Chapter 69: Wolf's Mouth Village

  In front of the outer palace gate, Yi Ruoyu and her entourage, including Luo Xinyu and Lie Feng, stood waiting, seemingly carefree. At this moment, Lie Feng was chatting with Mingxue'er, apparently telling her some interesting anecdotes that made Mingxue'er burst into peals of silvery laughter.

  After a moment, Lu Qing and his party arrived at the palace gate. Seeing Lu Qing's arrival, Lie Feng's face suddenly became unnatural. Discovering Lie Feng's change, Ming Xue'er turned her head to look, and found that it was Lu Qing and his five people.

  "Oh dear, silly you've finally arrived, is your injury all better?" Ming Xue'er bounced up and down in front of Lu Qing, blinking her big bright eyes as she spoke.

  Duanchingyun's mouth twitched as she saw the situation, and she winked at Luqing, making him feel a little puzzled. However, he still replied, "It's okay, nothing happened."

  "Really, that's good," Mingshu thought for a moment, her round eyes rolled around, and a bright smile suddenly burst out on her face. She pointed at the sword behind Lu Qing and asked, "By the way, what's the name of this sword?"

  Lu Qing was taken aback for a moment, then thought of what Huang Lao had said when the sword was first made. He paused and said, "The name of the sword is Lian Xin, practicing the sword also refines one's heart."

  "Ling Xin," Ming Xue'er's expression turned contemplative, while behind her, the three women of Yi Ruoyu looked at Lu Qing with a slightly changed gaze. However, Luo Xinyu's eyes flashed with a hint of abnormality. Lie Feng had been gloomy since Ming Xue'er walked towards Lu Qing, and although he seemed to understand Lu Qing's words, his facial expression remained unchanged.

  Yu and several others at this time also heard Lu Qing's words, Yu had a certain understanding. Nie Qingtian originally stretched the wine pot to his mouth, paused for a moment, looked at Lu Qing with a smile in his eyes. As for Duan Qingyun, it seemed that he was also very relished, and it must be said that these days he has changed a lot. Although he is still lazy and slack on weekdays, his character is more calm than before, and he is more devoted to cultivation.

  Xue'er thought for a moment before looking up with an innocent smile and said, "Can I borrow it to take a look?"

  Looking at Ming Xue's pleasing appearance in front of him, Lu Qing couldn't come up with any reason to refuse, so he pulled out the Lian Xin and handed it over, saying: "Be careful, it's very heavy."

  Ming Xue saw that Lu Qing had agreed and didn't care about these things anymore, stretched out her right hand to take it over, but didn't expect that as soon as Lu Qing let go, she felt a weight of at least 100 kilograms pressing down on her right hand, causing her entire body to sink to the right.

  "Oh no! It's so heavy!"

  Ming Xue'er's hand rose with a faint blue sword aura, and she barely managed to grab the hilt and lift it up. She danced with the sword flower in mid-air, her small hands grasping tightly, fearing that if she relaxed her focus, the sword would fly out of her hands. Her solemn expression made everyone stifle their smiles, even Lie Feng's originally gloomy face relaxed a lot at this moment.

  "Don't force it, Snowy. You can't even use Lu Shidi's Heart Refining Technique." Yi Ruoyu chuckled and shook her head as she passed by, while some of the Five Peaks disciples also cast sideways glances, but seeing Ming Xue'er struggling, they couldn't help but feel a little schadenfreude. After all, this little princess was notorious for her mischievousness throughout the Five Peaks, and many people had been toyed with by her before. Being able to see her in such a state was absolutely something to be delighted about.

  "I won't——" Ming Xue'er puffed out her cheeks, her face red with anger, and at this moment she was on the verge of a fierce quarrel with Lu Qing. She turned around and pushed him from behind, almost causing him to stumble backwards and fall flat on his back. Yi Ruoyu couldn't help but feel a headache coming on as he watched, while Su Yun and the other two girls behind her covered their mouths to stifle their giggles, not daring to make a sound for fear of being heard by the little princess.

  Thereafter, the group set off as well. According to the convention of Beast Ruins' riot, there was still about half a month's time left, which was enough for them to arrive at Luoshen City on schedule. Everyone in the group had cultivation above that of a Sword Holder, and no one had any special requests, so they all chose to travel on foot.

  All the way, Ming Xue's slender figure was almost completely blocked by Lian Xin's huge sword body. Compared to Ming Xue's delicate figure, Lian Xin seemed like a small mountain pressing on his back. Lie Feng had said it several times, but Ming Xue seemed to have made up his mind and insisted on carrying it, leaving Lie Feng helpless. Perhaps it was because Duan Qingyun accidentally laughed out loud once along the way, after which Ming Xue glared at him.

  Many moves that made Duan Qingyun's hair stand on end made him deeply understand why many inner sect disciples or outer door disciples looked at Ming Xue'er with a look of fear, as if they were afraid to stay.

  According to Duan Qingyun's experience, at night, possibly while you're fast asleep, a long-haired worm with serrated teeth suddenly bites your neck, making you jump up several feet in alarm. However, you find that Ming Xue'er is pretending to sleep on the side, but the corners of her mouth are clearly smiling smugly, making you grit your teeth in anger yet not daring to retaliate. After all, she's the daughter of the master of Lingyun Peak, and the master's short temper is notorious throughout the Five Peaks. Provoking that big shot would be something Duan Qingyun wouldn't dare guarantee he could get away with.

