Love at first sight!

"Huh?!"

Lu Changsheng was astonished to see Li Feiyu strike in an instant, burning the old man to ash with a single palm strike.

It was not just Li Feiyu's decisiveness that surprised him.

His combat prowess and methods surprised him as well.

He had compressed the Fireball Technique into his palm and combined it with his innate martial arts. Before the force of his palm strike could even erupt, the fireball's searing heat had burned and melted his victim. It was practically impossible to guard against.

"I wasn't planning to meddle, but he just had to seek his own death."

Li Feiyu snorted, then smiled. "Still, combining spells with martial arts really does work well."

After killing the man, he remained utterly composed, as though nothing had happened.

Then he said to Lu Changsheng, "Looks like my earlier guess was right. That old bastard was no good. He actually meant us harm."

"He was fairly cautious, but his methods were terrible. He couldn't even use poison properly."

So said Li Feiyu.

"Poison?"

Lu Changsheng froze at his words, startled and puzzled.

He had thought Li Feiyu had sensed something wrong with the old man and decisively struck first.

He had not expected Li Feiyu to say that the old man had used poison.

"That's right. Those provisions were almost certainly poisoned. When he came over, he also had a drug like knockout incense hidden in his sleeve. When he bent down to get a light, he was secretly releasing it."

"He concealed it pretty well, but his methods weren't particularly clever. Little did he know, I've been seeing things like that since childhood."

Li Feiyu explained this for Lu Changsheng's benefit.

"Looks like it isn't just the cultivation world that's dangerous. The mortal martial world is hardly any better. These tricks are impossible to guard against."

After a brief silence, Lu Changsheng shook his head with a sigh.

He felt rather clueless beside Li Feiyu.

They were like a veteran gamer and a complete newbie.

He had sensed something off about the old man and become a little wary, but he truly had not noticed the man secretly releasing poison.

It seemed the Nine Nether Mastiff had woken from its slumber and barked earlier because it, too, had sensed something.

As expected of a heaven-tier demonic beast with a trace of true spirit bloodline.

Even as a cub that slept all day, it had an extremely keen nose for danger.

At that moment, Lu Changsheng also made up his mind.

If he encountered something like this again, he would either decisively strike first or keep his distance.

Otherwise, with his limited experience and temperament, how could he outwit those sly old bastards who had spent years navigating the martial world? Sooner or later, something would go wrong.

"That's how the world is, no matter where you go."

"And when traveling the martial world, you need to be especially careful around Daoist priests, monks, old people, women, and children."

Li Feiyu said.

"Old people, women, and children? Doesn't that leave only people like us, who don't require quite so much caution?"

Lu Changsheng asked.

"No, you need to be wary of everyone. You just need to be especially wary of those types. If you encounter several of them together, you need to be even more careful."

Li Feiyu answered with a smile.

While the two were talking, the frail girl in the pink dress also came back to her senses.

Seeing Li Feiyu burn the old man to ash with a single palm strike had left her completely stunned.

Now that she had recovered, she hurried over and knelt before Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu.

Her innocent, lovely face looked utterly pitiful. She seemed to want to say something, but no sound came out.

"Is there anything wrong with her?"

After what had just happened, Lu Changsheng looked at the girl who had approached them and asked Li Feiyu.

To his eyes, she was an ordinary person, so naturally there was nothing wrong with her.

But Li Feiyu's warning about being careful around old people and women had shaken his confidence a little.

"There's nothing wrong with her. She's just an ordinary person."

"From the looks of it, that old man probably abducted her."

Seeing Lu Changsheng's reaction, Li Feiyu could not help chuckling.

Then he flicked a finger, sending several streams of force into the girl's body.

The girl kneeling before them gave a muffled grunt and discovered that she could speak again.

As though waking from a dream, she looked a little excited and tried to speak.

But the grief and sorrow bottled up inside her to the breaking point made her burst into tears instead.

At first, her cries were thin and shrill.

Then they grew louder and louder until she was bawling, pouring out all her sorrow, grief, fear, and unease.

Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu exchanged helpless glances.

Then Li Feiyu simply raised his head and stared earnestly at the roof beams.

Clearly, he did not want to meddle any further and intended to leave this to Lu Changsheng.

Once the girl's crying had quieted a little, Lu Changsheng said gently, "All right. It's over now."

Only then did the girl lift her delicate, pitiful face, like pear blossoms drenched in rain, and bow her head to the ground. "My name is Qu Zhenzhen. Thank you both, young heroes, for saving my life."

As she spoke, her large, lustrous eyes brimmed with tears that slid from their corners.

"Don't worry, miss. Take this money. Tomorrow, we'll take you to a nearby town along our route. Then you can find someone to escort you home."

After realizing that the girl before him was simply a pitiable ordinary person, Lu Changsheng sighed, helped her up, and took out an ingot of silver.

Earlier, in Ruyi Commandery's capital, he had bought plenty of gifts for his wives, concubines, and children while purchasing a human-skin mask and cloak for himself. He had exchanged some money with Hong Yi to carry a little gold and silver.

"Waaah..."

At those words, the girl immediately burst into tears again. "My parents are dead. They were murdered... waaah..."

"Well..."

Lu Changsheng's mouth twitched at her words, and his head immediately began to ache.

He looked at Li Feiyu.

But Li Feiyu was still gazing intently at the roof beams.

Lu Changsheng sighed. "Do you have any other family?"

"No. My parents are both dead."

"Waaah... that villain said I had some kind of spiritual root and wanted to offer me to an immortal as a concubine. My parents refused, so he killed my whole family. Waaah..."

The girl kept sobbing, looking utterly pitiful and helpless.

Yet her words sent a slight jolt through Lu Changsheng.

"A spiritual root?!"

He immediately cast the Spirit Eye Technique. Flecks of crystalline light shimmered in his eyes as he looked at Qu Zhenzhen.

A faint spiritual glow lingered around the girl.

That meant she did indeed possess a spiritual root.

However, he had only just learned the Spirit Eye Technique. He could only tell whether someone possessed a spiritual root, not its quality.

Li Feiyu also looked at the girl, somewhat surprised.

He had not expected the girl he had casually rescued to possess a spiritual root.

This also explained to them why the old man, an innate martial arts expert, had been traveling with a girl like her.

Looking at her pitiful face, like pear blossoms drenched in rain, Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly. "Miss, what do you plan to do from now on?"

"I... I don't know."

Qu Zhenzhen sniffled softly, her face blank with bewilderment.

"So you have no home to return to, and you don't know what to do next?"

Lu Changsheng continued asking.

The girl nodded, looking bewildered and distraught, then began crying again.

"As it happens, I fell for you at first sight. Would you be willing to marry me, come home with me, and spend the rest of our lives hand in hand?"

Lu Changsheng asked.

Since the girl had lost both parents, had nowhere to go, and possessed a spiritual root, he might as well take her as a wife or concubine and bring her home to have children.

He had always had his heart set on marrying a few "fairies" with spiritual roots and bringing them home to have children.

Now a beautiful young girl with a spiritual root, whose parents were dead and who had no home to return to, stood right before him. What was there to hesitate over? Why pretend to be some upright gentleman?

Naturally, he would take the initiative, express his feelings, and choose to give her a warm home.

Still, he would not force her. It was entirely up to her.

If she was unwilling, then so be it. He would not insist.

After all, she would be the mother of his future children.

His morals still would not allow him to force someone to bear his children.