The Dilapidated Daoist Temple

For three days straight, Huang Xiao had hidden in a mountain hollow, not daring to venture out. He knew the Huaqing Sect would certainly not let him go. With their influence, he would likely find it hard to escape their demonic clutches unless he was extremely careful.

Although Huang Xiao constantly worried about the Green Ox Gate, he also reasoned with himself that he must not act rashly. He certainly could not return to the Green Ox Gate, but where could he go now?

Huang Xiao suddenly realized that he had nowhere to go. His home had long since been sold off, and now he was truly homeless, without a single coin to his name. Over these three days in the wilderness, he had caught some wild mountain beasts to fill his stomach, keeping himself from starving to death.

Over the next few days, Huang Xiao crossed mountains and ridges under cover of darkness, which greatly reduced his chances of being discovered. He was no longer the scholar he had once been. After all, he now possessed internal power, and ordinary wild beasts were nothing to him.

"I'll rest in this Ruined Taoist Temple tonight." It was already deep into the night when Huang Xiao finally found the temple halfway up a mountainside. By the light of the bright moon overhead, he could clearly make out its outline.

The statue of Lao Jun inside was covered in cobwebs. Huang Xiao bowed before it, then cleared away some of the cobwebs and dust.

After all, Huang Xiao had recited quite a few Daoist scriptures with Qingfeng during his time there. In his own mind, he counted as half a disciple of the Dao.

Finding a corner, Huang Xiao spread a layer of dry grass on the ground and lay down on it.

He had no idea how much time had passed when, half asleep, he sensed some movement inside the temple. He had remained constantly on guard lately. Even when sleeping, he was only eight parts asleep, with two parts still awake.

But the instant Huang Xiao opened his eyes, he felt a jolt in his chest, and then his entire body became immobile.

This is bad! The Huaqing Sect! Huang Xiao sighed inwardly. He had never expected that, after hiding for so many days, they would still track him down today. Now that his acupoints had been sealed, whether he lived or died was no longer up to him.

Thump! Huang Xiao waited a while, but no one spoke. He was beginning to feel puzzled when a figure dropped into a sitting position beside him.

Although Huang Xiao could not move his body, he could still move his eyes.

When he saw the person who had dropped down beside him, his eyes widened, and he froze in astonishment. Before him was a woman dressed in white, whose beauty made it impossible for him to look away. If his first glimpse of Hu Qingqing had made him think she was a fairy from heaven, then compared with this woman, Hu Qingqing was merely an ordinary mortal woman. This woman before him was truly a goddess of the Nine Heavens.

Huang Xiao did not know why she had sealed his acupoints. She did not seem to belong to the Huaqing Sect. Ignoring him, she sat cross-legged beside him and began circulating her power in meditation.

Huang Xiao stared blankly at the woman before him, feeling as though his soul had drifted out of his body.

What a lovely scent... Suddenly, Huang Xiao's nose twitched as a faint, delicate fragrance curled around it.

A long while passed, but the woman still had not emerged from her meditation. Huang Xiao was puzzled. She did not appear injured, yet her meditation did not seem like cultivation either. It looked more like she was treating an injury. It was truly rather strange.

Looking at her flushed cheeks, Huang Xiao felt that she looked even more enchanting. Still, he had a vague sense that something was wrong, though he could not put it into words.

Look not upon what is improper! Huang Xiao recited inwardly. He tried to avert his gaze or close his eyes, but ultimately failed at both.

Just then, the woman who had been meditating with her eyes tightly shut suddenly opened them and seized the slender pink sword beside her.

Someone's here? Huang Xiao wondered at her movement. He listened carefully to the sounds outside, but apart from the roars of mountain beasts and the chirping of insects, there seemed to be nothing else.

Before long, however, Huang Xiao discovered he was wrong. Footsteps sounded outside the Ruined Taoist Temple, followed by a few exchanges.

"Second Brother, what were you two doing? How could you let her escape?" a voice demanded, plainly angry.

"Boss, who knew that woman would be so difficult to handle? Third Brother and I gave it everything we had, but she still got away." This was clearly the second brother offering an explanation.

"That's right, Eldest Brother. That woman doesn't seem to be anyone ordinary. Can we afford to cross her?" another man asked worriedly.

"Nonsense! Since when have we Three Flower-Picking Heroes ever feared anyone? How could we pass up such an exquisite beauty?" the eldest brother said.

"That's true. We weren't afraid of the Splendid Bamboo Gang, and they're a first-class sect. Didn't we abduct their old leader's daughter-in-law and enjoy her? Eldest Brother, honestly, it was such a pity. We hadn't had our fill of her yet, and she went and bit her tongue to kill herself. What rotten luck," the second brother said.

"Don't bring up the Splendid Bamboo Gang. That was a mistake. Although that affair made our name throughout Jianghu in one stroke, it also brought countless people down on us and forced us to lie low for so long. The one we've met this time is a thousand, ten thousand times finer than that little woman. Tell me, letting someone like her slip away-aren't you asking for heaven's punishment?"

"Eldest Brother, don't worry. This little beauty definitely can't get far," the third brother said with a chuckle.

"How so?"

"Eldest Brother, all these years out there haven't been for nothing. Whatever else, I couldn't let the name of our Three Flower-Picking Heroes fall into disgrace. While that little beauty wasn't paying attention, I dosed her with Instant Bewitchment. Heh heh heh..."

"Ha ha ha! Good, good! Then she certainly can't get far. Perhaps she's already overflowing with desire and thinking about the three of us right now!"

"Search! Hurry up and search! She must be nearby."

The three men did not seem to enter the temple. Listening to their footsteps recede, Huang Xiao supposed they had gone to search the surrounding area.

They're looking for her? From their conversation, Huang Xiao had learned that those three were scum of Jianghu—flower-picking rapists.

She's been poisoned? Huang Xiao was alarmed. Instant Bewitchment, and those lechers... could it be an aphrodisiac poison?

Looking at her again, he saw that her cheeks were growing redder and redder, so red they seemed about to drip blood. He had already felt that something was strange, because although her cheeks were flushed, their redness had seemed somewhat unnatural. Now it appeared that she had indeed been afflicted with those lechers' aphrodisiac poison.

"Instant Bewitchment? If I hadn't already been poisoned, how could such vile trash have given me any trouble?" Huang Xiao clearly heard the woman's voice through her gritted teeth. Although she spoke very softly, his hearing was quite keen now.

"Spirit-Transforming Powder!!! Du Tianchou, if I don't kill you, I swear I'm not human!"

All sorts of thoughts kept running through Huang Xiao's mind. It seemed this young woman had some other enemy as well.

What? What? Huang Xiao suddenly saw the woman take a spotless white handkerchief from inside her robes. With a casual toss, she sent it onto his face, covering his eyes.

Is she going to kill me? The thought flashed through Huang Xiao's mind, but he immediately rejected it.