Night was gradually falling, and the sky began to grow dim.
Ye Liuyun had originally thought he could reach Nanmu City before sunset.
But unexpectedly, because of some misfortunes along the way, he ended up being delayed.
"What happened here?"
On the journey to Nanmu City,
one had to pass through several small villages. There were usually no problems, and when they passed through the earlier villages, the villagers, hearing the sound of hooves, would all be frightened and hide in their houses, not daring to come out.
This was quite normal.
Ye Liuyun of course wouldnât do anything to these villages; leading his men, he quickly passed through them.
Only after their group left would the villagers come back out, whispering to each other, as if discussing something.
But when they passed by one of the villages,
Ye Liuyun sensed something amiss and immediately raised his hand, signaling those behind him to stop moving forward.
"Whoa!"
When all the horses had stopped,
Shi Sheng frowned deeply as he looked at the chaotic village ahead, filled with the lingering smell of burning flames.
Ye Liuyun scanned the area, then dismounted from his horse.
With him, Shi Sheng, Si Nan, and the others saw this scene and also got off their horses, following in Ye Liuyunâs footsteps.
It was only when they entered the village that they realizedâ
there were many corpses lying around; the surrounding houses still bore clear signs of destruction and looting.
Shi Sheng, who had always hated evil with a passion, was even more furious upon seeing this.
"Damn it! Who did this? Could it be the mountain bandits?"
When in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Shi Sheng had often heard stories of mountain bandits burning, killing, pillagingâcommitting every conceivable crime.
"No, thatâs not it!"
But as soon as he spoke,
Si Nan immediately shook his head in rebuttal.
"This place is close to Nanmu City. Every year, the Imperial City sends troops to root out the bandits around here. This canât be the work of mountain bandits."
Nanmu City was the âgranaryâ of Great Qian Dynasty; it could not be allowed to fall into danger.
There might have been bandits here in the past, but after being wiped out year after year, they had long since vanished.
So whatever happened here, it definitely couldnât have been caused by bandits.
"Damn it, then who the hell did this!"
Clenching his fists, staring at the corpses all over the ground, Shi Shengâs anger only grew fiercer, even in his Inner Strength.
Ye Liuyun hadnât said a word the whole time, just led his men deeper into the village.
Human lives were as cheap as grassâin some cases, only after seeing it with your own eyes did you fully grasp the true meaning behind those words.
"Hmm?"
Just then,
Ye Liuyun seemed to sense something.
He raised his head and looked to his side.
In the next instant, a figure charged in at great speed.
"Prepare to die!"
The attacker was a very young-looking man wielding a long spear who leaped into the air.
The tip of his spear blazed with scorching fire, thrusting straight at Ye Liuyun.
"Whoâs there!"
Si Nan and the others behind also noticed this suddenly appearing young man.
They were just about to act, but were stopped by Ye Liuyun.
He let the young man charge at him with his spear.
"Buzz!"
When the distance had closed, Ye Liuyunâs body suddenly burst forth with an Inner Strength barrier, solidly blocking the young manâs spear.
"Thatâs... Innate Gang Qi!"
Seeing that force like a protective shield,
the young man obviously realized something, his eyes going wide in shock.
But the next instantâ
"Bang!"
With a slight exertion, Ye Liuyunâs powerful Inner Strength sent the young man flying.
He crashed hard to the ground.
But the youth didnât seem badly hurt; he quickly stood back up, still brandishing his spear, his face upright and unyielding as he looked at Ye Liuyun.
"You, as an Innate Martial Artist, actually attacked these innocent peasantsâyouâve wasted your talent."
The moment he saw the Innate Gang Qi, he knew Ye Liuyun was an Innate Martial Artist.
He might not be able to beat him, but from the look on his face, he was ready to die before bending, unwavering in his resolve.
Si Nan was speechless at this, and couldnât help but shout:
"Are you blind? Donât you see weâre wearing official uniforms?"
"Who knows if youâre really Embroidered Uniform Guards."
The youth did recognize the uniforms of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Howeverâ
"Earlier I saw someone disguised as Brahma Sect members kidnapping common women! So whoâs to say youâre not just dressed up as Embroidered Uniform Guards, too?"
Clearly, this was not just unreasonable troublemaking.
He really thought they were the bad guys.
Yetâ
"Swish!"
Ye Liuyun didnât bother to explain, simply drew the black blade at his waist and swung it in one fluid motion.
Sometimes, it was best to show your real strength outright.
The blade qi nearly grazed the youthâs cheek in a blurâthe speed was so fast he couldnât react. By the time he realized what happened, he saw the house behind him had already been sliced cleanly in two by that strike.
"If I were really responsible for what happened here, youâd have died the moment you attacked me!"
"... ... ..."
The young man was silent for a moment.
He immediately put his spear away and slung it over his back.
"Sorry, I mistook you for someone else!"
Even his awkward smile was full of compliance.
Hot-blooded as he may be, he wasnât stupid. Just like Ye Liuyun saidâsomeone with that kind of strength wouldnât need to deceive him at all.
"Hello, Iâm Qu Yinghua."
The young man who called himself Qu Yinghua cupped his fists in the manner of a martial chivalrous man as he spoke.
After introducing himself,
he looked at the people before him with expectation, as though waiting for them to be startled by his name.