Chapter 28: The Mountain Bandits
The journey to Beihai is long and far away. On the way, people often stop to hitchhike, and within half a day, the carriage was filled with more than ten people.
Xuan Kong's face was cold and smiling, secretly pulling on Wang Qi's waistband, warning him to be vigilant.
Wang Qi was still skeptical, looking at the people in the carriage, some dressed as accountants and others as scholars, none of whom looked like bandits who blocked the road. Xuan Kong whispered: "Look at these dozen or so people, they are all townspeople from the foot of our Lao Mountain, and have always lived nearby."
Wang Qi had not been on the mountain for a long time and was also unfamiliar with the townspeople at the foot of the mountain. But being pointed out by Xuankong, he suddenly seemed to understand that it was strange for such a small town to have so many people going out, and they all happened to gather in this horse carriage?
These dozen or so big fellows were all robust, especially the one dressed as a scholar who was almost bursting out of his bookish robe.
After these people got on the bus, they didn't talk to each other, but intentionally or unintentionally slowly swept over Xuan Kong and Wang Qi's bodies, as if considering where to start would be more comfortable. "The two young men look very unfamiliar!" A big man dressed as a scholar greeted Wang Qi sitting in the back of the carriage with a fist bump.
The remaining few people's gaze focused on Xu Kong, all with a look of disdain, it seemed that Xu Kong had not come down the mountain for quite some time after hiding in the back mountain.
The people at the foot of the mountain couldn't recognize him either, which was normal. Wang Qi slightly turned his body and looked at the scholar: "Who is this gentleman?"
The bookish-looking man smiled and said, "Alright, I'll say it. The poisonous scorpion in the Cui Mountain is me."
"Du Xie Zi?" The name revolved in Xu Kong's mind for a circle, seemingly without any fame. He glanced at the bookworm and stopped paying attention to him. Wang Qi also responded with an "oh", not saying much, causing Du Xie Zi's face to suddenly become embarrassed.
With a wave of his hand, someone naturally stopped the horse from advancing.
Seeing the leader getting angry, several other big men in the carriage couldn't help but laugh: "Two young men, please get off, let's get familiar with each other!"
Xuan Kong shook his head and smiled bitterly, unable to believe that he and Wang Qi had such bad luck. As soon as they came down the mountain, they encountered this kind of thing. He didn't want to bother with these ordinary people, so he sat cross-legged on the couch, closed his eyes, and meditated, leaving Wang Qi to handle it.
Seeing the Taoist sitting in the back, his body motionless, the poisonous scorpion also had a cautious expression on his face. He exchanged a glance with another woodsman-like man beside him, and both of them took out a talisman from their bags, sneering: "When you arrive at the Yellow Spring underworld, don't blame us brothers. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for offending Li Erge!"
Xuan Kong had no intention of taking action, but seeing these few mountain bandits actually take out the Ling Shan Sect's token, he raised an eyebrow: "What is your relationship with Li Er?"
The second brother of the Lingshan Sect was surnamed Li. At that time, after the establishment of the Lingshan Sect, its reputation in the surrounding towns was not small. The townspeople who knew the second brother respectfully called him Brother Li Er. Originally, seeing Xuan Kong and Wang Qi wearing the Lingshan Sect's Taoist robes, the poisonous scorpion did not dare to provoke them, but someone had sent him Brother Li Er's token, which fueled his greed.
Li Erge is the second senior brother of Lao Mountain Sect, in charge of all matters within the sect. Du Xiezi sneered: "I see that you two blind things dare to steal money and goods from the sect under the nose of the old immortal of Lao Mountain Sect?"
"Stolen money and goods?" Xuan Kong and Wang Qi exchanged a glance, both were perplexed.
Du Xiangzi laughed and said, "Li Ergou is a kind-hearted person and won't bother with you petty thieves, but I'm not so polite." He had been reminded by the disciple of Lao Mountain who had secretly handed him the talisman that there were large amounts of silver notes on the bodies of Xuangong and his companion.
And all along the way, following them and seeing how generously they treated a small horse keeper, I believed even more in the rumors of Mount Lu.
"Too much nonsense!" The accomplice dressed as a woodcutter had lost patience, stretched out his hand and shook it, activating the Xiangshan School's talisman.
The orthodox transmission of Mount Cui, originally did not emphasize talismans and symbols. Moreover, the second brother's Taoist cultivation was far from comparable to Xu Kong's profoundness. Just sitting still, a thunderbolt emitted by the woodcutter was dispelled without a trace by Xu Kong's sword.
"In the eyes of the venomous scorpion, Second Master is nothing more than this level..."
No matter how you look at it, it's not something that can be handled by oneself. He also shook his hand and activated the Thunderbolt Spell on the talisman. Xuan Kong let out a cold hum, and two silver lights shot out from his sword finger, directly cutting off the left hand of the poisonous scorpion symbol.
Seeing the leader of the big brothers was no match for Xu Kong, the remaining few burly men were also born and raised at the foot of Lao Mountain, and they all knew that the mountain's one-eyebrowed Taoist master's magic was formidable. At this moment, they shouted in unison and turned to run.
"Hmph, where are you running to?" Wang Qi drew out the long sword he always carried with him. He couldn't handle a hundred-year-old zombie, but dealing with a few ordinary mountain bandits was no problem.
With a leap, he stood in front of the several big men. A burst of "ding ding dong" and they quickly took down these mountain bandits. Wang Qi looked at Xuan Kong in the carriage: "Big Brother Master, what to do? Kill them?"
Wang Qi walked all the way from Beihai, and he didn't know how many things had happened on the road. In the past, when he was alone, he would have killed someone with one sword. But in front of his senior brother, Wang Qi still chose to respect Xuan Kong's opinion.
Xuán Kōng opened his eyes, thought for a moment, and asked: "Are there many people like this now?"
Wang Qi used his sword to force the big men to kneel on the ground, and when he heard Xuan Kong's question, he replied unexpectedly: "This kind of pest? Many, that's really too many!"
Xuan Kong furrowed his brow, having lived in the mountains for a long time, he never thought that this world was really like the movies he watched in his previous life. "The world is about to be in chaos, and the people are struggling to survive." Xuan Kong sighed, even if he was a member of the immortal family, he couldn't control such things.
He couldn't help but sigh, thinking that although he had also been in this line of work in his past life, he would never have dared to be so blatant. He turned around and looked at the small town, where several soldiers could still be seen on the city wall, but they hadn't made a move yet.
"Wang Qi hastily asked: 'Eldest Brother, how should we deal with these people?'"
The scorpion covered his broken arm with his hand and kept kowtowing on the ground: "Old immortal, spare my life, I'm also starving at home, so I came out to do this." He shouted, and several other big men followed suit.
They are all native people living in the mountains, but although they look like ordinary people, their family's fields have long been confiscated by the government. The old and young at home can barely open a pot, and this is the case with everyone, it is extremely difficult to find a job that can make a living.
Xuan Kong shook his head and said: "They are all townspeople at the foot of Ling Mountain, otherwise..."
His words were not yet finished, the venomous scorpion could no longer hide the evil in his eyes: "You want me to lose an arm, I'll take your life." He pulled out a sharp knife from his waist and stabbed it towards Wang Qi. Although Xuan Kong had crippled his arm, he did not dare to attack Xuan Kong, but instead chose Wang Qi who was by his side.
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