Trouble

After Long Yuying and Qing Rou clashed with the people from the Town Martial Department, Bi Changsheng immediately judged their strength.

Long Yuying and the woman beside her were respectively in the Inner Strength Realm and Bone Forging Realm. Of the four Town Martial Department men fighting them, two were in the Inner Strength Realm and two in the Bone Forging Realm. Clearly, the Town Martial Department had some understanding of Long Yuying's strength as well.

The longsword in Long Yuying's hand surged like raging waves, one crest after another, actually forcing the two Inner Strength Realm Town Martial Department martial artists besieging her into a disadvantage.

The woman named Xiao Rou wielded a fierce, domineering style of fistwork, holding her own against the joint assault of two Bone Forging Realm Town Martial Department martial artists.

"Young Master, the two of us will risk our lives to hold them back later. Take the chance to escape."

After forcing her two opponents back, Long Yuying seized the opportunity to speak to Bi Changsheng. In her view, there was no hope of escape this time. Given the Town Martial Department's way of doing things, Bi Changsheng and the others at the scene would certainly be implicated by them.

Thus, she had already decided to erupt with all her strength later and hold off the Town Martial Department men, creating an opportunity for Bi Changsheng and the others to flee.

"Go capture the rebel's accomplices."

It would have been better if Long Yuying had said nothing. The moment she spoke, the Town Martial Department leader immediately sent another three men to seize Bi Changsheng and the others as well.

Woof! Woof!

Seeing the three Town Martial Department men approaching Bi Changsheng's group, Little Black, fiercely protective of its master, barked threateningly at them.

"Keep barking, and I'll stew you and eat you later."

One of the Town Martial Department men was getting annoyed by Little Black's barking.

After Bi Changsheng's feeding over the past few days, Little Black was no longer as thin as when Bi Changsheng had first encountered it. The instant it heard that it would be stewed, Little Black immediately bared a vicious, ferocious expression and barked several times at the Town Martial Department man. Then it became a streak of black lightning, charging forward and biting down on the martial artist's arm.

"Argh! You're courting death!"

Little Black was extremely fast, and the man had been caught off guard, allowing it to bite him. With a forceful fling of his arm, he threw Little Black away, smashing it into the ground.

Little Black shook its body after hitting the ground, intending to pounce again.

The Town Martial Department martial artist also planned to step forward and kill the dog that had dared rush at him and bite him. It was simply outrageously bold.

Seeing this, Bi Changsheng knew he had no choice but to act again. Though Little Black was far sturdier than an ordinary dog, it was no match for a true martial artist.

My luck has really been rotten lately.

Bi Changsheng muttered to himself inwardly. He was someone who hated trouble, yet he had been dragged into conflicts twice in recent days. While luck had played a part, it also showed just how chaotic the world truly was.

This only strengthened Bi Changsheng's resolve to grow stronger as quickly as possible. Otherwise, would he not be wasting the Longevity Dao Fruit for nothing? Only by becoming sufficiently powerful could he calmly watch the tides rise and fall, enjoying the endless Lifespan bestowed by the Longevity Dao Fruit.

Bi Changsheng drew the Qingfeng Sword he had already taken out when he sensed something was wrong earlier. To distinguish his identity from Ximen Xue's, Bi Changsheng did not wear the Storage Ring on his hand. Instead, he threaded it onto a cord and wore it around his neck. After all, his inheritance from the underground palace was no secret.

With a sword step, he arrived before the three men. The Sword Shadow Storm bloomed, and before the three Town Martial Department men could react, they had already fallen dead. Bi Changsheng had not even erupted with his blood qi.

"There's another expert here. Get him together!"

Seeing Bi Changsheng instantly slaughter three of his subordinates, the leading man stationed at the scene recognized that Bi Changsheng's strength was formidable. He did not dare be careless and called for the remaining Town Martial Department men to join forces against Bi Changsheng.

Seeing the power of blood qi erupt from the leader's body, Bi Changsheng grew slightly more serious as well. A portion of the blood qi within him erupted, spreading onto the Qingfeng Sword.

Bi Changsheng had not wasted time during this journey either. Once his body had fully recovered, he continued his Life-Spending Cultivation. By now, his blood qi had broken through to the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke realm, and his ordinary strength was already enough to defeat an average martial artist in the early True Qi Realm.

Therefore, even without using his full strength, the Town Martial Department men were utterly no match for Bi Changsheng. When the Blood Qi Sword Qi storm bloomed again, the Town Martial Department martial artists fell one after another beneath Bi Changsheng's sword.

The leader in the early Qi and Blood Realm was no exception.

On the other side, after seeing Bi Changsheng display such overwhelming strength and slaughter his enemies, Long Yuying was both shocked and overjoyed. Seizing the opportunity, she erupted with every ounce of strength in her body and slashed out with a sword strike like a tsunami crashing against the shore, brimming with crushing pressure.

The two Town Martial Department martial artists fighting her had already been thrown into turmoil after witnessing Bi Changsheng's one-sided massacre of their leader and companions. When Long Yuying's tsunami-like sword strike came crashing down, they revealed fatal openings amid their flustered scramble.

