The two men were rather tall, and the golden armor they wore did not look dim in the darkness of the night, bearing similarities to the Six Ding and Six Jia spirits spoken of in the legends of certain regions.
Qin Ming could tell that these two were far from ordinary. Rich vitality surged within their physical bodies, and their vigorous spirit and blood qi seeped outward through their armor, impossible to conceal.
He had never seen any of the four before, but the one who drew the most attention was naturally the woman at their head.
Qin Ming's first impression of her was simply that she was beautiful. At first glance, she was breathtakingly stunning, and upon closer look, she seemed even more captivating.
Li Qingyue had already halted, standing calmly by the roadside.
Her dark hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her slender figure possessed the delicate, graceful elegance of a willow branch. The night wind stirred the sleeves of her robe. Here outside the town, there was no Fire Spring in the thick darkness, yet she gave off the ethereal impression of one about to ascend in glowing mist, seeming to disperse the nocturnal fog.
Qin Ming did not linger on the sight, urging the purple lightning beast forward to dash past them.
The young maid parted her lips as if to speak, but remembering her mistress's words that it was improper to acknowledge their past acquaintance, she closed her mouth again.
Qin Ming sharply caught her expression; even the deep night could no longer hinder his sight.
At the same time, he noticed that the woman appeared to be sizing him up.
Surprised, Qin Ming could not help but glance her way.
The distance between them was very close, close enough that he could clearly make out even the fine patterns on her hair ornaments.
The woman was dressed in a silver feathered robe and wore no powder or rouge. Her exquisite face was beyond flaw, and standing there, she was like a bright moon breaking through parting clouds, seemingly glowing in the pitch-black night. Her graceful form was pristine and luminous, imbued with an incomparable refined elegance.
Not long ago, Qin Ming had been attacked by a person beyond the mundane world capable of mist transformation, and two years ago, he had been severely wounded by a feather-robed youth, nearly losing his life before ending up stranded in this remote region.
Consequently, he felt a certain aversion toward people beyond the mundane world.
Though the woman in the silver feathered robe was undeniably gorgeous, Qin Ming merely swept his gaze calmly over her twice, riding past and away into the distance.
Li Qingyue turned her head, watching his departing back.
Earlier, she had thought it unwise to meet again, yet here they had run into each other. She had still been wondering whether she should speak, but he had been utterly indifferent, not pausing for a second as he sped past.
Her delicate brows knitted slightly. She wore no veil, so it was impossible that he could fail to recognize her, yet his eyes had been so calm and deep, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
She felt somewhat surprised. Had they both changed so drastically in a little over two years that she was already experiencing that bitter truth: "things remain, but people have changed"?
The maid spoke up. "Miss, is there something between you and him? Why did that feel so odd? You thought it unwise to meet again, but he seemed even more indifferent than you—aloof, even! If we hadn't looked at him first, he probably wouldn't have glanced at you at all. How cold! How heartless!"
Li Qingyue shook her head. "What wild thoughts are running through your head? He and I could once be considered friends, that's all. There was never anything complicated between us."
A look of understanding dawned on the maid, and she nodded. "He's surnamed Cui. You mean you were just from the same social circle, Miss? Nothing more than that?"
Li Qingyue said, "A great deal happened two years ago. The people we knew all went their separate ways. Some became people beyond the mundane world, some embarked on the Newborn path very early, some rose as prominent figures, and others faded into mediocrity. Although their family backgrounds remain extraordinary, so much has changed. I have no idea why he has come here."
"Which kind of person does he belong to?" the maid asked in a quiet, cautious voice.
"Someone rather illusory. Let us go." Li Qingyue led the way toward Qingsong Town.
...
*Strange. She felt somewhat familiar,* Qin Ming pondered on the road.
He secretly evaluated her: that feather-robed woman was so delicate and slender that, if she did not employ the unpredictable methods of those beyond the mundane world and relied solely on physical constitution, he felt he could send her flying with a single punch.
