up from the bottom of the hillside, they all rushed over.

Ming Fan, the leader, was already a tall young man. Although he was not handsome, he was no longer the narrow-minded cannon fodder he was in his youth. Ning Yingying had grown into a graceful young girl. She had also chosen her own fairy sword from the Ten Thousand Swords Peak. When she saw Shen Qingqiu, she rushed over and put her arm around him as they walked up the ladder.

Although the sweet-smelling little girl liked to hug him, Shen Qingqiu couldn't bear it, especially since Ning Yingying had grown well and was no longer the petite and delicate loli she used to be. Occasionally, her breasts would accidentally rub against him, causing Shen Qingqiu to remain expressionless and sweat profusely.

I really don’t dare to dream about Luo Binghe’s wife!

Ning Yingying said coquettishly: "Master, you are always not in the mountain, and your disciples miss you so much."

Shen Qingqiu said lovingly: "Teacher misses you too."

That's not right. You should be thinking about Luo Binghe. Why would you think about a scumbag villain?

Are Shen Qingqiu and Ning Yingying so close in the original work? It seems that after Ning Yingying grew up and became sensible, Shen Qingqiu was the only one who coveted her.

And as one of Luo Binghe's wives, shouldn't you have been unable to sleep, eat, and become emaciated and heartbroken for five consecutive years?

Why do I look fatter now?

The disciples escorted Shen Qingqiu to the Qiongding Peak. Yue Qingyuan was still waiting outside the hall to greet them, and the two brothers entered the hall hand in hand.

In the Dome Hall, all the twelve peak leaders were seated, and behind their seats stood one or two of their trusted disciples. The only exception was Liu Qingge.

The traditional style of education at Baizhan Peak is laissez-faire, where everyone practices on their own. The peak master, apart from popping up from time to time to beat up a group of disciples, basically doesn't teach anything else. The position of peak master can be handed over only when the disciples can beat the master back. So of course there are no trusted disciples.

Shen Qingqiu greeted everyone one by one and sat down at the seat on Qingjing Peak. Mingfan and Ning Yingying stood behind him. Opposite him were Qi Qingqi and Liu Mingyan from Xianshu Peak.

For some reason, a thought popped up in Shen Qingqiu's mind: If Luo Binghe was still here, there would probably be no one else standing behind him.

Stop, stop!

It's so annoying, please don't always come out to show your presence, okay, male protagonist [bye bye]

Yue Qingyuan said from the first seat: "I urgently summoned all of you fellow disciples back for one reason. Do you know where Jinlan City is?"

Shang Qinghua said, “Jinlan City? I’ve heard a little bit about it. It’s located in the Central Plains, at the junction of the two major rivers Luochuan and Hengchuan. The city lord values ​​commerce, and it’s said to be very prosperous.”

Yue Qingyuan nodded and said, "That's right. Jinlan City is well connected by land and water, and has always been a gathering place for merchants from all over the world. But two months ago, Jinlan City was closed." He paused and added, "Not only were the city gates closed, people were not allowed to enter or leave, and letters were not allowed to be delivered."

A perfectly functioning commercial city suddenly shutting down is as unreasonable as a financial center suddenly cutting off ties with the rest of the world. There must be something else going on.

Shen Qingqiu picked up the teacup at hand, scraped the tea leaves on the surface, and said: "Jinlan City is the closest to Zhaohua Temple, and I have the impression that the exchanges are very close. If something really happened, the masters in the temple should have noticed something unusual."

Yue Qingyuan said: "Yes, twenty days ago, a merchant from Jinlan City escaped from the city by water and rushed to Zhaohua Temple to seek help."

He used the word "escape", which seemed to indicate that the situation was really serious. Everyone was shocked.

Yue Qingyuan continued, "The middle-aged man was originally the owner of the No. 1 weapon shop in Jinlan City. He often offered incense at Zhaohua Temple, and many monks in the temple knew him. At that time, he was wrapped in a black cloth, with only half of his face exposed. When he arrived at Zhaohua Temple, he was exhausted and collapsed in front of the mountain steps, repeatedly saying that there was a terrible plague in the city. The mountain guard monks immediately carried him into the main hall and reported to the abbot. By the time the abbot and several masters rushed out, it was too late."

Dead?

Yue Qingyuan said slowly: "The merchant has turned into a pile of bones."

Shen Qingqiu was horrified.

Just now he said he had risked his life to escape to the temple gate, how could he turn into a pile of bones in the blink of an eye?

Shen Qingqiu pondered and said, "Brother just said that the merchant was wrapped in black cloth? From head to toe?"

Yue Qingyuan said, "That's right. During that time, a monk wanted to help him remove the black cloth, but he screamed in pain as soon as he touched it, so he didn't dare to pull it off forcefully."

Listening to this description, it sounds like tearing his skin off.

Yue Qingyuan continued, "The abbots of Zhaohua Temple were deeply concerned and after discussion, they sent out the masters Wuchen, Wuhuan, and Wunian to investigate overnight. They have not returned yet."

Compared to Shen Qingqiu and the others, the masters of the Wu Zi class were not inferior in rank, and their cultivation was not much worse. Shen Qingqiu was slightly surprised and asked, "No one has returned?"

