Outside the northern gate of the Gui Yuan Sect in Jiangning Commandery, a young man stood leading a 'Green-Maned Horse.' Dressed in a cyan robe, his long hair flowed freely, lending him an untamed air. A pack was strapped to his back, and a long saber hung from his waist.
“That’s enough, don’t see me off! I’ll be back within half a month, brother,” Teng Qingshan chuckled as he swung himself onto the horse.
“Brother, be careful on the road.”
Teng Qingyu and Teng Qinghu watched Teng Qingshan depart. This time, Teng Qingshan was out on an errand that wouldn't take long. Not many people knew about his departure.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Green-Maned Horse galloped down the official road, splashing mud and water into the air.
“Changing things up slightly now, I reckon very few people will recognize me along this route.” Teng Qingshan glanced at the saber at his waist. On this journey, Teng Qingshan wanted to avoid stirring up trouble. The name ‘Teng Qingshan’ carried too much weight across the Nine Provinces, especially in Yangzhou.
Thus, the Reincarnation Spear was disassembled into two sections and packed away. Teng Qingshan wore only a Blood-Drinking Saber at his waist.
This Blood-Drinking Saber was a fine weapon he had forcefully obtained from the head of a bandit gang long ago.
“Many have heard my name, but few have actually seen me! Even at Flame Mountain, only some caught a glimpse of my face. But now, with my hair unbound, a different saber, and a subtle shift in demeanor—those who recognize me will be extremely rare!” A faint smile touched Teng Qingshan’s lips.
His current identity was Qin Lang!
The saber expert, ‘Qin Lang.’
A wildly unrestrained and dashing saber expert roaming the world.
Teng Qingshan took a deep breath, savoring the fragrance of the damp earth. His mood was excellent. “With my skill in the saber, even if I’m not on the Earth Ranking, I’m certainly at the Latent Dragon Ranking level.” Teng Qingshan’s saber technique was a killing technique!
Back in the assassin organizations, he had trained with daggers, throwing knives, and short blades—all manner of weapons.
The essence of an assassin's methods: fast, precise, ruthless!
Teng Qingshan possessed no profound mystical techniques; it was all summed up in those three words: fast, precise, ruthless.
With Teng Qingshan’s eyesight, reaction speed, and pinpoint control over force, any saber swing he unleashed would possess terrifying might. Of course, the power was also dependent on the strength he exerted. If he used a force of over two hundred thousand jin, even a simple downward chop could easily shatter a house.
...
“Vermilion Fruit, oh Vermilion Fruit, how does this scorching energy compare to the Black Fire Spirit Root?” Teng Qingshan mused while seated on his horse.
The quest for the Vermilion Fruit!
Why seek the Vermilion Fruit instead of the 'Purple Ice Heart'? Teng Qingshan hadn't told his master, Zhuge Yuanhong, the whole truth.
Eating the Vermilion Fruit had nothing to do with the Five Forms of Blazing Fire!
It was because of the ‘Black Fire Spirit Root.’ Ever since consuming it, when practicing the Tiger Form Spirit Connection Art, Teng Qingshan would feel heat spreading through his body. His skin would subtly take on a dark red hue, and his muscles and skin seemed to grow tougher. It was clear—the Black Fire Spirit Root contained the essence of fire.
“Since I have consumed the Black Fire Spirit Root, naturally, my only choice is the Vermilion Fruit,” Teng Qingshan sighed. “Northern Sea... I'll have to find another opportunity to visit later.”
Teng Qingshan held a curiosity for places like the Barren Lands and the Northern Sea.
Disguised as a free-spirited, wandering saber expert, Teng Qingshan’s journey was quite exhilarating.
Occasionally, if he encountered bandits too reckless to recognize him, he would slay them outright, using the opportunity to sharpen his saber skills!
Sometimes, he would spend the night roughing it in the wilderness, butchering wild beasts for food.
At other times, if he encountered martial artists in taverns, he would gladly share a few drinks and make a friend or two.
...
In short, Teng Qingshan found his travels exceedingly pleasant and relaxed. With his current strength, anyone who provoked him while wandering alone was courting death.
...
Yangzhou, within Wuan Commandery.
Dust billowed as three warhorses raced ahead. They pulled to a halt at a three-way fork in the road.
Neighhh!
The warhorses whinnied and stopped dead.
“Brother Qin Lang! We part ways here! My second brother and I still need to reach Yanzhou. When you arrive in Yanzhou, Brother Qin Lang, visit my 'Fierce Tiger Fort,' and the three of us will have a proper feast!” a burly man, clad in a short jacket with his chest bare, laughed loudly.
“Haha... Brother Fierce Tiger, you two brothers had better prepare plenty of wine!” Teng Qingshan responded with a smile.
“Certainly! Then my brother and I take our leave. Brother Qin Lang, until we meet again!” The two sturdy men, who looked quite alike, clasped their hands in salute.
“Until we meet again!” Teng Qingshan returned the gesture with a smile.
“Giddy up!” “Giddy up!”
The two sturdy men immediately spurred their horses onto the side path heading west.
“Roaming the world, making friends everywhere. It truly is interesting,” Teng Qingshan murmured, urging his Green-Maned Horse southward. Five days had passed since leaving Jiangning Commandery, and Teng Qingshan had covered nearly a thousand li. He wasn’t in a hurry; he wanted to soak in the local customs and people of the Nine Provinces along the way.
The two men just now were leaders from the 'Fierce Tiger Fort,' a faction within 'Yanzhou' in the Nine Provinces.
Teng Qingshan had intervened when he saw some people being overbearing and bullying others in a tavern. His display of strength had caught the attention of the two leaders, who then sought his acquaintance. Teng Qingshan had traveled with the Fierce Tiger brothers for two days. Both Teng Qingshan and the brothers were formidable martial artists, and all three were remarkably forthright. They had spent the journey in a carefree and spirited manner.