Shaking his head, he tapped the purple lightning beast with the damaged spear, speeding away into the distance.
"Alright, you may leave." Qin Ming kept his word. After the purple lightning beast had run a wide loop, taking them a full eighty li away from Twin Trees Village, he prepared to let it go.
The purple lightning beast was pleasantly surprised. It had already braced for the worst, planning to endure the humiliation for now and make this brat pay dearly in the future, thoroughly thrashing him until he cried for his mother!
To be allowed to leave now was truly beyond its expectations.
"Still not leaving? What are you spacing out for?" Qin Ming kicked its rear.
Startled and enraged, the purple lightning beast bolted tens of meters before whirling around. It raised a front hoof to jab an accusatory point at him, letting out low growls as if venting curses in its own beast tongue.
"What are you barking for? Tired of living?" Qin Ming weighed the damaged spear in his hand.
Alarmed, the purple lightning beast leapt over ten meters in one bound, plunging into the dense forest and vanishing from sight.
Qin Ming set off on his journey home. Instead of taking the same path back, he took a wide detour at a run. Along the way, he ducked into the dense woods and deeply buried his suit of armor, along with the sabers, spears, bows, and arrows, discarding them completely.
He felt he likely wouldn't need to wear armor in the future. Once fused, the multiple heavenly light forces deployed across the surface of his body offered protection far stronger than any physical suit of armor.
When the five-times-mutated old golden rooster unleashed its Single Phoenix Wing, it had been able to slice open his fine armor, but it had failed to pierce his protective heavenly light.
Traveling light with only the mutton-fat jade iron saber slung across his back, Qin Ming saw his speed increase by a substantial margin.
Braving the drifting snowflakes, he slipped silently into the village. Having set out during the shallow night, his return now was not exceptionally late.
Qin Ming was in high spirits. After all, he had flattened Golden Rooster Ridge single-handedly!
*Rushing through the long night, traveling all that distance and fighting for my life—I'm actually feeling quite hungry.* He first ate some fruits from Wild Bull Ridge, and before long, a steaming copper pot of beef was also ready.
Deep in the mountains, the purple lightning beast was furious, slamming itself against trees with loud bangs until several trunks as thick as water buckets snapped clean in half.
A white owl flew over, urging it to calm down and saying there was no need to lose its temper.
Then, the owl asked in a low voice, "Did you go see the mountain lord? Were you able to obtain the yin-yang great medicine?"
"That old mountain boar has something wrong with it. I fled before even getting close," the purple lightning beast replied.
The white owl reminded it, "In these parts, it's best to address it as the mountain lord. What could possibly be wrong with it?"
"The old mountain boar was replaced!" the purple lightning beast said.
The owl was stunned. "Replaced by whom?"
The purple lightning beast said, "I suspect it's very likely that white-haired old beast that wept at the grave back then. It didn't die, nor did it flee; instead, it became the mountain lord."
"Then what should we do? Everyone knows by now that the remnant roots and trunks of the ancient tree on Black-White Mountain, nourished by heavenly light, have transformed into the yin-yang great medicine. All factions are applying pressure to demand it. The people beyond the mundane world in particular covet herbs containing yin and yang qi the most. If too many people are after it, will you still be able to get your hands on it?"
"I'll have to ask my elders to step in. I can't handle this on my own," the purple lightning beast sighed helplessly.
Then, trembling with rage once more, it said, "Go and thoroughly investigate a man for me! He looks like he's undergone Newborn four or five times. Rule out the locals—from his accent alone, he definitely hails from a great city where prominent clans reside. Check to see who has come to the Black-White Mountain region recently. Once he falls into my hands, I'll kick his dog head to pieces!"
Thinking back on it now, the purple lightning beast still felt on the verge of exploding with fury on the spot. It then hurried off to soak in a hot spring, as if trying to wash away its humiliation.
