Who among the acquaintances present did not know the delicate relationship between Qin Ming, Wang Caiwei, Cui Chonghe, and Li Qingxu? The four of them had never seemed to gather in the same place before.
Some wore inscrutable expressions, quietly waiting for a good show to begin.
"Maybe you should leave first," Lu Zhenyi whispered to Qin Ming.
"Some things are best spoken in the open," Zheng Maoze said as he walked over, resting a thick, heavy hand on Qin Ming's shoulder with an air of intimacy and righteousness.
He spoke earnestly: "I heard you were injured two years ago. It was just a misunderstanding. I'll chat with Li Qingxu in a moment. That matter had nothing to do with you in the first place."
The group of acquaintances knew what had happened in the past. Li Qingxu had known Wang Caiwei very early on, yet the Wang clan formed a marriage alliance with the Cui clan. That noble daughter had once traveled together with Qin Ming, but Cui Chonghe was the true intended.
Involving a millennium-old noble family along with such complicated relationships, if word spread, it would surely become juicy gossip that ordinary folk in the streets and alleys loved to talk about.
Even the old acquaintances present could not suppress the flames of curiosity in their hearts, eager to see what it would look like when the four crossed paths.
Lu Zhenyi and Chen Bingyan were decent enough, but the few who had arrived later had not had much contact with Qin Ming back then.
People who were not close didn't bother hiding anything; their gazes burned with intense anticipation, waiting to watch an undeniably undignified spectacle unfold.
Qin Ming's expression remained calm. Zheng Maoze was resting his hand so familiarly on his shoulder, claiming he wanted to help, but in truth he was trying to obstruct him and prevent him from leaving.
"Big Zheng, since you're bringing up the past, let me mention something as well. Your younger brother has been quite active lately, constantly fanning flames and dropping hints. I wonder whether he's trying to find someone to get rid of me, or lure Cui Chonghe out of the outer realm to harm him. What exactly is your brother up to?" Qin Ming spoke right in front of everyone.
"What's going on?" Several outer realm disciples were astonished. This involved Cui Chonghe too? Even young men and women who didn't know him turned their heads to look.
Zheng Maoze felt a twinge of regret. Even though this kid had been struck down from the clouds into the mire with a single blow, what was in his bones hadn't changed at all—he was still not someone to be trifled with.
"Qin Ming, don't talk nonsense!" He no longer spoke with playful mockery. His expression turned chilly; rumors like this truly could not be allowed to spread unchecked.
Qin Ming had only said it to hit back; with certain matters, it was best to stop once the point was made.
He sighed inwardly. In truth, he had no desire to reunite with this crowd.
At this stage, he had no wish to come into contact with this circle at all.
He had only come here to see Ling Xu and report the latest intel gathered by the speech sparrow's avian brothers. Once official business was concluded, he was going to leave immediately.
Who could have thought that a group of people beyond the mundane world would show up so opportunely?
It looked far too coincidental. Qin Ming suspected whether certain people had deliberately come here to intercept Ling Xu.
He realized the water was deep and quite murky. If people from the outer realm were backing the Golden Bandits, then tonight was going to be difficult!
Qin Ming's original intent in returning to Black-White Mountain had merely been to eliminate the lingering threat from Golden Rooster Ridge and ensure nothing happened to Twin Trees Village. He had no desire to be dragged into the complicated situation before him.
This was no longer a "danger zone" he could wade into!
"If you have business and need to leave early, I'll see you off," Chen Bingyan said, looking at Qin Ming.
"What's the rush? It's rare for old friends to gather," Zeng Yuan said with a smile. He hadn't said much earlier.
Qin Ming gave him a deep look. In the past, the two of them had been on decent terms, yet now, just like Zheng Maoze, he wanted to block Qin Ming from leaving.
Those present knew that Zeng Yuan and Li Qingxu were close friends now.
There were also a few less familiar faces quietly observing. Though they knew Qin Ming's immortal affinity was severed, they weren't so shallow as to step forward and put on airs; they only wanted to witness the upcoming scene of "the four sharing the stage."
In the distance, Ling Xu looked over in this direction and said, "Xiao Qin, you should be on your way. We are short-handed tonight; you'll need to make another trip."
Qin Ming responded in acknowledgment, then turned to the acquaintances present: "Everyone, duty calls. I must take my leave."
Though Zheng Maoze and Zeng Yuan wanted him to stay and "reminisce," they dared not provoke a city lord—especially someone with as notorious a reputation as Ling Xu.
"Escort Xiao Qin," Ling Xu gestured, and in the distance a gray-robed man quickly approached.
"This kid is good. I'll see him off too," the tabby cat said. Carrying the crimson sword on its back, it took light, nimble steps and walked ahead.
Qin Ming knew that if even he suspected it, Ling Xu and the others surely understood even better: the appearance of the people beyond the mundane world was no coincidence. Someone was waiting for him right here.
