Da da da...
Hooves clattered, driving the carriage wheels smoothly.
On both sides, dozens of armored cavalry escorted closely.
Inside the carriage, Li Xuan lifted the curtain and looked outside.
Dusk was like blood, the remaining sunlight fell on the cold land of deep winter, revealing a feeling of indescribable bleakness.
Li Xuan sniffed, the air seemed to carry a scent of blood.
"Many people died on the northern road," this kind of news clutched at his heart like a cold hand, causing him, accustomed to the prosperity and comfort, to feel fear.
Death awoke his vigilance.
Ill-intentioned visitors are surely coming.
Who dared to kill indiscriminately around here?
What else do they intend to do?!
...
Xiongshan and Chiyue counties' governments had been alarmed, and had respectively dispatched five hundred county soldiers to the site of the massacre.
Clearly, the governments of both counties believed that it might be the bandit remnants from Red Flower Mountain causing trouble.
Those bandits killed to demonstrate, to tell them "a blood debt must be paid with blood."
Of course, they must eradicate these "land rats" once again.
And it is precisely because the county soldiers were fairly well-equipped that Li Xuan dared to lead dozens of cavalry from the family along.
On the other side, the County Captain of Xiongshan County was quite welcoming to the Eldest Young Master Li bringing Li family martial artists along.
After all, the armor worn by the Li family's martial artists was superior to theirs, and the Li family was like a powerful dragon in Xiongshan County, even the County Magistrate dared not provoke them easily.
"How much longer?" Li Xuan asked, looking out the window.
Soon a cavalryman approached and said, "Eldest Young Master, two more hours; it will be Xu's time when we arrive."
With that, the cavalryman squeezed the horse's sides and then moved aside to protect the central carriage.
Li Xuan lowered the curtain.
Still two hours?
It seems it was just his imagination.
The air did not carry the scent of blood; it was just his psychological effect.
If he were five or six years old, he might have felt excited, for he would have thought that having arrived at the otherworld, perhaps there might be some method of cultivation, a way to achieve immortality.
But now, all that remained in his heart was heaviness and tension.
"Xiaoyao." Li Xuan looked at the cold girl sitting opposite him and asked, "Do you think our Great Yin Dynasty has some mysterious forces with overwhelming power? Or perhaps..."
He gestured with his hand, indicating her to come over.
Yaohua didn't move, she seemed to have a mind-reading skill, instantly understanding what Li Xuan wanted to ask, coldly said, "No ghosts."
Li Xuan said, "Could it be that you are too ignorant, never having seen them?"
An expression of visible speechlessness appeared on Yaohua's delicate face.
Although she practiced martial arts for many years, she was very slender, thin enough to be a coat hanger, even her long legs were just a bit thicker than firewood.
Due to her thinness, her clavicle and facial features were all visibly exposed.
On her exquisite oval face, her thin lips were often tightly pursed, and under her willow-leaf brows, her eyes were sharp and melancholic.
She seemed like a fragile lady, one that would collapse at the slightest breeze, yet her shooting skills were quite impressive.
The carriage fell silent once more.
The bloody sunset followed the movement of the curtain, casting intermittent shadows in the dimly lit carriage.
There was a touch of inexplicable eeriness in the air.
Li Xuan's Adam's apple moved, he suddenly stood up, and sat down heavily opposite her.
Yaohua remained motionless; she just gripped her rifle tightly, speaking, "To get to you, they would have to break through the Li family cavalry guarding the carriage, and then attack it before the Xiongshan County soldiers ahead could respond.
And in the carriage, I am here.
I won't die, and you won't either."
She added, "Eldest Young Master, I'm just trying to tell you that here, you're very safe."
Seeing Li Xuan still doubtful, she continued, "I've walked night paths, slept by graves, even entered cursed villages. If there were ghosts in this world, I would have met them long ago. Moreover, during my years roving the martial world, I've only heard of people pretending to be ghosts, but never met real ones."
Li Xuan asked, "Do you believe this is the work of Red Flower Mountain's remnants?"
Yaohua shook her head, "Who knows."
...
...
Xu's time.
The bright moon hung high.
Bodies lay wrapped in straw mats, neatly strewn on the wasteland at the foothills of Red Flower Mountain.
The moonlight and torches illuminated the chilling realm.
Li Xuan stared at the corpses.
In the distance, county soldiers were bringing bodies from afar, concentrating them in one place for easier identification.
The stench of corpses permeated everywhere, instilling horror and nausea, a true torment of body and mind.
At a glance, there were already two or three hundred corpses laid before him, no small number.
At that moment, a Li family cavalryman came over from a distance, dismounted, and ran to Li Xuan's side, whispering, "Young Master, there's something ahead."
Yaohua suddenly tightened her grip on her long rifle, her slim body instantly tensed, radiating fierce energy.
