Saving People

In the mountain forest a dozen miles outside the village, Li Xiaoyao looked at the slovenly Wine Sword Immortal and bowed his head to the ground in respect.

He had just witnessed the prowess of this red-nosed old Daoist. Under the man's sword gestures, a single green-glowing precious sword moved like a living thing. At its peak, the blade could even manifest into dozens of long swords, each capable of inflicting injury, while the sharp sword qi carved dozens of deep gouges into the ground.

Initially, Li Xiaoyao had been dismissive when the old Daoist offered to teach him swordsmanship. However, upon realizing he had truly encountered a master—and given his own aspirations to be a hero who upheld justice and vanquished demons with a blade—he was naturally eager to become an apprentice.

The Wine Sword Immortal nodded, feeling quite satisfied with Li Xiaoyao. Not only was the boy kind-hearted, but his aptitude was also extraordinary. Furthermore, having consumed the boy's wine and food, it was only reasonable to teach him some of the sect's basic sword techniques.

As for sect rules, the Wine Sword Immortal held them in utter contempt, so he poured the Shushan Sword Control Technique into Li Xiaoyao's mind all at once.

It was a testament to Li Xiaoyao's exceptional talent that it took him only a few hours to basically master the sword control skills.

At this moment, the Wine Sword Immortal slapped his forehead. "Blast, I forgot about that little beggar. But my senior brother already summoned me back to the sect this morning. What am I to do?"

He glanced at Li Xiaoyao and immediately had an idea.

Wasn't this the young proprietor of the inn? Surely if he entrusted the matter to him, Aunt Li would not make things difficult for the little beggar.

After explaining the situation to Li Xiaoyao, the latter hurriedly agreed to take care of it.

"Good, that is excellent. You may return now. Remember! Once you have learned my Sword Control Technique, you must not engage in evil deeds, or I shall surely execute you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he transformed into a long rainbow of sword light and vanished into the sky.

Feeling as if he had been dreaming, Li Xiaoyao did not rise to head back until the sword light was no longer visible.

At this moment, unaware that Li Xiaoyao had already finished learning the Sword Control Technique, Li Wei was sneaking toward the woodshed on the first floor of the inn, staring up at the ceiling.

The private room of those Black Miao Tribesmen was directly above. Aside from the two Black Miao guards at the door, the room should contain only the sack holding Zhao Ling'er.

This was his chance!

Li Wei had secretly slipped some Croton Beans into the stew earlier. Thanks to the Yellow Paper, he had discovered a bag of them while searching for ingredients in the kitchen.

'Item [Croton Bean], plot world prop. Consuming it causes severe diarrhea and reduces attributes by 20%. Cannot be taken out of the plot world. Can be exchanged for 5 points!'

It would be a waste not to use such an item, so Li Wei had not been stingy, dumping all the beans into the pot of stew.

By now, those Black Miao Tribesmen, including the Black Miao Leader, were likely fighting over the latrine, which gave Li Wei the opportunity to rescue Zhao Ling'er.

In the game, Li Xiaoyao had created a secret passage beneath this room. After a brief search, Li Wei found a hidden door.

"Got it!"

He climbed up and gave it a gentle pull. A sliver of light shone through. Peering inside, Li Wei felt a sense of relief; the room was indeed empty.

Except for that burlap sack.

By the time Li Wei climbed into the room, his heart was pounding violently. He feared that the Black Miao guards outside might suddenly burst in, and he feared even more that the sack might not contain Zhao Ling'er.

Only after opening the sack and seeing that world-shaking beauty did Li Wei finally set his heart at ease.

"Plot character, [Zhao Ling'er] (weakened), possesses Five Spirit Immortal Arts, combat rating unknown!"

"Triggered quest: Rescue Zhao Ling'er. Quest completion reward: 500 points, Golden Sore Medicine ×3, 50 copper coins!"

The information on the Yellow Paper pointed out her identity and triggered a hidden quest.

He let out a long breath and examined her closely. Zhao Ling'er truly possessed a beauty that could topple cities, but she was currently gagged and pale, stirring in Li Wei a desire to protect her.

He swallowed hard, thinking to himself that such beauty was a source of misfortune, but he still blushed as he picked her up, intending to leave through the secret compartment. The rewards for this rescue quest were too generous to pass up.

Just then, Zhao Ling'er in his arms stirred awake. She opened her bright, large eyes, only to see she was being held by a stranger with her mouth gagged. Instinctively, she let out a muffled "woo-woo" sound and began to struggle.

Li Wei panicked. Who would have thought she would wake up at such a critical moment?

Although bound, Zhao Ling'er possessed the Five Spirit Immortal Arts, and her constitution was far superior to Li Wei's. With a violent headbutt to his chest, she knocked him away.

The commotion was too loud. The two Black Miao guards outside the door rushed in first. Seeing the scene, they both drew their curved sabers and charged at Li Wei.

"Plot character, [Black Miao Minion], uses Refined Steel Miao Saber, possesses extraordinary constitution and destructive power, combat rating unknown!"

It was over!

Li Wei rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a saber strike. Just as he looked up, the other tribesman's saber slashed horizontally. The strike was fast and vicious. Although Li Wei tried his best to retreat, the sharp blade still sliced open his chest.

Pain! The agony of his flesh being torn made Li Wei shudder. He looked down to see his clothes soaked in blood.

It was too fast. These two were merely minions, yet they were this formidable. Li Wei re-evaluated the settings of this world; even a weakened Zhao Ling'er could knock him away, let alone these two Black Miao Tribesmen.

Between life and death, Li Wei threw caution to the wind. He leaped backward while pulling out his only weapon with both hands.

'Lantern of the Wraith'

Wraith, release!

A jet-black ghostly aura surged from the lantern, pouncing toward one of the Black Miao Tribesmen in the blink of an eye. A piercing shriek added a layer of ghostly dread to the room.

The tribesman was fierce, but he couldn't help but freeze at the sight of the specter. This gave the ghost the upper hand; with a slash, a bloody gash appeared on the Black Miao Tribesman's neck.

Having succeeded in its first strike, the ghost continued to attack with shrieks. The two Black Miao Tribesmen reacted, showing no fear of the ghost as they brandished their sabers and engaged the wraith in a chaotic brawl.

Only then did Li Wei have a chance to catch his breath.

He retreated to Zhao Ling'er's side. The beautiful girl now realized she had "wronged" a good person, and her lovely eyes were filled with apology.

Li Wei quickly untied the ropes binding Zhao Ling'er. Without wasting words, he simply asked for help and charged forward with a wooden stool in hand.

It was kill or be killed!

Li Wei could not guarantee his wraith could defeat these two formidable Black Miao Tribesmen. Their strength and speed were inhuman; if his own constitution was the baseline for a normal person, these two were at least twice as fast and strong.

Although the wraith could leave many small wounds on them, none were fatal, which showed just how tough the Black Miao were.

If these were just minions, he couldn't imagine how strong the Black Miao Leader might be.

"The wraith's duration is only 15 minutes, which means I must end the fight within this time! Besides..." Li Wei reached out to touch the wound on his chest, his expression turning grave.

"I don't think I can last 15 minutes with this kind of injury!"