...
Just as Teng Qingshan was leisurely riding his horse down the official road.
Suddenly—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Rapid, urgent hoofbeats echoed, followed by two swift gusts of wind that whipped past Teng Qingshan’s side as the riders sped ahead. Teng Qingshan glanced ahead. From their silhouettes, both riders appeared to be women! One seemed to be an adult woman, while the other was clearly a much more slender young girl.
“Riding so fast?” Teng Qingshan felt a touch of surprise. “They’re riding only Yellow-Maned Horses. At this speed, those horses will be exhausted to death.”
Crack! Crack!
The sound of whips cracking occasionally spurred the horses on. As the two Yellow-Maned Horses bolted forward, the young girl glanced back once before turning her gaze firmly ahead again.
“Hmm?”
Teng Qingshan’s heart gave a violent lurch.
“That girl...” Teng Qingshan stared intensely at the girl’s retreating back. In that brief glance backward, Teng Qingshan was shocked to realize that the girl's profile bore a striking resemblance to his wife from his previous life, 'Little Cat.' “Little Cat?” The previous easygoing cheer instantly vanished from his heart.
Teng Qingshan fiercely squeezed his horse’s flanks.
“Giddy up!”
The Green-Maned Horse immediately accelerated. Under Teng Qingshan’s control, it hung back at a distance behind the girl. “I wonder what her face looks like! Side profiles can be similar, but full faces can be vastly different. That happens often enough.”
Deep within Teng Qingshan’s soul, the image of Little Cat remained etched forever.
Seeing that profile stirred an inexplicable urge for him to follow from afar.
Past life and present, he deliberately tried to forget, but how could that bond forged in life and death be so easily severed? Teng Qingshan watched the girl's distant figure, his eyes shining with a peculiar light.
...
The riders were a mother and daughter, both covered in dirt, their hair disheveled. Tears streamed down the girl's face.
“Jun'er, stop crying!” the mother urged.
“Mother, Father is dead, our home is gone. What are we going to do? Who were those bandits?” The girl bit her lip, her face streaked with tears. She couldn't forget the spraying blood, the corpses falling one after another. The home where she had lived for over a decade was gone!
The mother’s eyes were also red. “Jun’er, we escaped quickly; those bandits probably didn't notice us. Once we reach Wuan Commandery, the silver notes I have should be enough for us to live. We must live well, don’t think about those villains anymore. The two of us women cannot avenge them. Mother only wants you to have a good life from now on.”
The girl wept and nodded.
“Only thirty li left until Wuan Commandery,” the mother consoled.
Thwack!
An arrow pierced violently through the woman’s chest, dripping fresh blood from the arrowhead. Shock filled the woman’s eyes. The girl stared wide-eyed at the blood-soaked arrow protruding from her mother’s chest, her face instantly paling to white! She reflexively yanked the reins hard.
“Moth—er—”
A piercing scream tore from the girl’s throat, so loud it cracked.
“Hahaha, two women dare to roam the world…” Laughter erupted as over a dozen bandits suddenly burst from the roadside bushes.
The woman slumped weakly off the horse, falling to the ground, her eyes fixed on her daughter, bubbles of blood constantly escaping her lips. “Hurry, run!” she managed to say with difficulty before falling silent forever.
“Mother, Mother.” The girl’s face was ashen.
“The little girl looks decent enough. But she was so scared by seeing our brothers that she stopped her horse. Haha, now it’s too late to run.” More than a dozen bandits surrounded them. Five of the ruffians carried bows; at this close range, they weren’t worried about the girl escaping.
The girl looked at the surrounding bandits, her mind flashing back to the nightmare scene of spraying blood and lifeless bodies. She looked down at her mother.
“Little girl, come play with us brothers, and maybe we’ll spare your little life,” the thugs jeered, closing in. In their eyes, a weak young girl posed no threat whatsoever.
The girl glared at the dozen or so robbers, filled with hatred.
But she had no power to resist.
“These wicked villains…” The girl suddenly drew a protective dagger.
“Oh? Trying to resist?” The bandits laughed.
Whoosh!
“Father, Mother, your daughter is coming to join you.” The girl abruptly plunged the dagger toward her own abdomen, preferring death to the shame of falling into the hands of these brigands.
Clang!
The dagger flew from the girl’s hand, slipping away. Simultaneously, an afterimage shot directly into the crowd of bandits. There were muffled thwacks and thwacks as blood sprayed and cries of agony erupted repeatedly.
“My lord, spare me!”
“Mercy!”
The bandits scrambled in terror, attempting to flee, but in just two breaths, every single bandit lay dead, each bearing a precise gash across their throat.
Clang!
Teng Qingshan sheathed the Blood-Drinking Saber, turned, and looked at the pale-faced girl, inwardly cursing, “Just a moment too late! If I had reacted faster, if I had been more vigilant of the surroundings, her mother wouldn't have died!” Teng Qingshan had been trailing the mother and daughter by about thirty zhang. The continuous sound of his own horse’s hooves masked some of the subtle noises.
Furthermore, Teng Qingshan’s mind had been distracted. He failed to detect the hidden bandits several dozen zhang away.
In truth, with the constant noise of hooves, detecting bandits hidden several dozen zhang away required even Teng Qingshan to concentrate fully.
The moment the arrow was fired, instantly piercing the mother’s chest, Teng Qingshan, due to his reaction time and the distance separating them, simply couldn't intervene.
“It seems like...” Teng Qingshan looked at the girl.
This girl, she was exactly like Little Cat in her youth!
“Waaaaah~~~” The girl looked at Teng Qingshan, then ran to her mother’s corpse, collapsing beside her body in grief.