Life Reaping

(Preface: Regarding Chapters 46 and 45, I'm very sorry. They weren't written well; the satisfying parts were lacking, and I didn't capture that invincible feeling. Reading them, there's always a sense that it was forced. In response to this mistake, this author will be more careful later on.)

With the help of the moonlight, Lin Qingyun could see that beneath the night sky, a gigantic azure eagle was sweeping over at high speed. In only a moment, it had begun circling below the cliff.

"Let's go!" Seeing the Blue Eagle arrive, Xiao Yi Xian immediately let out a breath of relief and waved at Lin Qingyun.

Lin Qingyun nodded slightly, pulled Xiao Yi Xian along, and with a leap, landed straight on that enormous Blue Eagle.

"Little Lan, hurry!" Once she had jumped onto the eagle's back, Xiao Yi Xian hastily urged.

Hearing Xiao Yi Xian's voice, the Blue Eagle immediately shook its wings. A tremendous gale swept past, and then it carried the two of them soaring into the sky.

"Loose arrows!" The mercenary who had chased out saw that the two had already left and hurriedly shouted toward the top of the cliff.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Hearing the shout from below, a commotion broke out on top of the cliff. Immediately, a rain of arrows suddenly tore through the air, shooting rapidly toward the Blue Eagle in the sky.

But clearly, it was all in vain. The Blue Eagle's wings suddenly beat, and a wild gust instantly blew those arrows scattering in all directions.

Kneeling down, Xiao Yi Xian smoothed out her hair that had been messed up by the gale, let out a breath of relief, and smiled faintly at Lin Qingyun. "We're finally safe now!"

"Yeah, but our grudge with the Wolf Head Mercenary Group has been settled in stone!" Lin Qingyun stared at a speck of firelight in the distance and said calmly.

"You really are the type to hold a grudge! Looks like the Wolf Head Mercenary Group is going to suffer this time." Xiao Yi Xian laughed softly.

"This is called being clear about gratitude and grudges!" Lin Qingyun rolled his eyes at Xiao Yi Xian and continued, "What about you? What are you going to do next?"

Her slender fingers brushed aside the black hair at her forehead. The wild wind blowing head-on pressed her clothes tightly against her body, faintly revealing her graceful curves.

"I'm going back to the herb-gathering team!" Xiao Yi Xian smiled faintly.

"If you go back, aren't you afraid the people from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group will retaliate?" Hearing this, Lin Qingyun smiled.

"You were the one who killed Mu Li. What does that have to do with me?" Xiao Yi Xian rolled her eyes at the heartless fellow in front of her.

"Once I return to the herb-gathering team, no one will dare move against me." Xiao Yi Xian smiled faintly. With her reputation in Green Mountain Town, if the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's people wanted to take revenge on her, they would first have to ask whether those mercenaries temporarily gathered into a team were willing to allow it.

"And after I return to Green Mountain Town, even if the leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group finds out, he won't easily make a move against me. The Myriad Medicine Pavilion's influence is no smaller than the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's, and the leaders of the other two major mercenary groups both owe me favors."

"Maybe. But I advise you to be careful anyway, especially of the master of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion!" Lin Qingyun said. He turned his head, his gaze once again looking in the direction they had left. He always had a feeling that Mu Li was not completely dead.

"You really can't hope for something better, can you?" Xiao Yi Xian shot him a reproachful look and said faintly, "What about you?"

"Me? I won't be going back for now." Lin Qingyun smiled.

"Don't tell me you want to stay in the Monster Beast Mountain Range? Are you crazy?" Xiao Yi Xian looked at Lin Qingyun in astonishment, even somewhat doubting her own ears.

Forget a Dou Shi; even a Da Dou Shi would not be able to survive for long in the Monster Beast Mountain Range. Xiao Yi Xian, who often went into the Monster Beast Mountain Range to gather herbs, was even more aware that there were magical beasts inside the Monster Beast Mountain Range comparable to Dou Wangs and Dou Emperors.

"Mm. I came to the Monster Beast Mountain Range to train." Lin Qingyun nodded.

"Of course, I won't let the Wolf Head Mercenary Group off either. I'll just let them live a few more days first!"

"Then be careful." Seeing Lin Qingyun like this, Xiao Yi Xian could only nod and remind him. She stopped speaking and directed the Blue Eagle to fly toward the depths of the mountains.

On the eagle's back, things gradually fell quiet. One looked into the distance, no one knew what he was thinking, while the other lowered her head in contemplation.

...Above the night sky, the enormous Blue Eagle slowly circled downward. Finally, it folded its wings and landed on a mountaintop.

"The camp is down below. Since you're not going back, I'll leave you here. After daybreak, you can leave on your own. Is that all right?" Looking at the campfire in the forest not far below the mountain, Xiao Yi Xian turned her head and smiled at Lin Qingyun.

"Mm!" Lin Qingyun nodded with a smile, leaped down, and stepped onto the soft grass. He smiled at Xiao Yi Xian and said, "Heh, then this is where we part! But I believe we'll meet again very soon."

"You really are like a fortune-teller." Xiao Yi Xian smiled. Her expression suddenly hesitated for a moment, then she slowly said, "Your surname shouldn't be Lu Xun. That's just a fake name, right? And you're not some disciple of a great sect either."

"You even noticed that." Lin Qingyun was slightly stunned, then pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed to himself.

