On another main road leading to Great Green Mountain, a very different scene unfolded.
Hoofbeats rumbled like thunder, shattering the snow and ice on the official road.
A party of roughly five riders galloped toward Great Green Mountain like lightning.
The riders, men and women alike, wore finely made, well-tailored black fitted clothes beneath cold-weather cloaks. Yet the most eye-catching feature was
the emblem embroidered in silver thread on their chests and cuffs—five lifelike fierce tigers in varying poses, pouncing or crouching, encircling one another in a majestic design!
The embroidery was so exquisite that even Qinghe County's finest embroiderers could not have captured such imposing spirit.
Every rider was brimming with vitality, their gazes sharp. In every glance and gesture, they carried the pride and confidence born of long training and deep foundations.
Clearly, they were not martial artists a remote little town like Qinghe County could have cultivated.
The leader was, surprisingly, a woman.
She was about twenty, her dark hair pinned up with a simple jade hairpin. A few loose strands brushed across her smooth forehead and heroic brows in the wind.
On the horse beside her sat a slightly older, handsome man.
The way he looked at the leading woman held unconcealed ardor and admiration. At that moment, he nudged his horse closer. "Senior Sister Li! Once we cross the mountain ahead, we'll enter Great Green Mountain territory. Should we find somewhere to rest first? We've been traveling day and night, and even the horses are tired."
Li Qingwu did not turn back, her gaze still fixed on the distant chain of mountain shadows. "Xu Feng, if you're tired, you can stay in the village at the foot of the mountain."
"Not tired, not tired!" Xu Feng hurriedly straightened his back. "I was worried about Senior