"Who is your husband?" E Guan Manying asked using his stomach voice.
There were three women on the other side. One was an ordinary person, and one was at the Houtian level. Neither posed any threat.
But the woman who had spoken was impossible to read. From her manner, she was clearly no pushover.
On top of that, there were more than thirty mounted warriors, all wearing iron armor and carrying steel sabers. Their cultivation was at least Houtian. In the jianghu, this force already ranked as a second-rate clan.
"My husband's surname is Li, and his given name is Hao. People in the jianghu call him the Amorous Swordsman." Ning Zhongze sounded a little unsure. She didn't know whether they had heard of Li Hao.
Of course, it would be best if she could scare E Guan Manying off. He was a renowned Grandmaster whose name had been famous in the jianghu for years, with extraordinary skills. She was no match for him, having only broken through with the help of external forces. What's more, he had Innate Peak Ye Erniang and late-Innate Yun Zhonghe with him. Her side would be at a disadvantage in a fight, no question.
"Li Hao? Boss, these women belong to that Amorous Swordsman Li Hao—the one who killed the Five Poisons Child and took Lin Shiyin. Damn it, he's got such beautiful wives and concubines. Why's he still fighting us over Lin Shiyin?" Yun Zhonghe shrieked.
The comparison left him feeling extremely resentful. This was just too unfair.
Heartbroken, miserable, blue and sick at heart! One man hoarding so many resources—could his kidneys even handle it?
"You've already ruined so many young girls. Why go after Lin Shiyin too? Aren't you men all the same?" Ye Erniang said with a laugh.
Her laughter only made the scars on her face look even more sinister and terrifying.
That Li Hao! We've been waiting here for him, and he's gone off chasing after another man's wife. Ning Zhongze thought, but her face remained expressionless.
Ning Zhongze didn't believe Li Hao would ever play the righteous hero. He was the sort who wouldn't lift a finger unless there was something in it for him.
Without a benefit to gain, he wouldn't even blink if you died right in front of him.
"The Amorous Swordsman, Li Hao. The Four Evils have no grudge against him. Release my third brother, and we'll leave at once," Duan Yanqing said after a moment's thought.
"Heh. The Four Evils are famous throughout the land, but I've never heard of you caring about the rules of the jianghu. I think we should wait until my husband returns before discussing this. Yan Shun, listen carefully. If they make a move, kill Yue Laosan at once, then fight to the death," Ning Zhongze said sternly.
If she handed Yue Laosan over now and they went back on their word, her group would be done for.
"Yes, Madam." Yan Shun had been a bandit who'd killed countless people. At Ning Zhongze's order, he immediately pressed his steel saber against the other side of Yue Laosan's neck.
Yue Laosan: Buddy, keep steady. Don't let your hand shake. Oh, damn it, kid, what are you getting worked up for? I said don't shake! You've scraped my neck—look, it's bleeding!
"So you've decided to refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Once I make my move, not one of you will survive." As he spoke, he circulated his inner strength. The aura of a mid-Grandmaster made everyone present struggle to breathe.
Duan Yanqing was a remarkable talent. He was the only person in the jianghu to have reached mid-Grandmaster despite his crippled body.
"If we're all going to die anyway, then we'll fight to the bitter end. As long as we hold out until my husband gets here, you're done for. And my husband's eldest brother is Qiao Feng, while his second brother is Li Xunhuan. If you dare touch us, you'd better be ready to spend the rest of your life on the run!" Ning Zhongze spoke without a trace of fear.
"You're asking for death!" The leader of the villains flew into a rage. He had roamed the jianghu for years, and no one had ever dared to slight him—especially not by rejecting him to his face. Not only had she refused him, she had dared to threaten him, too.
He raised his iron crutch and swung it down at Ning Zhongze's head.
Ning Zhongze was no pushover either. She wielded the Nineteen Swords of the Jade Maiden with exquisite skill, her swordwork forming an impenetrable defense.
But in the end, Ning Zhongze was a woman, and she couldn't match E Guan Manying's strength.
The villain leader's iron crutch was a heavy weapon, and he swung it with great force. Every blow carried a thousand catties of strength, enough to shatter stone tablets and split rocks. Ning Zhongze soon fell onto the back foot.
If Ning Zhongze's inner strength had surpassed Duan Yanqing's, she could have easily dealt with him by relying on the variations of Maiden Swordplay. Unfortunately, her inner strength was her weakness.
Just as Duan Yanqing knocked Ning Zhongze's sword aside with one crutch and his other crutch was about to strike her chest, the villain leader suddenly retreated at speed. Where he had been standing, a dense row of golden needles now littered the ground.
At the sight of the needles, cold sweat broke out across Duan Yanqing's back. This hidden weapon was vicious—it was made to pierce Innate Qi!
"Well said, darling. We Li family members don't bully people, but we won't let anyone bully us, either." Ning Zhongze had just escaped death when Li Hao's voice rang out from a distance.
"Already? Is he a ghost? No wonder you ran off, Fourth Brother. When you run into a monster like that, if you're too slow, you won't get away at all," Ye Erniang said, watching Li Hao drift toward them from afar.
When it came to speed, no one could match Li Hao now. And as his strength increased, his speed kept growing, too.
Yun Zhonghe: You've bullied me half to death, and you're saying you don't bully people? What, do you think I'm a ghost?
"Your second brother is Li Xunhuan." Lin Shiyin, cradled in Li Hao's arms, had been blushing, but her face instantly turned dark as ink.
"Yeah!" Li Hao answered honestly. He'd already had his way with her, so he didn't mind Lin Shiyin learning who he was.
After six hundred days of affection, just thinking about it made his legs feel weak.
If the system hadn't given him a little extra length, he wasn't sure he could have beaten the exceptionally gifted Lin Shiyin in their final battle.
"You mean Li Xunhuan, the Little Li Flying Dagger?" Lin Shiyin asked through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, Little Li Flying Dagger, Li Xunhuan. Don't tell me you know my second brother! Well, you're both from Jiangnan, and my second brother is so handsome. I bet you're a fan. Don't worry. You're my woman now, so I'll introduce you two when I get the chance." Li Hao spouted nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
He'd known about Lin Shiyin's relationship with Li Xunhuan in his previous life, but now he could only pretend not to know. Being a person was exhausting!
"It's nothing. I just used to admire him." Lin Shiyin was about to cry. What kind of situation was this?
If she'd known her cousin was his second brother, why would she have thrown herself to the tiger?
What was she supposed to do now? They'd spent the entire afternoon together! Her biggest worry was that a month from now, she'd discover she was pregnant.
"So you're the Amorous Swordsman, Li Hao." E Guan Manying's voice, like the sound of someone playing a two-stringed fiddle, rang out again.
"Duan Yanqing, you've got some nerve, coming here to cause trouble for me." Li Hao glared viciously at E Guan Manying.
If he hadn't returned so quickly, Ning Zhongze would probably have died beneath Duan Yanqing's iron crutch.
If Ning Zhongze died, Yi Lin and the others wouldn't survive either.
Looks like it's time to raise Yan Shun and the others' strength. No wonder the system rewarded him with a whole basin of Bodhi Snake Galls.
Before you continue