With a sword drawn, he laughs proudly, his martial prowess dominating the heavens!

Chapter 31 The Holy Maiden's Intentions

"Young hero, I know where the looted treasure is hidden!" Zu Qianqiu shouted, covering the old man's mouth.

Li Che was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. There was an unexpected gain?!

I thought that under pressure, these two would reveal the purpose of their trip and what they were after. Judging from their expressions, they were being double-crossed.

Buying your life with money? That's so cliché!

Seeing that he didn't speak, Zu Qianqiu forced a smile and said, "We two do know the Yan family, but the robbery and murder was his own idea."

He was expelled from the Beggars' Sect in his early years, and his resentment was hard to dispel. For some reason, he came up with the idea of ​​forming a gang.

It just so happened that the two bears of the northern desert had a fondness for martial artists, so they hit it off and started a business with no upfront costs.

The old man took a few high-quality medicinal herbs to prolong his daughter's life, and stored the valuables in a mountain valley not far from here.

We are willing to offer everything to the young hero in exchange for our lives!

Li Che sneered, "You certainly know how to be generous with other people's money! As far as I know, the Twin Bears of the Northern Desert have been active outside the Great Wall for most of the year, why have they suddenly entered the pass?!"

"this......"

Li Che's eyes narrowed, his hand already gripping the hilt of his sword. "Not going to talk?!"

"Thump—!"

The two men closed their eyes and said in unison, "We're all going to die anyway, young hero, let's do it!"

Li Che frowned slightly. "That Ren fellow certainly has some tricks up his sleeve!"

This young woman manipulates the lives of others like pigs and dogs, which shows how powerful the Three Corpse Brain God Pill is.

"lead the way!"

The old man, eyes closed and awaiting death, instinctively cried out, "Young hero, please don't kill me... Waaah—!"

Zu Qianqiu covered the old man's mouth and nose with one hand while smiling obsequiously, "I'll lead the way for you, young hero."

The Yellow River Ancestor led the way, followed by Li Che. They traveled less than two miles east before turning north. This mountain path must have been newly made, as there were still tall, compacted grasses along the way.

"Young hero, there are still a few guards protecting that area. What do you think...?"

"That's your business," Li Che said calmly, holding his sword.

Zu Qianqiu pursed his lips and said nothing more.

Not far ahead, they came to a mountain hollow. A faint light shone from a cave at the foot of the cliff on the west side, illuminating several figures moving back and forth, seemingly quite dutiful.

As they walked, Li Che casually remarked, "You guys just stay holed up in the mountains all day, aren't you getting any real business done?"

"There are people watching along both banks of the Yellow River, so there's no need to... Hey, you fucking stepped on my post..."

Before the old man could finish cursing, he realized something was wrong. He suddenly turned around and glared at Li Che, cold sweat pouring down his forehead and back.

"you!"

"What, is there a problem? Burying bones in Xiaoshan is not bad."

"Sigh~" Zu Qianqiu sighed, stopped the old man, and said with a wry smile, "Young hero, why do you have to make things difficult for me? Old man, from now on we won't say a word. Young hero, you can kill me if you want, or let me go if you want. Dying under your swift sword would be much better."

"Who goes there!"

......

The figure moved inside the cave, but the shouting stopped after only a few breaths.

Zu Qianqiu came out of the cave first, looked around, but did not find Li Che.

"Old man! Come out now!"

The latter emerged from the cave and gestured wildly.

"Are you mute? Quick, run!"

"You fucking told me not to talk! Huh? Where's that kid?"

"Stop dawdling! They gave us a chance to live. Are we going to wait for them to come back and kill us? Let's go!"

"That kid is fucking despicable! If only I hadn't brought poison, otherwise... Waaah—!"

"Shut up!" Zu Qianqiu bowed to the empty path and pulled the old man away.

At the镖局 (escort agency) headquarters, apart from the dozen or so people guarding the镖车 (escort vehicle), everyone was busy digging a pit to bury the body.

