Chapter 60 A Suspected Old Friend Arrives

The two men were quite tall, and their golden armor did not dim in the night, bearing a resemblance to the Six Ding and Six Jia legends found in some regions.

Qin Ming felt that these two were extraordinary. Their bodies contained a rich vitality, and their vigorous spirit and blood energy could not be concealed even through their armor.

He had never seen these four people before, and the most eye-catching one was naturally the woman in the lead.

Qin Ming’s first impression of her was that she was beautiful. She was stunning at first glance, and upon closer inspection, she seemed even more captivating.

Li Qingyue had stopped and was standing calmly by the roadside.

Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and her figure was as slender and graceful as a willow. The wind blew her clothes, and in the thick of the night, there was no fire spring outside the town, yet she gave people the feeling of being lifted up by the sunset, as if she were about to dispel the night fog.

Qin Ming didn’t look much ahead and steered the Purple Lightning Beast to rush past.

The maid opened her mouth as if to say something, but remembering her mistress’s words that it was inappropriate to acknowledge each other, she closed her mouth again.

Qin Ming keenly noticed her expression; even the late night couldn’t stop his gaze from falling upon her.

At the same time, he noticed that the woman seemed to be sizing him up.

Qin Ming was surprised and couldn’t help but glance at her.

The two were so close that he could even see the texture on the other person’s hair ornament.

The woman wore a silver feather dress, without any makeup, her face was exquisitely beautiful. Standing there, she was like a bright moon breaking through the clouds, seemingly shining in the dark night. Her body was pure and elegant.

Not long ago, Qin Ming was attacked by a person from beyond the heavens who could turn into mist, and two years ago he was severely injured by a young man in feathered robes and almost died, eventually ending up in this remote place.

Therefore, he was somewhat resistant to outsiders.

Although the woman in the silver feathered robe was undeniably stunning, Qin Ming merely glanced at her calmly before riding away on his beast.

Li Qingyue turned around and watched his departing figure.

She had previously felt it was inappropriate to meet again, but they bumped into each other here. She was still wondering whether to speak, but the other person was so indifferent, didn’t stop, and rushed past her.

Li Qingyue frowned slightly. She wasn’t wearing a veil, so the other person couldn’t possibly not recognize her, yet her eyes were so calm and deep, without the slightest ripple.

She was slightly surprised. Had they changed so much in just over two years? She was experiencing the feeling of “things have changed” ahead of time.

The maid spoke up: “Miss, is there something between you and him? I feel something’s off. You think it’s not appropriate to see him again, but he seems even more indifferent than you, even cold. If we hadn’t looked at him first, he wouldn’t have even looked at you. He’s so cold and heartless!”

Li Qingyue shook her head and said, “What nonsense are you thinking? He and I used to be friends, there’s no messy relationship between us.”

The maid suddenly realized, then nodded and said, “His surname is Cui. Miss, are you saying we’re all in the same circle? That’s all.”

Li Qingyue said, “A lot happened two years ago. All the familiar people went their separate ways. Some became hermits, some embarked on new paths early, some became prominent figures, and some gradually became mediocre. Although they still came from distinguished families, many things were different. I don’t know why he came here.”

“What kind of person was that?” the maid asked in a low and cautious voice.

“He seems a bit unreal. Let’s go.” Li Qingyue took the lead and headed towards Qingsong Town.

…

“Strange, it feels somewhat familiar,” Qin Ming pondered on the way.

He secretly assessed the situation. The woman in the feathered robe was so slender that, without resorting to the unpredictable methods of those outside the mortal realm, he felt he could send her flying with a single punch, based solely on her physical constitution.

He shook his head, slapped the purple lightning beast with his broken spear, and sped away.

“Okay, you can leave now.” Qin Ming kept his word. After the Purple Lightning Beast had run around for a long time, it was now eighty miles away from Shuangshu Village, so he decided to let it go.

The Purple Lightning Beast was overjoyed. It had prepared for the worst and was willing to endure the humiliation for the time being. It would teach this brat a lesson later and make him beg for mercy!

It was completely unexpected that it was allowed to leave at this moment.

“Aren’t you leaving? What are you spacing out for!” Qin Ming kicked it in the butt.

Enraged, the Purple Lightning Beast leaped dozens of meters away, then turned back, pointing a foreleg at him and letting out a low growl, seemingly saying something unintelligible.

“What are you yelling about? Don’t you want to live anymore?” Qin Ming weighed the broken spear in his hand.

The Purple Lightning Beast was startled and leaped more than ten meters away, disappearing into the dense forest.

Qin Ming embarked on his return journey, but instead of taking the original route, he took a longer detour. Along the way, he entered a dense forest and buried his armor, swords, spears, bows, and arrows deep inside, discarding them completely.

He felt that he no longer needed to wear armor. After integrating various types of Heavenly Light Force, the energy spread across his body was far more effective than armor in defense.

The old golden rooster, which had mutated five times, could slice through his fine armor when he used the Phoenix Single Wing Spread, but it could not penetrate his protective aura.

Qin Ming set off lightly, carrying a mutton-fat jade iron knife, and his speed immediately increased significantly.

He silently entered the village amidst the snowflakes. He had left home in the early hours of the morning and had returned by now, which wasn’t particularly late.

Qin Ming was in a good mood, after all, he had single-handedly conquered Jinji Ridge!

