Swordsman

　　Early morning of the next day, the humidity was very high.

　　In Jiangning County, outside the northern gate of the Gui Yuan Sect, a young man was leading a ‘Cyan Bristled Horse.’ He wore a green suit and his hair was let down, looking uninhibited. He carried a bag on his back and a long saber at his waist.

　　“Alright, no need to send me off any further! Brother will be back within half a month.” Teng Qingshan smiled as he hopped on the horse.

　　“Brother, be careful on your way.”

　　Teng Qingyu and Teng Qinghu sent off Teng Qingshan. This time around, Teng Qingshan will not be out for too long, and that’s why he did not inform many.

　　Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

　　The Cyan Bristled Horse galloped on the royal road, splashing about muddied water.

　　“Now that I’ve made some changes, there probably wouldn’t be many who would be able to recognize me.” Teng Qingshan looked at the saber by his waist. Teng Qingshan did not want to get involved in any trouble on this trip. The name ‘Teng Qingshan’ has too much fame across the Nine Prefectures, especially in Yangzhou!

　　Therefore, he dismantled his Reincarnation Spear into two sections and kept it in his bag while carrying along a Blood Devouring Saber.

　　This Blood Devouring Saber was what he received from threatening the leader of the bandits previously.

　　“Many people may have heard of my name, but few had seen me before! Even at the Blazing Mountain, only some of the people had met me before. And now, with my hair let down and changing to a saber, my atmosphere would be different. Probably only very few would be able to recognize me!” Teng Qingshan smiled.

　　His identity now, was Qin Lang!

　　Swordsman ‘Qin Lang’.

　　An uninhibited swordsman who roamed the world suavely.

　　Teng Qingshan took in a deep breath, taking in the pleasant scent of the earth in a good mood. “With my abilities with the saber, even if I can’t be ranked in the 《Earthly Ranking》, I would still be at the level of the experts of the 《Hidden Dragon Ranking》.” Teng Qingshan’s saber skills was one that kills!

　　Back then when he was in the hitman group, he had learnt to handle a variety of weapons, including dagger, flying dagger, knife.

　　The techniques of a hitman was to be fast, accurate, and ruthless!

　　Teng Qingshan did not have any mysterious technique, but just the three words, fast, accurate and ruthless.

　　With Teng Qingshan’s ability to make discerning judgments, his fast reactions, as well as his excellent control of his strength, the prowess of the saber which he flings out would be very terrifying too. Even if he were to make a simple furious hack with the strength of over two hundred thousand jin would be able to easily smash a building with much ease.

　　……

　　“Scarlet Fruit, oh Scarlet Fruit. I wonder how the scorching energy would compare against that of the Black Fire Spirit Root?” Seated on the horse, Teng Qingshan wondered.

　　To find the Scarlet Fruit!

　　As for why he had chosen the Scarlet Fruit over the ‘Violet Ice Heart’, Teng Qingshan did not share the real reason with his master Zhuge Yuanhong.

　　The reason why he had chosen the Scarlet Fruit had nothing to do with the Five Techniques of the Ardent Flame!

　　It was actually because of the ‘Black Fire Spirit Root’. Ever since he had taken the Black Fire Spirit Root, whenever he practiced the 《Godly Tiger Form Technique》, Teng Qingshan would feel his whole body heating up. His skin had also turned a dark red color and his muscles and skin had also felt tougher. It was very obvious that — the Black Fire Spirit Root had contained the fire characteristic.

　　“Since I had taken the Black Fire Spirit Root, naturally, I can only choose the Scarlet Fruit.” Teng Qingshan exclaimed. “As for the Northern Seas……I can only find another opportunity to go in the future.”

　　Teng Qingshan was curious about places such as the Desolate Land and the Northern seas.

　　To disguise as an uninhibited swordsman who roams the world, Teng Qingshan was in an excellent mood.

　　At times, when he came across bandits that did not know any better, he would kill them straightaway to practice his skills with the saber!

　　At times, he would just spend the night in the wilderness, hunting wild beasts for food.

　　At times, when he met other warriors in restaurants, he would also be glad to have a drink with them and make new friends.

