Chapter 46 Leave a Little Hope for the World

“Who are you?” Tang Ziqi asked warily. Meeting someone in such a place, even if the other party was an old man, he couldn’t let his guard down.

Moreover, in the Martial Forest, martial artists who Cultivate internal martial arts become more formidable with age.

The disheveled old man stopped, opened one eye, scanned Li Qingqiu and the other two, and his gaze fell on Yan Wujin.

“Great Sun Pure Yang Art, what is your relationship with Zhao Yan?” the disheveled old man asked, his voice hoarse.

Hearing his question, both Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi’s expressions changed drastically.

Li Qingqiu felt like he had heard the name Zhao Yan somewhere before.

Wait.

The current emperor’s elder brother, the former Crown Prince, seemed to be named Zhao Yan, and he was also the one Wu Baoyu followed.

Tang Ziqi coldly asked, “Who are you, and how do you recognize the Great Sun Pure Yang Art?”

The disheveled old man’s tree bark-like face revealed a sinister smile. He said, “You don’t need to be nervous. Since you can inherit the Great Sun Pure Yang Art, then we are family. I was the chief instructor of the Heavenly Guard Army under the former Crown Prince. My name is no longer important. You can call me Mad Old Eccentric. Everything in the past has nothing to do with me. I just want to live out my old age here in peace, mad and eccentric.”

Tang Ziqi couldn’t help but look back at Yan Wujin.

Yan Wujin stepped forward and said, “The letter my father left behind mentioned that after his death, the Heavenly Guard Army would definitely be purged. Did you hide here to escape the current emperor’s pursuit?”

“I did flee to the Taikun Mountain Range to escape the Third Prince’s pursuit, but now I’m trapped here and can’t get out.”

Mad Old Eccentric said, then plopped down on the ground.

Yan Wujin frowned and asked, “Is it because of the mist here?”

“That’s right. Although this miasma is not poisonous, it can trap people to death. I’ve been trapped here for nearly twenty years, living like a savage, barely clinging to life until now.”

Mad Old Eccentric’s words sent shivers down the spines of Yan Wujin and the other man. Trapped for twenty years?

That was too absurd!

Tang Ziqi suddenly thought of something, turned to look at Li Qingqiu, and asked, “What about you? Why are you here?”

Yan Wujin and Mad Old Eccentric both looked at Li Qingqiu. They noticed that Li Qingqiu’s robes were clean, not like someone fleeing for their life.

Li Qingqiu smiled and said, “This is the back mountain of my School. Why can’t I be here? I’m just here for a stroll.”

Yan Wujin frowned deeply, while Tang Ziqi felt that Li Qingqiu was too strange, making him inexplicably uncomfortable.

Mad Old Eccentric looked at Li Qingqiu and asked curiously, “Are you a Disciple of the Qingxiao Sect? Who is your Master?”

“Lin Xunfeng.”

“Ah, him. He was just a young lad back then. Now he’s even a Master. Time really flies.”

Mad Old Eccentric sighed. Then, his eyes flashed with a fierce light, and his tone became chilling. He said, “Since you are Lin Xunfeng’s Disciple, then True Man Qingxiao is your Grandmaster. If he hadn’t been so intolerant of me back then, and even chased me, how would I have fled to this place? Very good, killing you will be my revenge.”

As his words fell, he suddenly threw the gourd in his hand. A terrifying surge of Qi energy attacked Li Qingqiu, startling Yan Wujin, who quickly pulled Tang Ziqi back.

Crack!

Li Qingqiu caught the gourd, deflecting the force on it. His arm didn’t tremble in the slightest, and his body remained unmoving. This scene made Yan Wujin and the other man’s expressions change slightly.

This young man is not simple!

Mad Old Eccentric saw this scene, narrowed his eyes, and said, “To have such skill at such a young age, you’re worth remembering. What is your name? State it.”

Li Qingqiu crushed the gourd in his hand and chuckled, “Old fellow, you strike quite fiercely!”

His right hand, suspended in the air, suddenly twisted, and two fingers flicked out an iron needle, which directly pierced Mad Old Eccentric’s forehead.

Mad Old Eccentric’s eyes widened, and he fell backward.

Yan Wujin could only vaguely see something Li Qingqiu shot out. When he saw Mad Old Eccentric fall, he was horrified.

He could feel that this Mad Old Eccentric’s martial arts were no less than his own, yet such an existence was instantly killed.

How many monsters were hidden in the Qingxiao Sect?

Tang Ziqi came back to his senses, trembling with fear, looking at Li Qingqiu in disbelief.

Before dawn, dense fog swirled in the forest. Tang Ziqi couldn’t see Li Qingqiu’s expression. At this moment, Li Qingqiu looked like a malevolent ghost in his eyes.

Cold sweat streamed down Yan Wujin’s face. Just with that move, he felt that he couldn’t escape at all, and his injuries hadn’t recovered yet.

Tang Ziqi was also too scared to move. For a moment, the forest fell into a suffocating silence.

Li Qingqiu shifted his gaze to Yan Wujin. He said nothing, but his gaze put immense pressure on Yan Wujin.

Clang–

Li Qingqiu suddenly drew the heavenly rainbow sword from his waist. The sword light flashed, sweeping across Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi’s faces.

Thud!

Tang Ziqi suddenly knelt down, crying and pleading, “Please, Senior, spare us! We cannot die, no, he cannot die!”

Hearing this, Yan Wujin couldn’t help but lower his head, clenching his hands in his sleeves, his heart filled with resentment.

Li Qingqiu asked, “Why can’t you die?”