  They spent the next six days in a state of constant alarm, and finally arrived at the border of Luoshen City after passing through the mountain road in the middle of Wufeng. Luoshen City, including more than a dozen towns and villages around it, belongs to the jurisdiction of Luoshen Peak. Due to its proximity to the Beast Wilderness, it is threatened by wild beasts and even spiritual beasts that roam the wilderness all year round, so the local customs are relatively rough. Almost every adult man has learned one or two sword techniques, so it can be said that the combat effectiveness among the people of Wufeng Sect is the highest.

  Similarly, the bold and straightforward folk customs made them less cunning, and most of them were quite generous. After entering the Luoshen City region, several tea stalls on the main road where a group of travelers had stopped to rest, upon hearing that Lu Qing and his party were inner sect disciples who came to garrison, enthusiastically brought out their treasured strong wine. This strong wine was just as bold as their personalities, far surpassing ordinary strong wines. It made Lu Qing and Nie Qingtian drink until their eyes shone brightly. It had to be said that after drinking this many times, Lu Qing also developed a taste for the flavor of this wine.

  It was just past noon, and the group stopped to rest at a tea stall. The owner of the tea stall was very hospitable and brought out wine, water, and several dishes of seasonal meat and vegetables. After a while, he also brought out two braziers and put the wine pot on top to heat it up. Outside, the snow continued to fall, and the cold wind howled, but Lu Qing and his companions were not ordinary people and could withstand such severe cold.

  The tea stall was not big, and at this time in the cold winter, there were not many passing customers, so after entertaining Lu Qing and his party, the middle-aged couple who were the owners also sat down. Through conversation, Lu Qing learned that they lived in Langkou Village two miles ahead.

  Langkou Village, it's called that because it's next to the Wolf Tooth Mountain at one corner of the Beast Wastes. There are often packs of wolves on this mountain, frequently attacking the village and killing people and livestock. So over time, it came to be known as Langkou Village. Fortunately, after reporting to Luoricheng, they sent two swordsmen and a team of ten or so sword attendants who were stationed there, giving them the power to fight back. As a result, for the past two or three years, they haven't been harassed again, and the villagers' lives have become very stable. This has made the villagers extremely grateful towards the sect's higher-ups, with their annual offerings being almost the most among the surrounding villages.

  Just as everyone was chatting happily, the sound of urgent horseshoes came from the distant highway. Everyone turned their heads to look and saw a young man wearing a beast skin vest riding a sorrel horse at high speed, with three inch-long gashes on his face, fresh red blood overflowing from them, wetting the beast hair in front of him.

  The Han couple's faces changed greatly at the sight, and the young man's urgent voice came from afar: "Uncle Yun, it's not good, the wolf pack is attacking the village——"

  "What?!"

  The couple was shocked and rushed out of the tea shop to greet him. The young man jumped off his horse and said urgently, "Uncle Yun, the villagers can't hold on any longer. Please lead them to retreat to Yushan Town in the north. Everyone is fleeing for their lives now. The wolf pack's attack is too strong!"

  "How is it possible!" The man's tone also became urgent, "How can the two masters possibly hold on?"

  "I don't know, but suddenly a two-stage wolf king and two one-stage wolf guards appeared in the pack of wolves. The two adults can't resist at all. Gong Sun is now seriously injured and has lost his combat effectiveness. Yun Shu, what should we do now? —" The young man's face showed extreme anxiety, his parents were also among the fleeing crowd."

  On the other hand, Lu Qing and others who heard the words also understood the situation. With a flash of their figures, Ming Xue only felt a slight movement behind her back, and found that Lian Xin had changed hands. At the same time, Yu Ji and several others also took action simultaneously, and they rushed out quickly in a line.

  Ming Xue'er was taken aback for a moment, then Ye Ruoyu pulled her hand and the eleven of them rose into the air with swords of different colors, rushing towards Langkou Village.

  "This——" The young man was somewhat caught off guard, but the husband and wife on the side were overjoyed, knowing that Lu Qing and his party had come to their rescue. The three of them also hastily mounted their horses, which lifted their two front hooves and let out a loud whinny, chasing after Lu Qing's footsteps towards the village.

  With the Heart Refining Sword tightly grasped in his hand, Lu Qing's feet rapidly treaded, his figure like a wild gust of wind sweeping across the snowy ground. He knew that if he arrived one moment earlier, one fewer villager from Wolf's Mouth Village would die. And after becoming the Wind and Thunder Sword Emperor, his speed had also greatly increased. As for "Wind and Thunder", it was an unparalleled speed, swift as lightning, a description of the former Sword Emperor Lu Tian Shu. So even if their cultivation wasn't on the same level, at this moment Lu Qing's and Zhao Qian Ye's speeds could barely keep up with Nie Qing Tian, one of the top ten experts on the Dragon and Phoenix List.

  The two miles passed quickly, and the blue wooden village gate of Langkou Village also appeared in front of us. At the same time, a strong bloody smell could be smelled from far away.