Hello, Miss

The destruction of Blood Wolf Hall soon threw all the powers in Black Stone City into a panic.

They quickly joined forces to avoid being defeated one by one.

But by then, the instigator was already standing atop a sand dune twenty miles outside the city on horseback, gazing into the distance toward the southeast.

The Vast Mountain Range lay across the earth like a giant dragon.

Beyond the Vast Mountain Range lay Southern Mangzhou, said to be a completely different world.

The climate was hot and humid. Mountains rose and fell everywhere, forests grew thick and lush, the mountains were perilous and the waters treacherous, miasma hung in the air, wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards roamed freely, venomous creatures ran rampant, and even demonic beasts appeared from time to time.

"Li City!"

After gazing into the distance for a long while, Xia Daoming suddenly spat out two words. Then he cracked his whip, urged his horse onward, charged down the dune, and raced toward the southeast.

Li City was located in Southern Mangzhou and was one of Mangzhou's great cities.

It was said that the various powers within the city were intertwined like tangled roots, with experts as numerous as clouds. There were not only Great Martial Masters above the Fifth Rank, but even Martial Dao Grandmasters above the Ninth Rank.

Martial Masters had Twelve Ranks. Ranks One through Four were also called Lesser Martial Masters, Ranks Five through Eight were Great Martial Masters, Ranks Nine through Eleven were Martial Dao Grandmasters, while the Twelfth Rank was separately known as Grandmaster.

Qiu Zhiheng had learned the Dragon Serpent Art in Li City back then. Yet his talent was limited; even nearing thirty, he had failed to touch the threshold of a Fifth-Rank Martial Master. Having also offended a formidable figure, he had no choice but to flee to Black Stone City, where he opened a martial arts school to make a living.

Ranks Five through Eight were the realm of Great Martial Masters, and they had their own deeper, more profound methods for circulating force.

Qiu Zhiheng had only been a Fourth-Rank Martial Master and did not possess the circulation methods of the Dragon Serpent Art beyond the Fourth Rank.

Now Xia Daoming was also a Fourth-Rank Martial Master, and his meridians had already been strengthened to the ninth level. As long as he went to Li City, found the martial arts school where Qiu Zhiheng had studied, and learned the subsequent techniques, then once his meridians had fully completed their ninth-level strengthening, he would be able to step into the realm of a Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master.

However, Li City was thousands of miles away. Not only was the journey long, but bandits were common along the way, as were poisonous insects and savage beasts.

The stretch that crossed the Vast Mountain Range was said to be especially perilous. Many traveling merchants did not dare travel alone at all; they had to form groups at the foot of the Vast Mountain Range before daring to set out into the mountains.

And the most crucial thing was not even that. The most crucial thing was that Xia Daoming had never traveled far from Black Stone City. Forget Li City, thousands of miles away—even many places just a few hundred miles away were places he had never visited, only heard others mention.

That made this journey all the more difficult and dangerous.

Fortunately, Xia Daoming was no longer the man he had once been. Forget a Fourth-Rank Martial Master—even against a Fifth-Rank Martial Master, so long as the opponent was not particularly formidable, he was confident he could defeat them with his powerful force.

Not only that, after looting Blood Wolf Hall, he had struck it rich. The banknotes and loose gold and silver on him added up to over five thousand taels, enough to cover his expenses along the way, as well as settling down and apprenticing himself after reaching Li City.

That was where Xia Daoming's confidence lay.

Thirty days later.

Under the blazing sun, Xia Daoming stood alone atop an earthen mound in the Gobi, a saddlebags slung over his shoulder and a leather water pouch tied at his waist, looking into the distance.

The wind swept up sand and dust from the Gobi. Beneath the sun, it formed a haze of warped light, like a veil of misty colored gauze draped over the endless wasteland.

White bones lay scattered everywhere, glaringly pale and chilling beneath the sunlight.

A few bare, stunted trees, without a single leaf, swayed helplessly amid the wind and sand.

Xia Daoming licked his somewhat cracked lips, and a bitter smile surfaced on his face.

He was lost.

By rights, he should have reached the next resting place, Eya City, two days ago.

Yet he had not seen a trace of human habitation for two whole days.

And yesterday, when the house leaked, the rain had poured all night. The horse that had carried him for thirty days had suddenly been attacked by a rattlesnake and died in the wilderness.

"I hope I can see signs of people before dark. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to spend another night in the desert." Xia Daoming glanced at the fiery red sun gradually sinking westward, then continued onward toward the southeast.

Both Li City and the Vast Mountain Range lay in the southeast.

Now that he was lost and unable to tell the roads apart, he could only keep going in the general direction.

Just as he descended the earthen mound, Xia Daoming heard hoofbeats approaching from behind.

His spirits immediately lifted. He hurriedly turned around and saw a woman on horseback charging down the mound.

"Hello, miss!" Xia Daoming hurriedly waved and called out.

The woman quickly noticed Xia Daoming, and her expression changed drastically. She actually jerked the reins, turned her horse, and galloped off in another direction.

"Miss, don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand! I just want to ask for directions!" Xia Daoming hurriedly shouted, chasing after her as he called out.

He could not help it. He had been lost for two days, and after finally running into another person, how could he let her go so easily?

But he was carrying things on his back. How could he possibly outrun a horse on four legs?

Just as the rider and horse were about to vanish in a cloud of dust, the horse suddenly stumbled and crashed to the ground.