Tang Ziqi crawled a few steps forward, coming before Yan Wujin. He was like a dog prostrating on the ground, his forehead touching the earth, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “He is the son of the former Crown Prince Zhao Yan, the imperial grandson personally appointed by the High Ancestor, the true Son of Heaven. His father was harmed by treacherous villains, and he was lost among the people. The current emperor is incompetent, easily trusting sorcerers, not only causing chaos in the country and countless common people to become displaced, but the Demon Emperor also has a greater evil ambition. He wants to achieve eternal life. For this, he secretly abducts young boys and girls, creating untold human tragedies. Only if Yan Wujin overthrows the current imperial power can this world see light again, and the common people can usher in an era of peace and prosperity!”

“Enough!”

Yan Wujin said in a deep voice, his anger clearly at its peak.

Tang Ziqi turned to look at him, hysterically saying, “Brother, you cannot die! We cannot die here! Even if we lose all dignity tonight, we must beg him to spare our lives! You bear a responsibility that means you cannot die!”

Yan Wujin was caught in an internal struggle.

“You want to use the world to pressure me? It was clearly you who provoked my Qingxiao Sect. How can you speak as if you’re so wronged?” Li Qingqiu’s tone remained unchanged.

Tang Ziqi turned back to him and quickly explained, “We had no choice. We had to rise from the Jianghu, gather forces, and at the same time collect evidence of the current emperor’s crimes. We chose the Qingxiao Sect because the Taikun Mountain Range is far from the secular world, and the court rarely extends its reach here. We never intended to kill everyone; we only wanted to annex you. We would only resort to killing if you resisted to the death.”

Li Qingqiu did not sheathe his sword, nor did he speak, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

Tang Ziqi continued, “We admit our mistakes, and we’ll compensate however you wish. We only ask that you spare us. We can die, but we shouldn’t die here!”

He truly felt despair and immense unwillingness in his heart.

From the moment he met Yan Wujin, he was shocked by his profound martial arts. After learning his story, he was filled with grand ambitions, believing that with Yan Wujin’s powerful martial arts, coupled with his own status as a scion of a prominent family, he could achieve a great undertaking.

Unexpectedly, his sect was stifled right after its establishment, and now, in this desperate place, he had to beg like a dog.

From childhood, Tang Ziqi had always been a proud person. At this moment, he was utterly humbled.

“You’re his strategist, aren’t you? He’s spent years Cultivating martial arts, so it’s understandable if his mind isn’t sharp. But as a strategist, you didn’t thoroughly investigate your opponent’s situation before acting. Can someone like you truly help him save the common people of the world?”

Li Qingqiu’s voice entered Tang Ziqi’s ears, making Tang Ziqi feel ashamed and unable to refute.

Yan Wujin’s unwillingness was even greater than Tang Ziqi’s. He didn’t blame Tang Ziqi; if he were strong enough, why would they be in such a predicament?

“Go in this direction. Close your eyes and don’t open them until you no longer feel the cold. Then you can open your eyes.”

Li Qingqiu’s words made Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi look up in surprise, seeing Li Qingqiu raise his sword, pointing diagonally in one direction.

“Thank you, Senior!”

Tang Ziqi quickly bowed in gratitude, then stood up, wanting to pull Yan Wujin away, but he couldn’t move Yan Wujin.

“You trust us that easily?” Yan Wujin couldn’t help but ask. These words made Tang Ziqi anxious. Why was this fellow suddenly being so foolish?

Li Qingqiu looked at him and replied, “It’s not that I trust you. I just want to leave a little hope for this world.”

Yan Wujin gave him a deep look, then took out a Secret Manual from his embrace, threw it to him, and said, “Our great endeavor may not succeed. Let this Great Sun Pure Yang Art remain in the Qingxiao Sect.”

He turned and led Tang Ziqi in the direction Li Qingqiu’s sword pointed, and soon disappeared into the dense fog.

Li Qingqiu opened the Great Sun Pure Yang Art and read a few pages. Seeing that there were no hidden weapons or poisons, he felt relieved and tucked it into his embrace.

He walked in the direction guided by his memory of good fortune, but his childhood memories couldn’t stop flooding his mind.

When he was less than one year old, his father, in order to seek refuge with the Li family of Linchuan, took the name of a lost family member of the Li family. But when his father brought him and his mother to the Li family ancestral hall in Linchuan, there was a demonic Daoist in the ancestral hall who said he was an inauspicious child and must be abandoned, not to be entered into the Li family genealogy. Only then would his parents be allowed to join the Li family.

His parents agreed, abandoning him outside the city. Before parting, they even told him they would be father and son, mother and son, in the next life.

In the past, Li Qingqiu didn’t hate the Li family, as his father didn’t belong to the Li family to begin with. He also didn’t hate his parents, considering it as repaying the kindness of birth.

Now he finally understood why, when his Master took him in, they were being pursued.

Even if his father had joined the Li family, he would only be an ordinary family member. The real reason was that the emperor wanted to capture young boys. If not for his Master’s rescue, it’s hard to imagine what kind of fate he would have met.

Perhaps that demonic Daoist was arranged by the emperor, and the Li family’s rise to prominence was likely closely related to the emperor.

Recalling this past, Li Qingqiu quickened his pace.

Although the miasma here is not poisonous, it can confuse one’s senses. To avoid getting lost, one must keep an eye on the ground, but there are other wild beasts in the miasma, making it difficult for those within to constantly stare at the ground.

Looking closely, although the ground was covered with fallen leaves, there was vaguely a small path, a path trodden by those who came before.

As he walked, the morning sunlight streamed into the forest, but the surroundings were still a vast expanse of white.

After walking about twenty li, he saw human skeletons starting to appear along the way, still wearing clothes. He didn’t stop, wanting to find the giant tree first, and then tally the bodies along the way.

This tree being his good fortune meant that, for Li Qingqiu at this moment, nothing on this path would pose a threat to him.