"Don't underestimate a woman's intuition." The corners of Xiao Yi Xian's mouth lifted slightly, and she could not help laughing. "You, someone with no known name who knows so much, might as well be called a charlatan."

"A name! It's just a code name. I have plenty of names—Zhou Shuren, Chow Yun-fat, Wang Zongwei, any name works... But... you can call me Lin Qingyun. After all, we can count as friends." Lin Qingyun smiled.

"Friends? Perhaps!" Xiao Yi Xian smiled, took several small powder packets made from paper bags out of her robes, and handed them to Lin Qingyun. "These medicinal powders aren't very strong, but they can drive away some low-level magical beasts."

Taking the powder packets that still carried a little warmth, Lin Qingyun rubbed them between his fingers and smiled faintly. He turned and leaped down from the mountaintop, his figure gradually disappearing into the dark forest. "Goodbye! Who knows when we'll meet next time."

"One more reminder. Be careful of the master of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion."

"So long-winded, you really are like a charlatan." Xiao Yi Xian smiled.

Watching the youth's back slowly vanish into the darkness, Xiao Yi Xian finally withdrew her gaze and looked toward the distant camp below the mountain. In her eyes, clear as pure water, a rare trace of coldness emerged.

"People of Wolf Head, just you wait!"

Perhaps Mu Li, the chief culprit, was already dead, but this grudge would not simply fade away like this.

The night was silent. Within the forest, all was peaceful. There were no low growls from magical beasts, and the danger of the daytime had lessened as well.

Lin Qingyun's figure moved swiftly between towering trees. The farther forward he went, the clearer the traces left behind by human activity became.

When he stepped out of the edge of the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Giant Rock carved with the three large words "Green Mountain Town" was clearly visible.

It was already night, and the little Green Mountain Town had also sunk into silence.

Staring at that vast spread of buildings of varying heights, a trace of coldness flowed through Lin Qingyun's eyes.

After parting with Xiao Yi Xian, Lin Qingyun had also considered things for a long time before choosing to quickly resolve this grudge, so as to avoid any future troubles.

He stuffed one of those blue pills into his mouth, recovered a breath, and leaped forward, his figure swiftly vanishing into the darkness.

Wolf Head Mercenary Group

Its headquarters was located in the southern part of the small town, a large cluster of buildings resembling a manor.

In an ancient-looking room, Mu She sat cross-legged on a cushion. Beside him, a censer of incense had been lit, wisps of blue smoke carrying a pleasant scent that seemed able to focus the mind and gather qi.

But at this moment, Mu She's calm brows were slightly furrowed.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and rose, walking to the window.

A slightly cool breeze blew in and stirred his hair, but that touch of coolness could not extinguish the irritation in his heart.

"Something's wrong! Could it be that something happened to Li'er?" Mu She frowned and muttered. Vaguely, there was a trace of unease in his heart, and that sense of unease also made him feel that it was utterly absurd.

Who would dare touch Mu She's son? And it was even more impossible for anything to happen to the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

"Just what..." Mu She was about to mutter to himself when suddenly his pupils shrank. A trace of cold sweat could not help falling from his forehead as he abruptly turned around.

A White-Clad Youth was standing behind him just like that, utterly silent.

"Who are you? Why have you trespassed into the Wolf Head Mercenary Group?" Mu She shouted in a deep voice, his gaze fixed firmly on the youth before him.

Youth?

Mu She did not dare underestimate the youth before him. His intuition told him that this youth was extremely terrifying, terrifying enough to take his life.

Mu She's body slowly retreated, gradually moving toward the nearby table. He quickly picked up a small handbell from the tabletop.

"Jingle!"

The crisp sound quickly spread out from the room, and Mu She also let out a breath of relief. As long as the handbell rang, the mercenaries outside would swarm in and surround this room completely. At that time, even a Nine-star Dou Shi would find it impossible to escape.

"Do you think someone will come save you?" the White-Clad Youth suddenly said.

Those calm words made Mu She slightly stunned. "What do you mean?"

In the next instant, Mu She's expression abruptly changed. He shook the handbell again, but there was still no movement outside.

"You killed them all!" A trace of terror appeared in Mu She's eyes as an extremely frightening thought flashed through his mind.

There were over fifty mercenaries in the entire headquarters of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, all of them above Two-Star Dou Zhe in strength, along with the other two deputy leaders, one an Eight-Star Dou Zhe and the other a Nine Star Dou Zhe. With such a lineup, how was that possible?

"I don't believe your nonsense!" Suppressing that wisp of ill feeling and treating it entirely as a bluff from the youth in front of him, Mu She took a deep breath and said, "Your Excellency has sought me out at night. What is your purpose?"

"To kill you!"

"Why?"

"Because of your son. I don't want to leave this trouble for later." Lin Qingyun said calmly.

"Li'er! What did you do to Li'er?" A tremendous aura suddenly surged from Mu She's body. An invisible wave of air was like a great wind sweeping up, causing the objects in the room to shake continuously.

"Dead? Or perhaps not dead. It depends on his fate." Lin Qingyun said faintly.

"You, hand over your life!" Mu She's eyes were bloodshot, as though a bloody flame had ignited within them and was about to burst from their sockets.

A spear appeared in his hand in a flash. Its tip turned into a pale-white shadow, stabbing viciously and cunningly toward Lin Qingyun's chest.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to take this life."

Smiling faintly, Lin Qingyun likewise raised his spear to meet him.