Once outside town, the three-foot-tall tabby cat turned into a streak of lightning, searching the surroundings. Soon, it brought a blood-drenched man in black out from the woods.
"We were ambushed... Someone nearby is rendezvousing with the Golden Bandits... They will likely take this path," the man in black weakly reported.
"Things are about to start. Escort him away!" The tabby cat turned and said to the gray-robed man who had followed.
Without hesitation, Qin Ming summoned the crimson eagle and leaped onto its back. At a time like this, he wouldn't say anything about staying behind to help. It was completely pointless; one more person would just mean one more puddle of blood and mangled flesh. Top-level battles naturally had to be fought by higher-level experts.
The gray-robed man stood atop the back of a silver raptor that was slightly smaller in build but carried far more vigorous spirit and energy, escorting Qin Ming away from the area around Silver Vine Town.
*Clang!*
Beneath the pitch-black night sky, the tolling of a bell that pierced the clouds rang out from among the continuous peaks.
Wave upon wave of bell chimes surged. Above the ink-stained mountains, purple mist rose as the tolling resounded unceasingly, like thousands of troops and horses charging into battle.
It sounded like a chime of bells surging with mysterious energy, sealing off that stretch of mountain ridges.
The gray-robed man atop the silver raptor looked back, somewhat tense as he watched closely.
"Has a great battle broken out? Are you people short-handed?" Qin Ming asked.
"The main issue is that we don't know whether one faction or two from the outer realm are supporting the Golden Bandits," the gray-robed man replied with furrowed brows.
"Then go back. Don't worry about me. Top experts won't bother with a Newborn like me," Qin Ming said.
"City Lord Ling ordered me to escort you," the gray-robed man hesitated.
Qin Ming urged, "I know the Black-White Mountain region like the back of my hand. You can head back at ease. I'll be fine."
"All right!" The gray-robed man was uneasy, fearing that a shortage of manpower on their side would ultimately lead to a catastrophe.
In Silver Vine Town, several people from the outer realm were gazing out at the distant mountains. Someone spoke up: "City Lord Ling, who is ringing the bell?"
"How would I know? Just calm your mind and listen," Ling Xu responded.
The experts connected to the Golden Bandits grew unsettled. Their original intention had been to intercept Ling Xu, never expecting that he also aimed to pin them down here while someone else was going to execute the Golden Bandits' leader.
It didn't matter if the bandit chief died. The crucial point was that certain items had to be handed over and could not fall into anyone else's hands.
...
The scouting speech sparrow flew back, frantic. "Things look bad! I saw an extremely fast, foolish bird carrying someone, chasing after us!"
Standing atop a mountain peak, Qin Ming furrowed his brows. Someone truly was targeting him?
Evidently, the top experts didn't even know who he was and wouldn't deign to look at a youth like him.
He gave a soft sigh. Times change, and the human heart is hard to fathom.
Qin Ming did not head toward Chixia City. Instead, he traveled in the opposite direction, intending to avoid the brunt of the storm.
"Wait a moment. I'm going to dig up a treasure." Passing through a certain area, he remembered something and had the crimson eagle wait on a mountain peak.
He entered a dense forest, identified the spot carefully, and began digging into the earth.
This area of Black-White Mountain was at a higher elevation, so the snow melted more slowly. Two meters deep underground, there were still bits of ice.
"Fortunately, it hasn't rotted." Qin Ming pulled out a still-frozen hare and inspected it carefully. There were no bad changes.
On the contrary, it still seemed to retain faint, refreshing traces of aura.
"Beneficial to flesh and blood, with no harm?" Qin Ming retrieved a scrap of cloth from the frozen soil.
It was only palm-sized, woven with metallic threads and embroidered with cloud patterns. There should have been other designs as well, but the scrap was too small to tell what the main design was.
Back then, when he slew the young man capable of mist transformation, he had obtained this scrap of cloth. The man had used it for protection and nearly escaped.
"Since there's no issue, I'll take it." Qin Ming rejoined the crimson eagle.
The speech sparrow flew over from the distance and said, "Oh no! Some of my avian brothers had no choice and betrayed me. A few little brothers are tracking us in reverse. Constrained by the methods of those outer realm people, they were forced to comply."
Qin Ming's expression changed. These birds could serve as effective information nodes, yielding tremendous utility, yet now they were being turned against them.
"Into Black-White Mountain!" Qin Ming ordered.
He did not seek out Ling Xu or the tabby cat, because he knew that side was even more dangerous. In the distance, soaring crimson sword light could already be seen rising toward the heavens from the direction of Silver Vine Town.
"Fly close along that ridge toward the desert!" Qin Ming felt as if he were walking a tightrope, treading along the borders of perilous regions.
Before long, the crimson eagle soared into the night sky, using the night mist to conceal their trail.
"The cloud-piercing crane is completely under control, trailing behind us the whole way! We're finished—that fellow is an expert tracker, we can't shake it!" The speech sparrow panicked.
