Three days later, outside Fuzhou city.
Li Daoyi was sitting on the back of a blue ox, while Yue Buqun and the others rode on tall horses. These horses were naturally a gift from the Lin family. For the first time, the Huashan Sect was reaping the benefits of the alliance, and everyone was very happy.
For this reason, Yue Buqun left half of his disciples with Lin Zhennan. These were disciples who were about to enter the third rank, but their talents were limited and their achievements in this life were limited. After obtaining their consent, he let them stay, which was also a way to make a living.
"Sect Leader Yue, rest assured, I, Lin, will never mistreat these Huashan disciples," Lin Zhennan said, cupping his hands in greeting. He was also very happy; with these people joining, the escort agency's strength had increased significantly.
"From now on, you will still be my Huashan disciples. Your master's wife and I will take time each year to come and teach you. You must not slack off in your training," Yue Buqun said to the disciples who remained.
"Thank you, Master." The disciples knelt down one after another. They were all children from poor families who joined Mount Hua in order to make a living. It could be said that Mount Hua was their second parents.
This scene brought tears to Ning Zhongze and Yue Lingshan's eyes, and even the usually unrestrained Linghu Chong tearfully embraced and bid farewell to his fellow disciples.
"The martial world, this is the martial world, this is the real martial world." Li Daoyi sat on Niu Er's back, filled with emotion. How many people enter the martial world just to make a living? This is the reality for martial artists at the bottom of the martial world.
"Ping'er, from now on you must listen to your master and not be so naughty. Write to your parents often." Lin Pingzhi's mother was already in tears.
"Take this letter. When you have time, go to Luoyang to visit your maternal grandfather." She said, taking out a letter, which was written to her father, Wang Yuanba, the leader of the Golden Saber Sect in Luoyang.
"Yes, I understand. Father and Mother, I hope you will take good care of yourselves while I am away." After saying this, Lin Pingzhi knelt down and kowtowed to the two of them several times.
"Moo..." At this moment, the blue ox bellowed, as if urging everyone to hurry on their way. It had been cooped up at the Lin family's house for days.
"Hahaha, Chief Escort Lin, farewell, we'll meet again someday." Li Daoyi laughed heartily.
Soon, everyone rode away from the city gate, and the escort agency members watched them go until they disappeared from sight on the main road.
"Master, can your ox-like speed keep up with our horses?" Linghu Chong exclaimed in amazement on the way.
The Lin family had previously offered Li Daoyi a fine horse, but he refused.
"Oh? How about we have a competition?" Li Daoyi said.
"Haha, how do we compete?" Linghu Chong laughed.
"Chong'er, you mustn't be rude!" Yue Buqun quickly scolded, this disciple was too much of a worry.
"It's alright. Aren't you all curious about my Niu Er? Let's see how it compares to your horses," Li Daoyi said with a smile.
"If you win, I'll give you ten jars of fine wine; if you lose, you only need to grant me one request," Li Daoyi continued.
When Linghu Chong heard about the ten jars of wine, his eyes lit up, making Yue Buqun shake his head, but he dared not stop him any further.
"Alright, Taoist priest, you can keep your word."
"Junior sister, give this to me." After saying that, he took the sword from his hand and handed it to Yue Lingshan.
"Go, senior brother!" the little girl exclaimed excitedly.
The crowd stopped and made way for Linghu Chong and Li Daoyi, who stood side by side. One rode a horse, the other rode an ox.
“Pingzhi, count for us,” Li Daoyi said, turning to Lin Pingzhi.
"Um."
"Three, two, start."
"drive…"
As soon as Lin Pingzhi finished speaking, Linghu Chong and his horse sped away like arrows.
But Li Daoyi remained motionless in the same spot.
"Daoist Master..." Yue Buqun asked, somewhat puzzled.
"No rush, let him run first." Li Daoyi smiled slightly.
Li Daoyi only made a move after Linghu Chong had run several hundred steps ahead.
"Come on, Niu Er." He gently patted the cow's back.
"Moo..." The blue ox roared to the sky.
It kicked hard with its back leg, and a gust of wind suddenly rose from the ground, raising dust that made everyone squint.
When they opened their eyes again, Li Daoyi was no longer there.
Linghu Chong frantically beat the reins, his mind filled with thoughts of wine.
"Almost there, almost there, we'll be there in a mile." Linghu Chong was secretly delighted.
Just then, a gust of wind blew past him.
"Hissing..."
Linghu Chong's horse was startled and stopped abruptly, its front legs raised high. Linghu Chong quickly grabbed the horse's neck to prevent it from falling.
Soon, the strong winds subsided, and the horses calmed down.
Linghu Chong was filled with doubt and surprise, wondering why a strange wind had suddenly blown up for no reason.
"Moo..."
Just then, a cow's moo came from ahead.
Linghu Chong froze, looked up, and saw Li Daoyi sitting on the green ox, looking at him from a hundred meters away. That was the finish line that the two had agreed upon before their competition.