Long Yuying seized the openings exposed by the two men and killed them both in one stroke.

By then, Bi Changsheng had already eliminated all the other Town Martial Department martial artists. However, he had no intention of going over to help. Instead, he returned to Uncle Fu and the others, quietly watching the battle on Long Yuying's side.

Before the battle there ended, Bi Changsheng did not intend to act. If Long Yuying's side won, there would naturally be no need for him to intervene. If the Town Martial Department men won, Bi Changsheng certainly would not let any fish slip through the net. He would act again and kill every remaining Town Martial Department man.

As for why he did this, it was naturally because Bi Changsheng had suffered an undeserved calamity brought about by Long Yuying and Qing Rou. It would be impossible to say he held no resentment at all.

After dealing with her own two opponents, Long Yuying turned to help Xiao Rou. With Long Yuying joining the fight, the final two Town Martial Department men were soon slain by the two women as well.

"This humble woman is Long Yuying, and this is my maid, Qing Rou. I am deeply sorry that our affairs dragged you into this, Young Master."

"Thank you, Young Master, for coming to our aid."

After finishing off the enemies, Long Yuying immediately came before Bi Changsheng, introducing herself and expressing both her apology and gratitude.

Just then, Bi Changsheng's blood qi erupted once more. He struck out with his palm, and the surging blood qi directly sent the two women flying to the ground.

"This is a small punishment for the trouble you brought me."

"Hand over half the silver you have on you as well. Consider it payment for my intervention."

Bi Changsheng had always been someone who disliked trouble, yet these two had dragged him into the trouble they brought with them. If not for the fact that Long Yuying was at least someone willing to take responsibility, and that Bi Changsheng held some goodwill toward her father, the heroic Long Hanwen, he would not have merely given them a small punishment. Nor would he have left them with a single coin.

"Thank you for showing mercy, Young Master."

Long Yuying, who had suffered a minor injury from Bi Changsheng's palm strike, rose to her feet and thanked him. She also understood that if Bi Changsheng had not been powerful enough, being implicated by them would certainly have led to no good end.

Thus, Long Yuying bore no resentment whatsoever over Bi Changsheng's palm strike. Instead, she obediently took out half the banknotes on her person and handed them to Bi Changsheng.

However, since they were currently fleeing, they only had a few hundred taels' worth of banknotes on them.

"No matter what, I must still thank you for helping us, Young Master. If there is ever a place where you can make use of us, Yuying will certainly not shrink from duty."

Long Yuying thanked him once more.

"I don't want the slightest entanglement with you. Just pretend you've never seen us."

Without the slightest courtesy, Bi Changsheng accepted the banknotes Long Yuying handed over and spoke to her group.

Those people had, after all, belonged to the Town Martial Department. Backed by Great Gan, the Town Martial Department possessed unfathomable strength—far beyond what Bi Changsheng could deal with at present. If they learned that someone had killed their men, they certainly would not let the matter rest.

"Rest assured, Young Master. We were solely responsible for this matter; it will not implicate you in the slightest."

Smart people really did understand at the slightest hint. Long Yuying hurriedly stated that she would take responsibility for the matter and would not reveal it to anyone.

"That would be for the best."

Seeing that Long Yuying understood what he meant, Bi Changsheng nodded in satisfaction.

The heavy rain outside had already stopped. After what had happened, and just in case, Bi Changsheng no longer intended to remain in the Mountain God Temple. He had Uncle Fu, Liu Zhengqing, and the others pack their things, then set out again under cover of night. This time, however, Bi Changsheng and Liu Zhengqing drove the carriage in front, while Uncle Fu rested inside the carriage.

"Young Lady, that young master was so powerful. How come we've never heard of him before?" Qing Rou, who had been frightened by Bi Changsheng's sudden outburst, asked Long Yuying curiously after Bi Changsheng's group had left.

"The world is vast beyond measure, and capable people and extraordinary figures are as numerous as the stars. How could we possibly have heard of every one of them? Just a few days ago, wasn't it said that a powerful swordsman named Ximen Xue had suddenly appeared in Lin'an City of Yunguang Prefecture, capable of beheading a late-stage True Qi Realm grandmaster with a single sword strike?"

"So, you should straighten out your mindset more when you travel abroad in the future. Otherwise, you may easily provoke unnecessary trouble."

"And I have already promised that young master to keep this matter tightly sealed. Be careful not to let anything slip from your mouth either."

Long Yuying took the opportunity to lecture Qing Rou again.

"Yes, Young Lady."

"Young Lady, do you think that young master can compare to the Ten Great Young Lords of Great Gan?"

After answering earnestly, Qing Rou asked Long Yuying again with curiosity.

"In my judgment, this young master's strength is in no way inferior to some among the Ten Great Young Lords."

Only after thinking for a while did Long Yuying reply seriously.

The two of them did not chat any further. Enduring their injuries, they dealt with the corpses of the Town Martial Department's group together, then did not linger in the Mountain God Temple either, instead heading in the direction opposite to Bi Changsheng's party.