Qin Ming usually spoke in a pure local accent. But ever since fragmented scenes and various hazy memories had begun surfacing in his mind from time to time, he had also picked up an accent from afar. Tonight, he had naturally feigned being an outsider.
While sorting through his spoils of war, he inadvertently found several sheets of paper tucked inside one of the books—letters exchanged between the two bandit chiefs and a senior elder of the Golden Bandits far away.
*The Golden Bandits collude with people beyond the mundane world, and that man capable of mist transformation might even be a beast beyond the mundane world?*
Qin Ming did not dwell on it; in any case, all threads ended at Golden Rooster Ridge.
The next day, he woke up early feeling full of vigor. Having fulfilled his wish of eradicating the bandits, he felt it was about time to journey far away.
"Young Qin!" Old Man Liu came knocking on his door early in the morning. Seeing Qin Ming at home, he breathed a complete sigh of relief.
"It's done," Qin Ming said, offering just two simple words.
Old Man Liu knew he had traveled far into the night to accomplish something monumental. Hearing this response, he took a deep, hurried breath to steady his excitement; otherwise, he would have roared at the top of his lungs in pure exhilaration.
"You truly are extraordinary!" Old Man Liu marvelled. Having undergone Newborn only three times, Qin Ming had actually managed to slay bandit chiefs and wipe out Golden Rooster Ridge all by himself!
Having learned how things stood, he returned home completely content, cracked open a jar of fine wine he had brought back from the mountain patrol team, and savored it with blissful sips.
He knew that within a couple of days, great waves would inevitably crash across this region.
"Yongqing, come over and have a drink with me!" Old Man Liu called out to Yang Yongqing next door.
"Uncle Liu, I'm about to be forced into becoming a mountain bandit. How could I possibly be in the mood for drinking!"
Old Man Liu chuckled. "Haven't you not gone yet? When wine is here today, get drunk today! Who knows, maybe they'll change their minds and won't force anyone to Golden Rooster Ridge after all."
Yang Yongqing sighed. "Unless every last one of them drops dead! With how tyrannical they are, how could they ever change their minds?"
Qin Ming was waiting for the news to break. If he were to leave immediately and vanish from here right now, certain people might find it suspicious.
He was studying the three books he had newly acquired. Two of them had likely been penned by the two bandit chiefs to instruct the Newborns of Golden Rooster Ridge; he didn't think much of them at all.
Only that yellowed, ancient book of great antiquity earned his deep regard. As he studied it, the Newborn method recorded within proved quite formidable. The heavenly light force it detailed was rather peculiar—a soft force emphasizing overcoming hardness through softness, and it also corresponded to a supreme technique: the Yellow Clay Palm.
Qin Ming had not studied it in depth yet, having merely skimmed through it as a whole. Judging purely by the palm technique's name, it didn't sound particularly impressive.
Yet a later practitioner who had thoroughly studied the book had left notes inside, mentioning that after mastering the Yellow Clay Palm, he had once beaten a person beyond the mundane world to death.
Qin Ming murmured, "It seems that people beyond the mundane world exert an incomparable sense of oppression over those walking other paths. Slaying a single one excited this expert so much that he recorded this glorious achievement in his treasured secret manual."
Speaking of which, even before leaving this remote place, he had already run into people beyond the mundane world one after another.
Naturally, his thoughts inevitably drifted back to the feather-robed woman he had encountered last night; she truly did seem rather familiar.
Qin Ming pondered deeply. The woman's exquisitely flawless face surfaced in his mind; that kind of pure, refined elegance was rare indeed. The more he turned it over, the more familiar she felt.
Until at last, fragmented images flashed in his mind—he truly did know her!
*No wonder. She stopped by the roadside watching me with that strange look in her eyes; she must have recognized me. I was severely wounded in the past and forgot many things, only recently beginning to piece together my old memories. But she stood there, meeting yet refusing to acknowledge our acquaintance—is she deliberately avoiding something?*
Chapter 60