“How is this possible…” Linghu Chong murmured, frozen in place.
Soon, the Huashan group caught up as well.
"Master, the Taoist priest..." Linghu Chong came to his senses, looked at Yue Buqun, and then pointed ahead, unable to speak.
"Senior Brother, the Daoist Master waited until you had run halfway before setting off," Yue Lingshan added insult to injury.
"Senior Brother, I told you long ago that the Daoist Master is no ordinary person, but you wouldn't believe me." Lin Pingzhi was the only one among everyone present who wasn't surprised.
Previously, when he was drinking with Linghu Chong and other disciples of Mount Hua, they talked about Li Daoyi. At that time, he confidently said that Li Daoyi was not an ordinary person, but an immortal. Unfortunately, this made everyone laugh, as they all thought that Li Daoyi was a first-class master like their master Yue Buqun.
The group continued riding forward and soon arrived beside Li Daoyi.
"The Taoist priest is truly a divine being," Yue Buqun exclaimed. The gust of wind had just swept in, and before he could react, the green ox had vanished from the spot.
"Just a small matter," Li Daoyi said modestly. In fact, this was Niu Er's innate divine ability, called Gale Step. Each step could cover a hundred zhang, or three hundred meters, and a thousand meters could be covered in just three steps. This divine ability was automatically activated after he ate the Spirit Beast Pill and became a spirit beast.
"Moo..." Niu Er called out to Linghu Chong with a haughty air.
"I admit defeat, Daoist Master. I have truly had my eyes opened." Linghu Chong said, cupping his hands in greeting. Today had really shattered his worldview.
This little incident passed quickly, and the group continued on their way. Even without using any special abilities, the blue ox could easily keep up with the horses.
On this day, the group passed through a village and found two spirit banners hanging at the village entrance, indicating that two people in the village had died.
After entering the village, the group found that many houses had their doors tightly shut. Even people on the road would quickly hide inside their houses upon seeing them, as if they had seen ghosts or gods.
Just as they were wondering what was going on, they faintly heard cries coming from a farmhouse not far away.
Li Daoyi frowned. As a cultivator, he immediately noticed the resentment gathering in the village.
The resentment is not a ghost, but rather the lingering resentment in a person's heart after a tragic death. It usually dissipates within three days, indicating that the person here had just died within the last three days.
The group rode forward quietly, not intending to disturb the villagers. It was normal for the villagers to be wary of江湖人 (jianghu people, people from the martial arts world), and they didn't think much of it.
"Hmm?" Linghu Chong stopped at this moment.
"Taoist Master?"
Li Daoyi stopped in front of a house.
Yue Buqun and the others also stopped, then turned their horses around and came to Li Daoyi's side.
"Master, why did you stop?" Yue Buqun asked.
"Sect Leader Yue, there are people who died unjustly here. There must be a reason behind it," Li Daoyi said.
Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun nodded.
"dismount."
Everyone quickly dismounted.
"Chong'er, Shan'er, knock on the door."
"yes."
The two hurried to the door and began to knock.
Soon, a girl of about ten years old opened the door. She was wearing a white cloth on her head, dressed in mourning clothes, and had tears on her face. When she saw who it was, her expression changed and she prepared to close the door.
But Linghu Chong had already braced the door with one hand, and the little girl couldn't do anything no matter how hard she tried. She then turned around and ran into the house.
Soon, several people came out of the house: an old man of about seventy years old, a man and a woman of about forty years old, who were probably a couple. The girl from before was hiding behind the two of them.
"That person is..." The old man paused for a moment, then asked cautiously.
“Old man, we are not bad people. We were just passing by and heard crying coming from your house. We wanted to ask what happened,” Linghu Chong said, bowing.
“Yes, Grandpa, we just saw a banner hanging at the entrance of the village. Does that mean someone in the family has passed away?” Yue Lingshan asked.
Seeing that Linghu Chong was handsome and Yue Lingshan was charming and cute, they breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the family didn't seem like bad people.
"Please come in, both of you," the old man said.
"Old man, my master and the others are still outside. There are too many of us for them to come in."
"Master?" the younger man asked, puzzled.
"Brother, to be honest, we are from the Huashan Sect," Linghu Chong explained.
“Mount Hua, I know it, Father. It’s the Mount Hua Sect. I heard about it when I was working in the city. It’s a famous sect.” The young man said excitedly.
After saying that, the man helped his wife to the front of Linghu Chong and his wife, and knelt down with a thud.
Linghu Chong was startled and quickly stepped forward to support the two of them.
"Brother and sister-in-law, there's no need for that, no need for that."
"Great hero, great hero, I beg you, please avenge my poor daughter!"
"Father... Waaah, sister, waaah." At this moment, the girl also rushed forward and knelt down. In an instant, the three of them burst into tears, leaving Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan somewhat at a loss.
"Get up, get up quickly! Tell me what your grievances are, get up first," Linghu Chong said hastily. At this moment, he understood what Li Daoyi meant by resentment; this family probably really had a grievance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com