The Li family cavalryman chuckled helplessly, "Not an enemy, but found two dead bodies."
Li Xuan asked curiously, "What kind of dead bodies?"
The Li family cavalryman replied, "'Lightning Sword' Jing Yaoyan, 'Mountain-Cleaving Hand' Shang Shiju."
Yaohua's face changed suddenly, she remarked, "Young Master, these two are renowned masters."
Li Xuan asked, "How do you compare?"
Yaohua gently shook her head.
Li Xuan was delighted.
Yaohua said, "I am not as good."
Li Xuan:...
The Li family cavalry beside them gravely said, "Eldest Young Master, these two are famed in the province and state, nearly at the level of a Grandmaster, yet they unexpectedly died here. It seems..."
The cavalry lowered his voice and said, "This doesn't seem like something the remnants of Red Flower Mountain could accomplish."
Li Xuan took a deep breath and said, "Go take a look."
...
A moment later, Li Xuan, surrounded by a group of elite Li family members, arrived at a distant location.
There, it had already been cordoned off.
Flaming torches were held in people's hands, emitting a cold and eerie light, illuminating the simple armor of the county soldiers and the two indistinct corpses in the middle.
Among them, a middle-aged Martial Artist heard the sound of hooves, turned his head to look, and came forward, shouting from afar, "My worthy nephew."
This middle-aged Martial Artist was none other than Shan Jian, the County Captain of Xiongshan County. Li Xuan's second aunt was his wife, so calling him "worthy nephew" was quite fitting.
In fact, the forces in Xiongshan County are deeply intertwined; the noble families and the government have long been connected.
The imagined scenes of mutual competition and slaughtering do not exist.
Everyone earns money together, shares benefits, and harmony brings wealth. What's the point of internal strife and killing?
It's fair to say that as Li Xuan walked through this county, those big figures were always related to him in some way.
"Lord Shan!" Li Xuan glanced at Shan Jian, a man with a leopard head, usually somewhat reckless.
Li Xuan cupped his hands slightly as a greeting and then walked inside.
The county soldiers guarding outside naturally recognized this Young Master of the Li family; they wouldn't stop him and parted the way as Li Xuan approached.
Li Xuan walked closer and looked at the two bodies.
With just one glance, he was almost scared out of his wits.
Both corpses' abdomens were open, and except for the heads, all internal organs and even limbs' bones had been emptied!
Blood had exploded onto the surrounding wild grass.
The dried blood only stained the surrounding ground red.
From afar, they look like two skinned heads lying on a scarlet carpet, as eerie as it gets.
Li Xuan stepped forward, squatted down, and instinctively pinched a bit of the blood-colored soil from the ground.
Immediately, a scorching sensation surged from the soil, directly piercing his fingers, making him ache.
"Ah!"
Shan Jian quickly pulled him away, grabbed a leather water bag from the side, pulled the stopper, and poured cold water over his fingers.
Under the impact of the rushing cold water, Li Xuan felt the pain in his fingers ease slightly. Yet upon opening his hand, it seemed to have rubbed against a scorching iron plate, reddened extensively.
"My worthy nephew, though this blood has solidified, it remains inexplicably hot. I suspect it contains fire poison.
Take an Antitoxic Pill first, and then don't stay here any longer. Leave for the county as soon as dawn breaks."
Li Xuan nodded.
...
That night.
He and Yaohua stayed in a spacious tent, with patrolling county soldiers and night guards from the Li family.
Yaohua didn't enter the tent but stood with her spear, guarding the entrance.
Li Xuan wasn't inclined to sleep with her tonight either.
He tossed and turned restlessly, a blister already swollen on his index finger, with waves of burning pain coursing through.
Many questions and fears, along with concerns for his eldest sister, lingered in his mind, preventing him from finding sleep.
As time passed, nearing the second watch of the night, Li Xuan suddenly experienced a hallucination.
But at that moment, his eyes were clearly closed.
Li Xuan was taken aback, opened his eyes, and those words were still there.
He continued to close his eyes, and the words remained.
'This... this isn't an illusion.'
Li Xuan focused and looked.
[Li Xuan]
[Realm: Unskilled]
[Demon Points: 1]
[Strength: 6/10]
[Agility: 5/10]
[Physique: 7/10]
[Spirit: 6/10]
Below it was a row of peculiar blood-red slots.
These slots resembled the "inventory slots" seen in games Li Xuan played in his previous life.
The blood-red slots numbered nine in total, with eight appearing dim, except for the first slot brightly holding "a drop of blood."
Beside this drop of blood, there was information: Demon Blood (Deficient, Incomplete), may be activated or retrieved at any time.
...
...
Note: I originally planned to write in mid-month but found it hard to go a day without writing something, so I suddenly decided to post.
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