Behind them, a cloud-piercing crane was leading the way, flying at tremendous speed.
Qin Ming drew his bow and nocked an arrow. With a loud *thump*, he struck one of the cloud-piercing crane's wings, blasting out a spray of bloody mist. Feathers scattered as it plummeted crookedly downward.
"Mountain Lord Qin truly is kindhearted. Even at a critical juncture like this, you didn't deliver a fatal blow and spared my crane brother's life," the speech sparrow said.
Then it muttered, "Even escorting a friend a thousand li ends in parting. I should also..."
"Hurry and go," Qin Ming waved it off.
"Then I'll... hold out a little longer!" The speech sparrow gritted its beak and said.
A black raptor closed in, bearing a graceful silhouette—evidently a woman.
Qin Ming drew his bow once more. The arrow he unleashed was terrifying, blasting apart the night mist as it streaked toward the black raptor's head.
Beneath the night sky, the woman's fingers shone lustrously as she flicked out a swath of flowing light, astonishingly enveloping the immensely forceful iron arrow.
"Someone from the outer realm!" Qin Ming's pupils contracted slightly.
He urged the crimson eagle, "Push harder! Only if we reach the desert will we have a chance, or else we'll likely die right here."
"Hm? There's another raptor farther away, and the man on its back is gleaming gold—a gold-armored guard?" Qin Ming knew that tonight would be exceptionally difficult.
...
Outside Silver Vine Town, Ling Xu and the tabby cat had sped away, pursuing the outer realm people who sought to enter the mountains.
"Tonight is truly lively," the feather-robed youth Li Qingxu said as he appeared. He held a lustrous purple bamboo cane, his white shoes unstained by dust, airy and otherworldly.
His arrival drew glances from many outer realm disciples, and numerous people greeted him, knowing he truly possessed God-given talent.
"Just now, Cui Chonghe's stand-in, that Qin Ming, showed up," Zeng Yuan told him, then chuckled. "No immortal affinity to speak of. He's embarked on that crude new path that relies on bodily mutation."
"It's hard to imagine that he once walked alongside us in those days, yet now he can only haul a bloodstained war hammer around, running about in backwater places."
"At his current physical caliber, I reckon he wouldn't even qualify to be chosen as a gold-armored guard."
Several people surrounding Li Qingxu spoke up one after another.
...
This night was grueling for Qin Ming. The pursuers behind him were drawing ever closer.
The crimson eagle's flight capability was formidable, but the raptor behind it had undergone more mutations.
Qin Ming continuously bent his bow and released arrows, effectively slowing the opponent down; otherwise, he would have been caught long ago.
*My iron arrows can deplete her power. She cannot crush me outright!* Qin Ming judged.
Yet the situation remained grim. This outer realm cultivator was of no low caliber, and with an enigmatic gold-armored guard even farther back, the omens were exceedingly dire!
*Why haven't there been a few more grand spring thunderstorms lately?!* Qin Ming had never longed so fiercely for those terrifying flashes of lightning.
Not every rainstorm caused lightning to strike the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace. Most of the time, there were just a few rumbles across the sky, and that was that.
*If I survive this ordeal, I'll hire someone to erect a tall iron rod at the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace. I refuse to believe that won't draw lightning!*
He knew this was unrealistic. If he dared damage the Golden Palace like that, Meng Xinghai would thrash him first.
Qin Ming was simply thirsting for strength. If he could return safely to Chixia City this time, he was determined to master the miraculous technique Ning Siqi gave him, as well as the rare manual Meng Xinghai was about to deliver, rapidly bolstering his physique.
"The desert!" A look of joy surfaced on his face.
Ahead, it was as black as ink, like an abyss ready to swallow everything whole.
The crimson eagle was terrified and dared not enter, because flying even slightly deeper would leave it blind as a bat, unable to see anything.
"It's fine. Descend quickly, we'll skim the ground!" Qin Ming ordered.
The black raptor behind them suddenly flared with dark light and accelerated, touching down even before they did. The woman leaped down, blocking the path.
Standing in the desert, Qin Ming tossed aside the war hammer, put down the bow and arrows, and slowly drew the mutton-fat jade iron saber from behind his back. "Leaving me no way out, are you?"
He knew the veiled woman was terrifying, surpassing any opponent he had clashed with before.
In an instant, Qin Ming accelerated, unleashing the supreme Sky-Severing Saber Intent. Like a rainy night descending with flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder ripping through the dark veil, he slashed forward with his most powerful arc of blade light.
"You don't even meet the qualifications to be a gold-armored guard, yet you dare..."
The veiled woman lightly waved her right hand, sending forth a sheet of golden light to bind the pitch-black iron saber.
The next instant, the black saber in Qin Ming's hands suddenly cracked. The coating peeled away, exposing the pure white blade beneath. Its brilliant radiance blazed like a burning sun, dispelling the night.
With a wet *splat*, blood splattered across the desert!
Chapter 92