Wind Blowing, Cranes Crying (Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Senior Brother, if I were you, I'd carry the patient and run as fast as possible. Otherwise, it might be too late."

As soon as the freckled girl left the shop and out of everyone's sight, her expression turned slightly pale. She forced herself to stay calm and said.

Her voice could be heard trembling slightly.

She was genuinely anxious.

Not like before, when she was just acting like a villain.

"I'll carry her. Little one, don't you know men and women shouldn't touch? My junior brother doesn't let just anyone carry him."

"Tch."

The freckled girl pouted but didn't say anything.

Instead, she obediently let Ouyang Lan carry her.

Tears fell again.

After a while, she said, "My name is Ji Wenxiu. Senior Brother, Senior Sister, you can just call me Wenxiu."

The three of them sprinted towards the main road.

Ouyang Lan felt the dampness on her shoulder and frowned. Her heart softened slightly as she thought, Why am I getting angry with a child? She's just a pitiable person.

With that thought, her tone softened a bit, and she asked, "You had already escaped danger, so why did you have to curse those people so harshly? The martial world is a mixed bag, and you never know if there are experts hidden among them. It's not wise to offend people everywhere you go."

"Long hair... No, I'm not talking about you, Senior Sister. Junior Sister means this brother here wouldn't find it strange. He'd only think I cursed well."

"Hm?"

Ouyang Lan turned to look at Lu Wu-bing.

She saw her junior brother, who was moving at the same pace, also using his Qinggong, showing no signs of surprise. Instead, his eyes were cold as he scanned the sides of the road.

This posture was familiar. She had seen it countless times on the road, his vigilance at its peak.

"Junior Brother, do you believe her nonsense?"

"I don't. However, Wenxiu's outburst just now was indeed intentional. She probably wanted to change her image, pretending to be an annoying country bumpkin so people would mistake her for a crude village girl." Lu Wu-bing paused here. "This suggests that Wenxiu's identity might be extraordinary. If word gets out, it could lead to endless complications. Am I right?"

"That's right, little brother, your brain works really well."

Ji Wenxiu's little mouth seemed coated in honey. Even when she spoke nicely, Ouyang Lan couldn't help but roll her eyes.

It seemed her junior brother had misjudged. This girl wasn't pretending to be crude; she just was. Ouyang Lan wondered how the senior sisters on Bright Moon Peak could stand such a person whose mouth was sharper than a viper's. And they even took her in as a disciple.

Now, Ouyang Lan guessed that the two heroines mentioned by Sister-in-law Tong on Chaoyang Peak were, besides the ethereal Senior Sister Xuan Yi, this Ji Wenxiu. The details of that battle were now impossible to ascertain. Although the young girl appeared to have no ulterior motives, and her words were unguarded, she hadn't spoken a single truly useful word. Only from her secretly tearful expression could one see her inner pain and regret.

"The deceased are at peace. Junior Brother and I have already avenged Senior Sister Xuan Yi. The bandits on Chaoyang Stronghold, from the three great leaders to over a hundred villains, were all wiped out. The great leader Chen San-yang had his throat slit by Junior Brother's sword, breaking his Iron Shirt Golden Thread Armor, and died a gruesome death. The second leader, Soul-Reaping Spear Ge Zhong, was also impaled through the heart..."

"I know. The senior sisters of Bright Moon Palace always liked places with beautiful scenery. So, they found a small hillside by the water, with three pear trees, to be her final resting place. Junior Sister, you can visit Chaoyang Peak in the future." Ouyang Lan said softly.

Hearing a faint "Thank you" from beside her, like a mosquito's buzz, she felt a pang of sadness. She continued, "Since you might encounter strong enemies, we can't just leave you behind. Since Junior Sister also comes from Bright Moon Peak, you must have learned the Heavenly Heart Bright Moon Sword. Why don't Junior Brother treat your injuries first? If we encounter strong enemies, we can either fight or flee, which is better than being unable to move."

This was sound reasoning.

The group immediately found a flat patch of grass by the roadside. Using their sharp swords, they cleared a space and sat down to treat the injuries.

"Your hands and left knee are both hard injuries, as if someone forcefully bent them. It must have been that perverted thief who did this." Looking at Ji Wenxiu's swollen red elbows and left knee, Lu Wu-bing gained more insight into the flower-picking thief's depravity. The fact that he could dislocate the joints without damaging the tendons showed extreme skill. He wondered how many arms and legs he had broken before.

However, it was likely due to this peculiar hobby that Ji Wenxiu's limbs did not suffer irreversible, severe damage. This could be considered fortunate amidst misfortune.

Lu Wu-bing's bone-setting technique wasn't particularly skilled, but with his current talent, once he understood it, a little practice was all it took to master it.

He found a stick to practice with, and soon it looked quite professional.

Crack...

In a flash.

He restored Ji Wenxiu's injured arm and leg to normal, then gently massaged away the bruises, applying a medicinal ointment for muscle regeneration and swelling reduction. In a short while, she was no longer in serious danger.

