Chapter 1: The First Encounter

  Pain... his head hurts so much... Su Tang couldn't help but let out a low groan, and suddenly an image appeared in his mind - a man sitting calmly, eating something, with a long table in front of him filled with food, and on the candelabra were over ten silver-white candles, casting flickering shadows.

  On the wall behind the man, a gigantic oil painting was hanging, that is... The Last Supper?

  How am I supposed to know the name of that painting? And who am I? Su Tang?!

  Su Tang felt a severe headache, just then, a sharp noise burst into his ears, as if something was moving rapidly and colliding violently.

  Su Tang suddenly opened his eyes, and what he saw was a clean and flawless sky. The kind of clear and radiant blue made people feel carefree and joyful, even having the urge to shout out loud in excitement.

  "Master, you're awake?!" Along with the voice, a figure with a big beard and disheveled appearance blocked out the sky.

  It's too close, already obviously invading his own safe distance. Su Tang's right hand suddenly lifted up, he prepared to use his right hand's two fingers to attack the opponent's eyes, and his tightly clenched left fist was also about to smash into the opponent's chest. The next moment, Su Tang froze again - what am I doing?!

  One by one, memories flooded into Su Tang's mind like a tide, leaving him somewhat dazed. After a long while, his hand slowly came to a stop.

  "Master, what's wrong with you?" The big-bearded man asked anxiously, having no idea that he almost became blind.

  Su Tang smiled, it turned out... My name is Su Tang, I am the master of Xiaolin Fort.

  It so happened that he overheard a few maids gossiping, and in their opinion, Su Tang was a spoiled young master, but also the most useless kind, only knowing how to flirt with women everywhere, without any sense of propriety. So, their attitude was somewhat disrespectful, especially when they were behind his back. But as a man, he still had some courage, and Su Tang's heart burned with anger, deciding to go hunting in the mountains, hoping to kill a fierce beast, so that those ignorant little maids could see his abilities!

  Su Tang wasn't stupid, on his first trip into the mountains, he naturally wanted to ensure his own safety, so he spent a lot of money hiring a female hunter named Hu Niao. Although Hu Niao was still under twenty years old and a woman, she had been living in the deep mountains for many years, honing her skills, and was famous throughout the countryside.

  Unfortunately, the heavens have unpredictable winds and clouds. After entering the mountains for two days, they finally discovered a cloud spirit leopard. Suddenly, a strange old man appeared out of nowhere and, without saying a word, pressed down on Hu Niang who was about to be violated. He originally didn't dare to make a move, but Hu Niang's cries for help were really piercing his ears, he couldn't bear it and stepped forward to stop him. As a result, the strange old man slapped him in the face with a loud slap, and he flew out, unconscious and unaware of what was happening.

  Thinking of this, Su Tang couldn't help but touch his left cheek, and indeed, it was swollen like a steamed bun, with a faint sweet scent still in his mouth, the taste of blood.

  "Qian Biao, what's going on?" Su Tang asked in a low voice, he remembered that the sloppy man was his trusted servant.

  "Young master, just now a man passed by and got into a fight with that old beast!" Qian Biao replied in a slightly trembling voice.

  It seemed to verify Qian Biao's words, a sharp whistling sound flew over and hit a small tree more than ten meters away, cutting the tree in half, slowly falling to the ground. At the same time, the fierce fighting sounds from that side suddenly stopped.

  "Hahaha... Bai Hen Shui, how's the taste of my broken sword? Hahaha..." A maniacal laughter that was as unpleasant as a night owl's screech came over.

  "Damn it, young master! That old beast has won!" Qian Biao's face turned pale.

  Su Tang got up, looked out from behind the slope, and gazed down. Below, there was a stream, and Hu Diao lay in the grass by the creek, her deerskin jacket torn to shreds, revealing two shameful spots, her eyes lifeless, staring blankly at the sky, her chest not rising or falling, she must be dead. The corpse of Yun Ling Bao was also nearby.

  Wait... how did my eyesight become so good?! Su Tang suddenly realized the unreasonable part.

  “Cough, cough...” The sound of coughing from below brought Su Tang back to his senses. A man in white clothes was lying face down in the creek water, while another thin old man was lying on his back with a long spear piercing through his body, pinning him there. His limbs were twisted in an unusual way, as if they had been disabled, and he couldn't move. His broken body could only float up and down with the flowing creek water.

  It was a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy losses. Su Tang's gaze froze as he saw a broken sword lying by the creek, emitting a brilliant light. It seemed to have some kind of connection with him, and his heart inexplicably felt an uncontrollable urge: Get it! He must get it!!!

  "Cough... two little brats, quickly pull out this damn broken gun for me!" The thin old man shouted: "What are you still stunned for? Do you believe I'll kill you?!"

  Qian Biao was so frightened that he shivered with cold and hastily jumped up and rushed towards the stream.

  "Qian Biao!" Su Tang shouted: "Don't run around."

  "Ah...... Young Master?" Qian Biao was taken aback, turning around to look at Su Tang in confusion.