“After a long night of travel and fighting, I was quite hungry.” He first ate some melons and fruits from Wild Buffalo Ridge, and soon after, a steaming pot of beef in a copper pot was ready.

Deep in the mountains, the Purple Lightning Beast was extremely angry, and it rammed into trees with a loud crash, breaking some trees as thick as water buckets.

A white owl flew over and advised it to calm down, saying there was no need to get angry.

Then, it asked in a low voice, “Did you go to see the mountain lord? Were you able to obtain the Yin-Yang Elixir?”

“That old wild boar was suspicious; I ran away as soon as I got close,” said the Purple Lightning Beast.

The white owl advised, “In this area, let’s just call it the Mountain Lord. What problem could there be?”

“The old wild boar has been replaced!” said the Purple Lightning Beast.

The owl exclaimed in surprise, “Who replaced you?”

The Purple Lightning Beast said, “I suspect it might be the old white-haired beast that cried at the grave back then. It didn’t die, nor did it run away. Instead, it became the mountain lord.”

“What can we do now? Everyone knows that the roots, trunks, and other remnants of the ancient trees on Black and White Mountain, nourished by the heavenly light, have transformed into a powerful yin-yang elixir. Everyone is putting pressure on us to get it. Especially those outside the secular world, who are most eager for this kind of herb containing yin and yang energies. If too many people are eyeing it, will you still be able to get your hands on it?”

“I need an elder to step in; I can’t handle this myself,” the Purple Lightning Beast sighed helplessly.

Then, trembling with rage, it said, “Go and thoroughly investigate a man, someone who has undergone four or five rebirths, excluding locals. Just from his accent, you can tell he’s from the powerful city where the aristocratic families reside. Find out who has been coming to this area of ​​Black and White Mountain recently. Once he falls into my hands, I’ll kick his dog head to pieces!”

The Purple Lightning Beast still felt like it was about to explode when it recalled the incident, and then it hurriedly ran to soak in the hot spring, seemingly wanting to wash away the shame.

Qin Ming usually speaks with a pure local accent, but since those fragmented images and blurry scenes have been appearing in his mind from time to time, he has also picked up a distant accent. Tonight, he naturally pretends to be an outsider.

While counting his spoils, he inadvertently discovered some papers tucked inside a book. They turned out to be letters between two notorious bandits and an elder among the distant gold thieves.

“The Gold Thief is colluding with the otherworldly beings, and that man who can turn into mist might even be a beast from beyond the heavens?”

Qin Ming didn’t care about all that; anyway, all the lines were broken at Jinji Ridge.

The next day, he got up early and felt full of energy. Having fulfilled his wish to kill the bandits, he felt it was time to set off on his journey.

“Little Qin!” Old Liu knocked on the door early in the morning, and when he saw Qin Ming at home, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s done.” Qin Ming only said two simple words.

Old Liu knew that he had gone on a long journey last night to do something important. Now, hearing such a response, he was so excited that he quickly took a deep breath, otherwise he would have wanted to shout out loud.

“You’re truly remarkable!” Old Liu exclaimed in amazement. After Qin Ming’s three rebirths, he was actually able to kill a major bandit and single-handedly wipe out Golden Rooster Ridge!

After learning about the situation there, he went home satisfied, opened a jar of fine wine he had brought back from the patrol team, and then enjoyed a leisurely sip.

He knew that within two days, this area would likely experience a major upheaval.

“Yongqing, come and have a drink with me,” Old Liu called to Yang Yongqing next door.

“Uncle Liu, I’m about to become a bandit, how can I be in the mood for drinking!”

Old Liu laughed and said, “You haven’t gone yet, have you? Let’s live for today and not force people to go to Jinji Ridge. Maybe they will change their minds and not force people to go.”

Yang Yongqing sighed, “Unless they all die, how could they possibly do that with their domineering personalities?”

Qin Ming was waiting for the incident to unfold so that he could leave immediately and disappear from here; some people might find that unusual.

He was studying three newly acquired books, two of which were supposedly written by two notorious bandits to instruct new recruits at Golden Rooster Ridge, but he didn’t think much of them.

The only thing he valued most was that old book with yellowed pages and very worn-out paper. He was studying it, and the new method in it was quite powerful. The Heavenly Light Force mentioned was quite special. It was a soft force that emphasized using softness to overcome hardness, and it also corresponded to a unique skill – Yellow Mud Palm.

Qin Ming hadn’t studied it in detail yet; he just skimmed through it and, judging from the name of the palm technique, it didn’t seem very powerful.

However, some later readers who were familiar with the book left notes in which they mentioned that after mastering the Yellow Mud Palm technique, he once killed a hermit.

Qin Ming murmured, “It seems that those who transcend the mundane world exert an unparalleled sense of oppression on those who follow other paths. Killing one of them has excited this master so much that he has recorded this glorious achievement in his treasured secret manual.”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t even left this remote place yet, and he had already encountered people from other worlds.

He inevitably thought of the woman in feathered robes he had met the previous night; she did seem somewhat familiar.

Qin Ming pondered, the woman’s exquisite face appearing in his mind. Her refined and elegant temperament was quite rare, and the more he thought about it, the more familiar she seemed.

Until the very end, fragmented images surfaced in his mind, and he realized he recognized them!

“No wonder she stopped by the roadside to look at me, her eyes were a little strange, she must have recognized me. I was badly hurt in the past and forgot some things, I’ve only recently started to recover my old memories. She stood there, we met but she didn’t recognize me, was she deliberately avoiding something?”