Yue Qingyuan nodded solemnly and said, “The Huanhua Palace and Tianyi Temple also sent a dozen disciples, but they also went and never returned.”

The four major sects have already been dragged into this. Shen Qingqiu immediately understood what they were doing back today.

As expected, Yue Qingyuan said, "The Taoist friends from other sects were helpless and sent messengers to ask for support from Cangqiong Mountain. Support is certain, but this matter is serious and I am afraid that there may be some foreign tribes behind the scenes to stir up trouble. If someone goes, someone must stay behind."

Needless to say, this "foreign race" refers to the demon race. Liu Qingge was the first to say, "Bai Zhan Peak is duty-bound. We are willing to escort Junior Brother Mu to the mission."

Since there is a plague in the city, Mu Qingfang from Qiancao Peak must be dispatched. Shen Qingqiu looked at the two people who were going to go, one responsible for decocting medicine for him, and the other responsible for helping him open up his spiritual meridians. They were both gone, and without the halo of the protagonist to protect them, they might get into trouble. It was really worrying. How could he not keep an eye on them? He quickly said, "Qingqiu is willing to go with you."

Yue Qingyuan hesitated and said, "My original intention was to arrange for you to guard the mountain."

Shen Qingqiu didn’t know how to deal with him yet, so he just kept pestering him: “Master, why do you think I’m so weak? Even though Qingqiu is not talented, I know a thing or two about the demons. If they are the ones causing trouble, I can be of some help.”

A mobile encyclopedia related to the demon clan, whether it is original or in stock, it is definitely worthy of this title. The books and materials accumulated by the Qingjing Peak for hundreds of years, which the successive peak masters must read before they can succeed, are all piled up behind the bamboo house... Yue Qingyuan thought that if he let him move with Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang, it would be convenient to suppress the demon clan poison in his body, and the peak master of Baizhan Peak could also protect him in a fight. Therefore, it was finally decided to divide the group into three groups, with Liu, Mu and Shen as the vanguard, and go to Jinlan City to investigate first. The second group was outside, and would act according to the situation. The third group stayed in Cangqiong Mountain.

The situation was urgent, and there was no time to take it easy. Shen Qingqiu was not used to practicing swordsmanship alone, and was even a little afraid of heights, but he knew that he had to follow the pace of the main force at this time. Less than half a day after the three of them set out to practice swordsmanship, Shen Qingqiu lifted the hem of the hunting sword and looked down from above the clouds. He took a breath and shouted to his two fellow disciples: "Down below is the intersection of Luochuan and Hengchuan!"

Looking down from the sky, there are indeed two rivers crossing each other, like two winding, long and slender silver ribbons, glittering in the sun, like silver scales dancing.

One of them is the Luochuan where the newly born Luo Binghe was thrown downstream and given the name Luochuan.

The three of them chose a wide and flat hilltop as their landing point. From here, they could vaguely see the eaves and corners of Jinlan City in the distance, as well as the closed city gates and the raised river bridge.

Shen Qingqiu lowered his sunshade hand from his brows: "Why don't we just fly into the city?"

Mu Qingfang explained, "Zhaohua Temple once set up a giant barrier covering the sky for them at the request of the Lord of Jinlan City, prohibiting immortal swords or anything with spiritual energy or demonic energy from flying over them, otherwise they would be knocked off course."

Shen Qingqiu had seen Zhaohua Temple's ability to set up barriers. The Immortal Alliance used barrier teams. If they were ranked second, no one would dare to be ranked first. Shen Qingqiu stopped asking questions, thinking in his heart, if this plague was not a normal plague, but a deliberate trick by someone with ulterior motives, he must have entered the city gate openly.

Since they couldn't parachute in, nor could they enter through the main gate, there must be another way. Sure enough, Mu Qingfang, who had been given detailed instructions by Yue Qingyuan, led the two of them into a forest, where they could hear the sound of gurgling water amidst the green shades.

The sound came from a low cave. Mu Qingfang called the two people over and said, "There is an underground river here. The underground river can lead to the city."

Shen Qingqiu understood: "That weapons shop merchant escaped from here?"

Mu Qingfang nodded: "Some merchants doing underground trade will meet here, or transport goods. Not many people know about this route, but the weapons merchant is good friends with several abbots of Zhaohua Temple and has revealed some information."

The entrance of the cave was covered with green vines, only chest-high, and the three of them had to bend over to get in. After walking for a while, Shen Qingqiu's waist ached, and he finally felt the space above his head open. The water flow turned into a whistling sound. Beside the riverbed, there were a few shabby lonely boats floating.

Shen Qingqiu picked a slightly better boat that wouldn't leak. With a flick of his finger, a ball of fire ignited in the withered lamp hanging on the bow.

There was only one oar. Shen Qingqiu made a "please" gesture and said to Liu Qingge: "This is against the current. To row into the city, we will definitely need the strongest among us. Junior brother, please?"

Liu Qingge grabbed the thin oar with a dark face and began to row the boat without complaint. With each row, the boat jumped forward a long way. The bowlight creaked and shook.

Shen Qingqiu comfortably pulled Mu Qingfang to sit down, and glimpsed the light of the water beside the boat. He could actually see a few fish swimming happily by, and he said casually: "This water is so clear."

Just as he finished saying this, a larger object came floating behind the fish.

A dead body lying face down in the water.