Upon hearing this, not only did the burly man freeze, but Li Qingshi, who was still holding his opening stance, also found himself at a loss. He asked, “How do I do this?”
The old man said irritably, “Haven’t you already got the posture down?”
Li Qingshi showed nothing on his face, but he was extremely nervous inside. He said, “I’m afraid I’ll look impressive but be useless.”
“Everyone’s like that the first time. Do it a few more times and you’ll be fine.”
“Then I’m really going for it?”
“What’s there to be afraid of? Go!”
The burly man watched them trade one line after another. Not only were they unafraid despite encountering him, but judging from their tone, they seemed to be treating him like a wild boar that had charged right into their path. This reaction was far too abnormal, and he could not help growing somewhat wary.
But if a few casual remarks were enough to scare him away, he would look down on himself. Just as he was wavering between suspicion and uncertainty, Li Qingshi had already swung his longsword and thrust it toward him.
Li Qingshi’s thrust put the burly man completely at ease. Judging by those clumsy movements, he was clearly a rookie who had barely ever fought anyone.
The burly man raised his saber to block. After probing with a few exchanges, he felt even more confident.
Now that he had figured out the other party’s level, he had no time or mood to toy with this brat. He stopped dividing his attention to remain on guard and launched an all-out assault. His movements were broad and forceful, every saber strike heavy and fierce.
Li Qingshi blocked three strikes but could not withstand the assault. One blow smashed into his back, sending him stumbling several steps. He forced himself to stabilize his body and concentrated on recalling all the problems with his swordplay just now.
The burly man was extremely surprised. He knew exactly how much force he had put into that strike with the back of his saber. Even if the boy had not vomited blood and suffered severe injuries, he should at least have been unable to get back up. Unexpectedly, this brat was so tough that he acted as though nothing had happened.
After thinking for a moment, Li Qingshi raised his sword and fought again. After only a few exchanges, he was struck in the big shot by the back of the saber.
The burly man let out a startled exclamation. He clearly sensed that this time, the brat had improved considerably.
As though he had realized something, Li Qingshi bent his body and attacked again. Six moves later, he used the same upward-slashing technique as before, and this time it cut a bloody line across the burly man’s face.
The burly man was horrified. This brat was improving far too quickly. He could not continue fighting like this, or Laozi might end up capsizing in a gutter.
He had originally planned to capture Li Qingshi and send him to his Brother Wu Yizhou for amusement, so he had used the back of his saber rather than its edge. Now that he had grown wary, he made up his mind to kill the young one and leave the old one alive to interrogate for information.
After several more exchanges, a wound deep enough to expose bone was cut across Li Qingshi’s back.
The burly man had thought this strike would kill him, but unexpectedly it failed. During the brief lapse in his concentration, a sword pierced his right ribs. Fortunately, the wound was not deep.
Thoroughly enraged, he swung his saber faster and faster, moving like a maddened tiger.
Li Qingshi fought with all his strength and pierced two more bloody holes in the burly man’s body, but more than ten wounds were cut into his own body, each one deep enough to expose bone.
At that moment, the effects of ten years of beatings and medicinal baths became apparent. Though the wounds were deep, they did not bleed much.
Li Qingshi grimaced in pain, hissing and sucking in cold air, yet his mind grew increasingly clear. He felt something slippery on his hand and realized he was about to lose his grip on the sword. Looking down, he saw that both hands were covered in blood, so he quickly took advantage of the opening to wipe them twice against his body.
The withered old man reclined against a large stone, crossing one leg over the other as he leisurely watched the battle. He said, “When fighting someone, keep the sword tip pointed downward so the blood won’t run onto your hands. Do you need someone to teach you even that? How stupid are you?”
Li Qingshi silently lowered the sword tip and said through his hissing breaths, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Hurry up and teach me a couple more things. If I die, there’ll be no one left to carry your funeral banner!”
The old man hummed a little tune and ignored him.
Seeing that his own wound would not stop bleeding while Li Qingshi’s injuries were clearly much worse yet barely bled, the burly man became afraid. Only one thought kept spinning through his mind: “Is he human? Is he really human?”
Seeing that the burly man was not attacking for a long while, Li Qingshi had no choice but to strike first. It hurt like hell, and he wanted to finish the fight quickly so he could go back and apply medicine.
By then, the burly man already knew that he was likely doomed today. He swung his saber even more wildly, holding nothing back. He was fighting as though his life depended on it.
No one knew how much time passed before more than ten wounds were added to Li Qingshi’s body. The burly man, however, was weakened by excessive blood loss and was pierced through the chest by a single sword thrust.
