"Thud!"
At the sudden muffled impact, Lian Youming had already tucked his head and drawn up his knees, landing like a bouncing ball.
The instant he hit the ground, he braced himself with one hand and flipped onto his feet. Like a wild beast with its waist arched and back lowered, he slid backward along the ground for five or six meters on his momentum.
Almost simultaneously, the two people on the truck followed, lunging down through the air.
Lian Youming narrowed his tiger-like eyes and swept a quick glance around, only then noticing that the truck had driven into a mountain hollow at some point.
No, not two. Three people in all had leaped from the truck.
Including the driver, that made four.
Unexpectedly, the truck driver did not even stop, driving straight off.
"What rotten luck. Instead of Li Da, I got a bunch out for my life."
Watching the three figures leap from the truck, Lian Youming's eyes turned fierce. Rather than retreat, he pushed off with one foot, sending loose stones flying, and charged on all fours like an arrow loosed from a bow toward the nearest, petite figure.
It was a woman wearing a fur hat and a leather coat, with what looked like a flexible whip wound around her waist. She held a pair of sabers, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.
How could Lian Youming give her a chance to land? Opportunities were not something to wait for. They outnumbered him and had come with ill intent. If he fled, he would be surrounded sooner or later. Two fists would struggle against four hands then, leaving him at a disadvantage. Better to seize the initiative now.
Lian Youming sprinted low, like a starving tiger pouncing on a sheep. His right fist became a hammer, smashing toward the airborne woman's chest.
The woman had delicate, pretty features, but a baleful air lurked between her brows. Rather than alarm, the punch brought her delight. Her twin sabers blossomed into flourishes, their blades sweeping toward Lian Youming's wrist.
But Lian Youming tugged up the corner of his mouth and flicked his hand, flinging a handful of sandy dirt from his palm. He had grabbed it when he landed earlier.
As the flying grit blinded her, the woman's pupils contracted sharply. Her blades grew fiercer, chopping and slashing rapidly along their original course.
But with her vision gone, neither saber landed a single blow.
Lian Youming feinted with his right hand while his left arm swept across, swift as lightning, trapping the woman under his arm and locking around her neck.
In that blink of an eye, the woman was caught fast, and the two tumbled and rolled several meters away.
When Lian Youming stood again, he held the leather-coated woman aloft by her head. Her feet struggled ceaselessly like those of a cat or dog. Before she could swing her sabers, he drove a knee into her abdomen.
"Urgh!"
With a muffled groan of extreme pain, her struggling body instantly went limp.
Only then did the other two barely reach the ground, their expressions changing together.
"Little sister!"
Lian Youming looked past the woman glaring viciously at him toward the other two. "Little sister?"
The two stood to either side. On the left was a burly middle-aged man with a thick, curling beard; on the right, a young man in a vest, with narrow eyes, thin lips, and an icy gaze, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
Lian Youming asked softly, "What should I call you two?"
These days, he had done nothing but work and practice his skills. He had no opponents, but he had seen plenty of wild beasts in the mountains. That little girl had said most internal martial arts in this world were created by imitating the forms and spirits of beasts. So what if he had no master? Hadn't everything come into being from nothing?
More unfortunately for them, he had already thoroughly grasped the first stage of Golden Bell Cover, and his Toad-Fishing Skill was growing more profound by the day. That was without even mentioning his military killing techniques. Bolstered by Inner Strength and paired with his current physique, surely he could not still lack all ability to defend himself.
When neither answered, Lian Youming smiled faintly and immediately tightened his left hand.
"Urgh!"
The woman cried out in agony.
Unexpectedly, the cold-eyed young man said icily, "You little bastard, you almost fooled us. I told you it was no fluke he survived. He was probably the one who handed over Third Brother Xie's map."
Lian Youming frowned. "Map? I already gave the map to Li Da. If you've got such guts, go ask him for it. What's the point of coming after me? Think I'm easy to bully?"
The middle-aged man's eyes shifted slightly. "We can't beat him."
Lian Youming's face was expressionless. "At least you're honest."
Having succeeded with his first move, he was in no hurry to fight to the death. Instead, he slowly backed away.
Several brushes with death had taught Lian Youming one thing: unless absolutely necessary, never put himself in danger.