　　……

　　In short, Teng Qingshan had a casual and relaxed time. With his capabilities now, if others were to offend him when he ventures by himself, they would be courting death.

　　……

　　In Yangzhou, Wu An County.

　　The dust flew about as three warhorses galloped to a three-way split.

　　Neigh~~~

　　The warhorses called out and came to a halt.

　　“Brother Qin Lang! Let’s take our separate ways here! My second brother and myself will need to rush to Yanzhou. In the future, if Brother Qin Lang is to come to Yanzhou, do come to Meng Hu Stronghold and the three of us shall have a good drink then.” A burly man wearing a short top which revealed his chest laughed out heartily.

　　“Haha……Brother Meng Hu, you two brothers would need to prepare more wine!” Teng Qingshan replied as he laughed.

　　“That’s for sure. Then, we brothers shall take our leave. Brother Qin Lang, may we meet again!” The two brothers with close resemblance cupped their hands and said.

　　“May we meet again!” Teng Qingshan also smiled as he cupped his hands.

　　“Jia!”“Jia!”

　　The two burly men rode their horses and headed took the path which led to the west.

　　“It is really interesting to roam the world and meet new friends.” Riding on the Cyan Bristled Horse, Teng Qingshan continued to head towards the south. He had left the Jiangning County for five days and traveled a distance of close to a thousand li. Teng Qingshan was actually not in a hurry. He took his time to enjoy the local customs and charms.

　　The two men earlier were the two leaders of a force, ‘Meng Hu Stronghold’ in the boundaries of ‘Yanzhou’ of the Nine Prefectures.

　　In the restaurant, Teng Qingshan had saw someone bullying others and helped to teach the guy a lesson.

　　The abilities which he had displayed caught the attention of the two men and they became friends. Teng Qingshan and the two Meng Hu brothers also traveled together for two days. Both Teng Qingshan and the two brothers were powerful warriors who were forthright. The trio had an unrestrained and enjoyable journey together.

　　……

　　Teng Qingshan was riding his horse casually and traveling on the royal road.

　　Suddenly——

　　Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

　　The sound of urgent and rapid galloping of horses sounded as two gust of strong wind passed by Teng Qingshan and went ahead. Teng Qingshan took a glance and saw that the two figures on the horses were both women! One of them should be a middle-aged lady while the other, a young girl. The latter’s figure was obviously smaller and more fragile looking.

　　“Riding so fast?” Teng Qingshan was slightly astonished. “They’re only riding Yellow Maned Horse. If they were to ride so fast, the Yellow Maned Horse would die of exhaustion.”

　　Slap! Slap!

　　The occasion slashing of the horse whips sounded as they whipped the horses. The two Yellow Maned Horses ran at full speed. The young girl even turned back for a look before quickly turning back to face the front.

　　“Mmm?”

　　Teng Qingshan’s heart skipped a beat.

　　“That young girl……” Teng Qingshan stared at the back of the girl. When she had turned her head earlier, Teng Qingshan was shocked to discover that the sideview of her face was very similar to that of his wife from his previous life, ‘Cat’. “Cat?” His initial wonderful mood disappeared instantaneously.

　　Teng Qingshan fiercely clamped on the horse’s stomach.

　　“Jia!”

　　The Cyan Bristled Horse immediately sped up. Under the control of Teng Qingshan, the Cyan Bristled Horse remained quite a distance behind the young girl. “I wonder how the front view of the girl looks like?” It’s common for the face of one’s side view to show resemblance even though they may look nothing alike upfront.

　　Deep in the heart of Teng Qingshan, Cat’s figure was deeply engraved.

　　Having seen the side view of that face, Teng Qingshan uncontrollably followed behind from a distance.

　　From his previous life to his current, he had wanted to force himself to forget it, but how could he easily throw away the love which had surpassed life and death? Teng Qingshan silently looked at the back of the girl as a strange light lit up in his eyes.

　　……

　　The ones riding on the horses was a pair of mother and daughter. Their faces were filthy and their hair were messy, while tears kept streaming down the girl’s face.

　　“Junjun, don’t cry!” The mother kept saying.