After the burly man fell, Li Qingshi did not stop. Having gained some insight, he entered a state of selflessness again, forgetting where he was. In a flash, he slashed, thrust, raised, and brushed with his longsword, practicing all fifty-six forms in the sword manual once.
Just as he finished the final form, he suddenly felt a place at the exact center of the crown of his head open up completely, as though a great gate had burst open with a boom.
He had studied medicine for ten years and knew that there was an acupoint there called the Divine Repository, one of the seventy-two major acupoints.
The youth had practiced swordsmanship for less than half a day, yet he had already opened one major acupoint.
…
Five or six li north of Baitou Village stood another great mountain. Above its halfway point, clouds and mist lingered year-round without dispersing, so it was named Liuyun Mountain.
Liuyun Mountain was not as vast as Guidang Mountain, but it was nearly comparable. If a mere few hundred people hid inside, they would vanish like a mud ox entering the sea. To find them, let alone three or five days, even ten days or half a month would likely be a futile effort.
According to the old stories passed down in Baitou Village, more than three hundred years ago, the Seven Kingdoms were locked in constant warfare and military disasters were everywhere. The ancestors of Baitou Village often came to Liuyun Mountain to escape calamity.
Later, Ren Taizu rose from humble beginnings, successively destroying the Seven Kingdoms and establishing the Great Ren Dynasty. At the beginning of the dynasty, everything was in ruins, law and order were chaotic, and bandits ran rampant. Yet as long as they entered the mountains, they were safe every time.
But that was only a legend—a story.
Stories in this world often sounded tense and thrilling, making people wish they could experience them firsthand. But when disaster truly arrived, things were completely different.
Hundreds of villagers from Baitou Village wore frightened expressions as they followed the village chief, carrying luggage and grain while plunging into the deep mountains. The mountain paths were difficult, yet no one complained or stopped to rest. It was as though Zhao Fenghu’s band of bandits were already pursuing them, and the slightest delay would cost them the precious heads on their shoulders.
They truly dared not delay any longer. They had already wasted more than three hours in the village, yet in the end, they had still failed to await the pride of the entire village.
They had originally thought that, since Wang Yuanjia had left his three biological uncles in the village, he must have been confident he could persuade Old Immortal Niu. He should have returned soon to take everyone to Clearwind Manor. Who could have expected that he would never return, with not the slightest word from him for a full three hours?
The villagers all assumed that Old Immortal Niu had refused to save them, but not one of them dared curse him even once behind his back. They had all heard that Old Immortal Niu possessed extraordinary powers. For such an Immortal-level figure, even muttering softly behind his back might still be heard by him.
After carrying the elderly, supporting the young, and dragging their families over the mountainside, they continued upward into the cloud-shrouded mist, and felt somewhat more at ease.
The village chief led everyone onward for a while before finding several hidden caves amid a large expanse of dense vegetation. It was said that these were the ruins where their ancestors had once taken refuge.
Seeing how secluded the place was, the villagers felt slightly reassured, but their faces still carried worry and fear, and many also looked deeply pained.
They had brought all the valuable things in their homes with them, but the village chief had not allowed them to bring their livestock into the mountains. Unlike people, the animals did not know how to conceal their sounds. If Zhao Fenghu’s band of bandits truly came to search the mountain, the livestock might bring disaster upon them.
Therefore, the village chief had given them two choices: either kill the animals and eat them, or leave them in the village.
They could not bear to kill and eat them. As for leaving them in the village, there was at least one chance in ten thousand that the bandits might not raid it.
For that one chance in ten thousand, they had even left a considerable amount of dry fodder for the livestock to stay alive.
Under the direction of the village chief and several elderly villagers, everyone silently settled in. Li Gouzi, however, suddenly realized that something was wrong. He quickly made a circuit of the caves and, sure enough, Brother Stone had not come!
Old Liu was not there either!
The situation had been chaotic, but when faced with danger, people instinctively thought to band together and spread the word. Thus, he had assumed that Brother Stone would certainly have heard about hiding in the mountains, so he had not gone out of his way to look for him and had stayed home helping pack things.
Who could have imagined that Brother Stone had actually fallen behind!
Without giving it a thought, he said something to his mother, then turned around and prepared to head down the mountain.
His mother was so frightened that her face went deathly pale. She grabbed him tightly and said, “What will I do for the rest of my life if something happens to you?”
The surrounding villagers also urged him not to go down the mountain.
Li Gouzi was extremely anxious. Then he suddenly remembered something, broke free of his mother’s grasp, took an object from inside his clothes, and tossed it in front of the woman. “This is enough for you to live out the rest of your life in comfort.”
The woman recognized the object tossed before her and froze in place.
The surrounding villagers were also dumbfounded.
It was a gold ingot—the first gold ingot any of them had ever seen in their lives.