Ji Wenxiu was already happily walking on the ground, even managing to draw the short sword hidden in her calf and practice her sword forms.

This physical condition.

Was far superior to the delicate, pampered women he'd encountered in his previous life's workplace.

"Tell me, what exactly are you afraid of? What are you trying to hide? If you keep hiding it, now that your injuries have improved, why don't we part ways? You go your own way, and I…"

"No!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Wenxiu burst into tears.

Heart-wrenching sobs.

"Look, look, I prefer your untamed self from before. Crying like this, anyone who didn't know would think we did something to you."

Lu Wu-bing was somewhat exasperated.

From his past life to this one, he had never liked women who cried and laughed, changing moods like the weather.

He always felt that emotionally unstable women were like lunatics.

He never knew when they might explode on him.

Although she hailed from Bright Moon Peak, which was affiliated with the Celestial Star Sect he was about to join, they were still two different sects.

If the trouble she was in was too great, he wanted to distance himself from it.

He couldn't possibly walk into a tiger's den knowingly.

Not knowing who was right or wrong, getting casually entangled in the whirlpool of the martial world was hardly the act of a wise person.

Moreover, he himself was currently in a lot of trouble.

He didn't know if people from the Eastern Sea Sword Sect were still hot on his heels.

Had his parents completely escaped and settled down safely?

The matter of the Yuanling Swordplay Manual remained a huge hidden danger. Until the Eastern Sea Sword Sect, this bane, was eliminated, there would be no true peace.

Lu Wu-bing was very clear about this.

"That day, the Yellow Springs Ghost Mother appeared with her elders. The Blood Lotus Sect's Blood Shadow and Blood Cloud, two demonic figures, ambushed us first, killing many soldiers.

Master made a decisive choice and immediately ordered the envoy team to proceed first as bait.

Furthermore, several Senior Sisters split up and left, drawing away the pursuers… and had me take a secret path to sneak through the pass."

At this point, Ji Wenxiu couldn't afford to conceal the information. After some thought, she revealed what she could.

She had only just begun when.

Ouyang Lan listened with a pounding heart.

Especially when she thought of her father rushing to support them, her heart leaped into her throat.

"How many groups of pursuers were there?"

She asked urgently.

"The Yellow Springs Sect had one group, with the Ghost Mother appearing. The Blood Lotus Sect also had one group, though no particularly powerful figures came. The Reincarnation Sect, however, sent one of the Four Judges, Cui Lin-er, and one of the Left and Right Soul-Reaping Envoys, Horse Face…"

"What?"

Ouyang Lan's face turned pale.

Who were these people?

Among the Demonic Sect's Six Paths, the Blood Lotus Sect Leader and the Yellow Springs Sect Leader were experts on the same level as the sect leaders of the Three Divine Peaks.

The mere reputation of the Yellow Springs Ghost Mother alone could make children cry and give adults a splitting headache.

However, compared to the Demonic Sect's ancestral court, the Reincarnation Sect on Revolving Wheel Mountain, these sects were mere trifles.

The Reincarnation Sect Leader was hailed as a rare genius, appearing only once in several centuries. He was a potential candidate for the next Supreme Grandmaster.

In the current martial world, he was implicitly considered the foremost expert.

This person's surname was Ye, and his name was Ye Wushuang, known in the martial world as the "Night Emperor."

One could imagine how powerful the Demonic Sect's Six Paths were with such a figure in command.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the demonic forces were prospering while the righteous path declined.

Under the Night Emperor, his strongest experts were the Left and Right Soul-Reaping Envoys, and the Four Judges.

According to Ji Wenxiu, this time, at Tiger Ridge Pass, there was one Soul-Reaping Envoy, one Judge, and the Yellow Springs Ghost Mother, a sect leader.

What a magnificent lineup.

It's almost enough to succeed even if they were attacking the Celestial Star Sect's main mountain.

To surround and kill the Cold Moon Fairy, they needed to deploy such a force?

And Ji Wenxiu, to use the envoy's troops as bait to clear a path for her escape from Tiger Ridge Pass, just who is she exactly?

"The envoy, bait?"

Lu Wu-bing was also shaken to his core.

No way, no way.

He remembered that his father, Old Man Lu, and his mother were sent by the Sect Leader Master into the entourage of a court official from the Ministry of Rites.

This group of people, returning from Northern Zhou, wouldn't that be the envoy?

Could they be in danger?

Back then, the Eastern Sea Sword Sect suddenly appeared in Jiangzhou, and even the bandit forces obeyed their command.

Even the failed scholar [Baicao Shusheng] appeared in Jiangzhou and joined the pursuit...

Connecting these events.

Lu Wu-bing could arrive at a terrifying conclusion.

Things have gotten serious.

After all this back and forth, it turns out everyone has been facing the same group of enemies all along.

No one could escape unscathed.

Seeking monthly votes.