　　“Mother, father is dead, our home is gone. What are we to do now? Who were those evil-doers?” The girl bit her lips. Her face was covered with traces of tears. She could not forget the splattering blood, and the corpse that fell down one by one. The home which she had lived in for over ten years, now gone!

　　The mother’s eyes were also red as she said, “Junjun, we escaped fast. Those evil-doers should not have discovered us. When we reach the Wu An County, the silver notes that mother has should be enough for us to make a living. Let’s live our lives and forget about those evil-doers. With just the two of us, being women, we would not be able to take our revenge. Mother would just like for you to live a good life in the future.”

　　Tears streamed down the girl’s face as she nodded.

　　“There is a distance of another thirty li before we reach the Wu An County.” The mother consoled.

　　Puchi!

　　An arrow pierced through the chest of the middle-aged lady and the arrowhead was covered with blood. The middle-aged lady’s eyes were filled with shock. The girl’s eyes stared widely as she saw the bloodied arrow on her mother’s chest. Her face instantly turned pale white! She then fiercely tugged back the reins.

　　“Mother —”

　　A forlorn voice came from the girl, till she almost lost her voice from the shouting.

　　“Haha, two females trying to roam the world……” A loud laughter filled the air as over ten bandits leapt out from the bushes.

　　The middle-aged lady fell off the horse helplessly and rolled on the floor. She stared at her daughter andspurted blood. “Quick, quickly escape!” After saying these words with much difficulty, the middle-aged lady turned silent.

　　“Mother, mother.” The girl’s face was pale white.

　　“The little girl here is quite pretty. But to think that you were so scared that you stopped the horse after seeing us brothers. Haha, it’s too late even if you were to try to escape now.” Over ten bandits closed in, with five of them holding onto bows and arrows. At such close proximity, they were not afraid that the girl would be able to escape.

　　The girl looked at the ten odd bandits.

　　The nightmarish scene of splattering fresh blood and falling corpses flew across her mind as she lowered her head to look at her mother.

　　“Little girl, come have a good time with us brothers. Maybe we’d leave you alive.” The violent bandits smiled as they closed in. In their eyes, a weak little girl was of no threat to them.

　　Hatred grew in the heart of the girl as she looked at the ten odd bandits.

　　But she had no means to retaliate.

　　“These evil-doers……” The girl pulled out a dagger used for self-protection.

　　“Oh , you want to retaliate?” The bandits laughed.

　　Hu!

　　“Father, mother, your daughter is coming to accompany you.” The girl fiercely thrusted the dagger towards her stomach. She would rather die than to let herself be violated by these bandits.

　　Clank!

　　The dagger in the girl’s hands slipped out. Concurrently, a figured dashed into the crowd of bandits. With the sounds ‘puchi’, blood splattered and pitiful cries sounded.

　　“Lord, please spare my life!”

　　“Please spare my life.”

　　The frightened bandits wanted to escape, but within the time it takes for two breaths, all of the bandits had fallen, each of them with a wound on their throat.

　　Clank!

　　Teng Qingshan returned the Blood Devouring Saber to its sheath and turned to look at the girl whose face was pale white. He was full of regret. “Just a little bit more! If I were to react slightly faster, if I were to be more wary of the surroundings, her mother wouldn’t have died!” Teng Qingshan was initially tens of zhang behind the mother and daughter. However, because they were riding horse, the clattering of the galloping horses covered some slight motions from the surroundings.

　　In addition, Teng Qingshan was a bit swayed. Therefore, he was not able to spot the bandits who were in cover tens of zhang away.

　　With the clattering of the galloping horses, even Teng Qingshan would need to be fully focused to be able to sense the hidden bandits tens of zhang away.

　　After the other party shot out the arrow and it immediately pierced through the mother’s chest. With Teng Qingshan’s reaction time, and considering that he was too far away from them, there was no way that he would be able to save her.

　　“What resemblance……” Teng Qingshan looked at this girl.

　　The girl had an uncanny resemblance with the younger Cat!

　　“Boohoo ~~~” After throwing a glance at Teng Qingshan, the girl ran to her mother’s corpse and started to cry bitterly as she leaned over the corpse.