As for releasing a tiger back into the mountains, once his skills matured, would he still fear these skulking vermin?
He would deal with every last one.
But the two facing him clearly had no intention of letting him do so. One raised a hand, revealing a throwing knife in his palm.
Just as they seemed about to fight until the fish died and the net tore, Lian Youming suddenly bared his teeth in a grin. "Wait. I don't think we need to fight to the death. Just what's inside that Underground Fortress? Tell me, and I'll let her go. We can go our separate ways and pretend none of this happened. How about it?"
The middle-aged man and the young man exchanged a glance. They knew they had underestimated Lian Youming's strength, and seemed even less willing to fight to the death.
The middle-aged man said gravely, "Boy, you should know there are all kinds of old medicine in the martial world, right? Rumor has it that a medicinal formula is hidden in that Underground Fortress. They say the old medicine it produces can prolong life... Back then, the Manchu Qing searched all over..."
He abruptly broke off halfway through, clearly wary of something.
Lian Youming's breathing deepened. He had known Li Da was hiding something from him. That bastard.
"If this map is so important, where did Third Brother Xie get it?"
The middle-aged man said coldly, "This matter is extremely secret. We don't know either... Let my sister go already!!!"
Lian Youming looked thoughtful. From what the man had said, that damned old medicine seemed to have far-reaching implications, stretching all the way back to the Qing dynasty.
"Hold on. I need to get somewhere with more people first. You're welcome to follow. Don't worry, I keep my word. If I say I won't kill her, I won't kill her." Carrying the woman, he retreated as he spoke. "Li Da got the map more than two months ago. If you were smart, you wouldn't have come looking for me."
The young man said viciously, "Boy, don't underestimate us. The map was only a side matter. We came to get to the bottom of a grudge. Among the five people the Mountain-Guarding Old Man killed back then, was there a swordsman?"
Lian Youming raised his eyebrows. "So that's it. You want revenge on the Mountain-Guarding Old Man? Ah, I'd advise you not to throw your lives away."
The middle-aged man asked, "Where is he?"
As they talked, Lian Youming had already retreated to the main road into the mountains. Listening to the passing trucks, he shook his head. "I don't know... And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."
Without another unnecessary word, he tossed the woman in his arms outward. His figure flashed into the dusk, and then he swiftly clambered onto a truck heading into the mountains.
As the three rapidly vanished from view, his brows knitted tightly.
Just now, Lian Youming had even wanted to say he would shoulder the Mountain-Guarding Old Man's grudges himself.
But he lacked the strength.
It seemed the White Lotus Sect still had no intention of leaving that grandfather and granddaughter alone.
The Mountain-Guarding Old Man was probably already dead. What hardships would Yang Shuang face alone? Even if she hid deep in the Greater Khingan Mountains, with these White Lotus Sect fiends' methods, the day would come when they found her.
Even now, Lian Youming could not quite understand why the Mountain-Guarding Old Man, that temperamental, eccentric old man, had passed on two genuine skills to him when they had barely had any dealings.
Had he realized he did not have long to live and wanted to keep his supreme arts from being lost?
Or had he wanted to guide someone who came after him?
Repay kindness with kindness, and vengeance with vengeance.
Although the old man had drawn him into danger, Lian Youming felt grateful to him regardless.
Only as his skills deepened could he understand just how precious those two extraordinary techniques were.
If he had the chance, he had to repay that kindness.
By the time he returned to the Logging Camp, night had fallen, but as soon as he entered, he saw a motorcycle with a sidecar parked there.
The visitor was not Qin Yuhu, but Li Da.
The man seemed to have been waiting a long time. Dressed in a white shirt and green army trousers, he was squatting on a tree stump, holding a large bowl and eating the Logging Camp's food.
"Oh, you're back. The food here's pretty good."
Lian Youming curled his lip. After encountering those three, he even suspected this man had brought him along because he feared the map was false. At the same time, he sighed inwardly. It seemed no one who had trained their martial arts to this level was simple-minded. In the end, he still had to rely on himself.
"Is it time?"
Li Da wiped his mouth. "We're leaving now. I've already informed your platoon leader."
(End of chapter)
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