Fortunately, the woman was agile. With a hand pressed against the horse's back, she leaped cleanly to the ground.

When she turned to look at the horse, foam was already spilling from its mouth. It had been worked to exhaustion.

The woman's face changed drastically, and a trace of despair appeared in her eyes. But Xia Daoming was secretly delighted. As he strode quickly toward her, he called out, "Miss, don't misunderstand. I'm lost. I only wanted to ask you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Daoming's expression changed sharply.

The ground trembled as thunderous hoofbeats rang out, drawing closer from afar.

Columns of dust shot into the sky like wolf smoke.

A rider had appeared atop the earthen mound where Xia Daoming had been standing moments earlier.

The man on horseback was a gray-clad old man, gaunt and sallow, as though he had only just recovered from a serious illness.

Yet despite his appearance, his eyes gleamed with vigor, sharp as swords.

At that moment, he looked down from above at Xia Daoming and the woman, like a savage beast sizing up its prey.

Not only that, five mounted men appeared in succession behind and to the left and right of Xia Daoming.

Unlike the old man, who remained mounted and looked down at Xia Daoming and the woman, these men quickly dismounted and advanced toward the two step by step in an encircling formation.

"Elder Liao, your target is me. There's no need to drag an innocent person into this, is there?" The woman moved closer to Xia Daoming as she spoke to the old man still seated atop the mound.

Only then did Xia Daoming notice that she was a young woman with skin like snow, brows and eyes like a painting, exquisite features, and a figure that was nothing short of lethal.

A graceful lady was the object of every gentleman's desire.

At any other time, Xia Daoming would surely have taken another look. But now he had no mood to admire her; instead, he secretly examined the six people and judged their cultivation.

From the characteristics of the force auras emitted by the five men on foot, Xia Daoming quickly reached a conclusion.

Of these five, one was a Third-Rank Martial Master, while the other four were all Fourth-Rank Martial Masters.

But Xia Daoming could not see through the cultivation of the old man on horseback atop the mound, which meant he was at least a Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master.

"Tut, tut. At a time like this, Miss Ji is still thinking of an innocent man's life. You truly are beautiful in person and even more beautiful at heart! But you also know that what our Liao Family is doing cannot yet see the light of day, so I'm afraid this old man cannot grant your request.

"But don't worry. This old man will have someone give him a quick death! Of course, you'd best not entertain any thoughts of escaping again, nor try any tricks involving threatening us with your own death.

"As long as you obediently return with this old man, hand over the prescription, and properly help us refine medicine, this old man guarantees that no one will touch a single hair on your head. Otherwise, even if you kill yourself, this old man will not spare your corpse.

"You are a clever person. Come back with this old man, and not only will you preserve your purity, you will at least retain a sliver of hope."

Ji Wenyue had indeed considered taking her own life. But upon hearing Elder Liao say that he would not even spare her corpse, and imagining her body being defiled after her death, her limbs instantly turned icy cold, and her heart sank into a bottomless abyss.

"What cultivation does that old man have?" Just as Ji Wenyue no longer even dared seek death, a man's voice sounded by her ear.

It turned out that as the five men steadily closed in, the two of them had unknowingly moved together.

"A Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master!" Ji Wenyue replied with despair on her face.

"A Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master!" Xia Daoming's eyes lit up, and his heart immediately stirred to life.

A Fifth-Rank Martial Master past sixty—even if he was formidable, his qi, blood, and force would ultimately be on the decline.

If he used the right tactics, it was not impossible to keep the man here!

"That's right. One Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master, four Fourth-Rank Martial Masters, and one Third-Rank Martial Master. This time, I'm basically doomed. But you aren't their target, and you're also a Fourth-Rank Martial Master. Take this protective talisman, drip a drop of blood onto it, then we'll split up and charge out without regard for anything. Perhaps we'll still have a chance to escape." Ji Wenyue said with a bitter smile.

Before Ji Wenyue had even finished speaking, Xia Daoming felt something stuffed into his hand. It felt somewhat like animal hide, yet also somewhat like paper.

"This is..." Xia Daoming swept his gaze over it, and inwardly found himself speechless.

Because what Ji Wenyue had stuffed into his hand was actually a talisman covered in strange runes.

In the world he had transmigrated from, things like this were collectively known as fraudulent "ghost scribbles."

Yet at this life-or-death moment, Ji Wenyue had handed him one of these things.

What kind of tune was she trying to play here?

Just as Xia Daoming was grumbling inwardly, his eyes suddenly widened round, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. He even forgot that formidable enemies were watching from all around.

Ji Wenyue had somehow produced another "ghost scribble" in her hand, with a drop of blood already dripped onto it.

Then the ghost scribble actually ignited without fire, and afterward transformed into a layer of pale golden light that enveloped Ji Wenyue's entire body.

"Kill!"

With a sharp cry, Ji Wenyue charged forward like a maddened tigress toward one of the Fourth-Rank Martial Masters who was steadily closing in from ahead.

Before she even reached him, Ji Wenyue had already thrown a vicious punch.

Her fist was wrapped in the pale golden shield. It gleamed under the sunlight, carrying an utterly different kind of imposing aura.

Holy shit, Pegasus Meteor Fist!

PS: At last, the journey has begun once more. I hope both new and old readers will enjoy it, and please help by bookmarking and spreading the word. During the public release period, there will generally be one chapter in the morning and one in the evening. Thank you.

Three chapters today, so there will be no update tonight.