In the business of escorting goods, killing and bloodshed are common occurrences, especially in such remote and desolate places. If someone is killed, they are killed; they are buried somewhere and that's it. Everyone understands this without saying a word, which saves trouble for the government.

As Li Che walked through the woods, he saw from afar that many burial men would first search the corpses for a while before burying them, taking anywhere from a few coins to three or five ounces.

They would either hurl a few curses or laugh boastfully, but the two镖头 (bodyguards) acted as if they hadn't seen anything.

Li Che thought to himself, "This is a good habit, I should learn it!"

A mountain breeze swept by, carrying away some of the stench of blood, and several bonfires were lit around the area.

The two镖头 (bodyguards/escorts) met after a while, one checking the people and the other checking the goods, and both breathed a sigh of relief.

The goods went without incident, and the fact that one person was seriously injured and five others were slightly injured is already a pleasant surprise.

Just then, four men from Qianjin Village came over, still shaken, and said, "We really owe a debt to Young Hero Li this time. He's a disciple of Master Yue from Mount Hua, truly remarkable."

Then, he looked ashamed and sighed, "We have been very negligent towards Young Hero Li along the way, which is really wrong. The Twin Bears of the Northern Desert and the Twin Snakes Beggar are both well-known unorthodox and powerful figures."

We can't handle just one person.

Several people nodded in agreement, and one of them bowed respectfully to the west, saying, "It is only thanks to the manor lord's foresight that we were able to lose our credibility, and all forty or fifty of us would have become the prey of those two northern bears!"

Miss Huo listened for a long time, then asked in surprise, "They really eat...?"

"Second Miss, I haven't seen it myself, but that's what people in the martial arts world say, so it must be true."

"Ugh—!" Upon hearing this, Miss Huo gagged...

"Is Junior Sister not feeling well?"

Suddenly, Li Che emerged from the woods with a smile, and everyone around him clasped their hands and bowed, saying, "Young Hero Li!"

Though the voices were mixed, they came from the heart. The intense gaze made Li Che feel somewhat awkward, so he clasped his hands in return.

After everyone exchanged pleasantries, Chief Escort Chen stepped forward and handed over an oil paper package.

"This is?"

"Whatever was found on those three should be disposed of by Young Master Li!"

Li Che took it and squeezed it. It was a thick, soft lump. Could it be unfinished "food"?

Thinking of this, he felt a chill and instinctively wanted to let go.

"Young Master Li, there are some folded Xuan papers inside, but I haven't opened them to look at them."

Li Che glanced at him and thought to himself: This guy is a rule-abiding citizen.

Then unfold it and see that each of the two sheets of Xuan paper has a portrait of a person, one old and one young. The old man has a wrinkled face and messy hair. He looks to be about sixty years old. There is also a zither on his back behind the half-body portrait.

The other person was indeed a little girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a charming and innocent face, and a pair of lively and vivid eyes that seemed to leap off the page.

Li Che was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered what the old man had said earlier. So the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect sent them to find these two people?

His gaze swept over the zither behind the old man. Could it be... Qu Yang and Qu Feiyan?!

Li Che's pupils contracted slightly as his memories of his past life gradually connected with his personal experience just now.

Ren Yingying devised a plan to save Ren Woxing, and in order to please the Four Friends of Plum Manor, she collected famous songs, chess scores, and calligraphy books from all over the world.

Yes, Zu Qianqiu must also be part of this plan.

The song "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" created by Qu Yang and Liu Zhengfeng was derived from "Guangling San", and "Guangling San" should be in Qu Yang's hands.

Considering that Liu Zhengfeng ruined his reputation and destroyed his family in his attempt to retire, given the way the Demonic Sect operates, how much better can Qu Yang's retirement go?

After pondering for a long time, Li Che wondered, "Could it be that Qu Yang used the Guangling San as a bargaining chip to gain a glimmer of hope? Or is there another hidden story?"

Seeing him standing there in a daze for a long time, his brows furrowing and relaxing, no one dared to disturb him. They were just curious whether the two people in the painting were old acquaintances of Young Master Li.

Otherwise, how could things be in this state?

......