  "Come with me," Su Tang said.

  No matter what, Hu Diao was invited by him, so he must avenge Hu Diao; he took a very heavy slap, almost breaking his neck, and still has a tearing pain now; finally, he wants to get that broken sword.

  If there was only one reason, he might have hesitated; with two reasons, he would have found a way to get rid of the old beast no matter what; now that all three conditions are met, there is no need to consider anything else.

  "Where are you going?" Seeing Su Tang and Qian Biao walking towards the back of the slope, the old man became anxious and angry: "Come back! Come back to Laozi!"

  Su Tang was too lazy to bother, and took Qian Biao to the lower reaches of the stream, crossed the stream, and walked back, making a big circle.

  "Bastards! You're finished! You're done for! Do you know who I am? I'm the elder of the Tie family from Changshan County!"

  "Two little rascals! How dare you abandon me here and leave me unattended, cough...!"

  "There are no households nearby, I remember now, you must be from Xiaolinbao! Haha... Wait for me to escape and return to the Iron House, I will definitely kill Xiaolinbao until not a single chicken or dog is left, not a single chicken or dog!!" The old man shouted hoarsely, although he was seriously injured, but with his profound cultivation, as long as he could get help, he would absolutely not die, so he was especially anxious in his heart.

  "Master, he is the elder of the Iron family!" Qian Biao said in a low voice, his body shaking violently.

  "Mind your own business, whether it's the Iron Family or the Copper Family." Su Tang revealed a cold smile, looked at the corpse of Yunling Leopard not far away, and turned back to say: "Go, drag that Yunling Leopard's corpse over here."

  "Master..." went to drag Yun Lingbao, must be close to the creek, Qian Biao was very afraid.

  "Go quickly!" Su Tang ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.

  Qian Biao responded helplessly and bent down, crawling towards Yun Lingbao's corpse, while the old man continued to scold non-stop, probably because he had heard the movement they made and knew they hadn't gone far.

  Seven or eight meters away from Yun Lingbao's body, Qian Biao suddenly jumped up and rushed over to grab Yun Lingbao's tail, then turned around and ran back. Although Yun Lingbao was a ferocious beast that people feared, it was still young and weighed only over 100 catties, which was no problem for the big man Qian Biao.

  "Damn it!!" The old man let out a furious roar, and the broken sword that had been lying quietly by the creek suddenly flew up, shaking and swaying as it chased after Qian Biao.

  Qian Biao was completely unaware, still running wildly, but the old man's injuries were extremely severe. The flying broken sword lost its accuracy and brushed past Qian Biao's neck, leaving only a faint blood mark.

  Qian Biao suddenly jumped three feet high, let out a sharp cry, and threw down the leopard tail in his hand, rolling and crawling back.

  Seeing this scene, Su Tang shook his head and moved his body a few times. He was estimating whether his action speed could avoid the same attack. Although this body lacked exercise, its nutritional status was good and it had developed quite well, so there shouldn't be any problem.

  Su Tang was stunned, why say... this body? It's obviously mine...

  "Master, that was close......" Qian Biao ran back and sat on the ground with a thud, his teeth chattering non-stop. It could be seen that he had been frightened to the extreme.

  Su Tang quickly walked away, Qian Biao was shocked and struggled to get up from the ground to catch Su Tang, but Su Tang had already taken a dozen steps outside. Wanting to chase after him, but thinking of his previous encounter, Qian Biao took a deep breath and shrank back again.

  Su Tang's footsteps slowed down, his eyes fixed on the old man in the creek, while his peripheral vision was observing the broken sword, ready to respond at any time. When he was still three or four meters away from the broken sword, he suddenly bent down and picked up a stone, throwing it forward. The stone landed with a thud, pressing the broken sword to the bottom.

  Su Tang grabbed the tail of Yun Ling Bao and backed away, that old man had reached the end of his rope, the broken sword was pressed down by a stone block, unable to move, and could only watch as Su Tang disappeared into the forest.

  "What about the flint?" Su Tang asked.

  "Here, young master, what do you want flint for?" Qian Biao asked in confusion.

  "Go pull some dry grass back, make a fire, we're hungry, let's roast some leopard meat to eat." Su Tang's expression was slightly strange: "Wait and see, how long can he keep jumping around."

  The bonfire quickly rose, Su Tang used Hu Niao's hunting knife to sharpen a branch, and cut two pieces of meat from Yun Ling Bao's hind legs, roasted on the bonfire, just at this time, the old man who had been silent for half a day began to speak again.

  "You, fellow, are you a servant of Xiaolingbao? What prospects do you have as a servant? Do you really want to spend your whole life serving others?"

  "What makes that little brat qualified to be the master? Are you weaker than him or dumber?"

  "Heaven's will? Fate? Haha... We cultivators are meant to defy the heavens and contend with fate! Young one, if you dare kill that little scoundrel and send me back to Iron House, I swear to take you as my disciple. Even if you're the most useless person, you can still become a guardian of a region, which is infinitely better than being a servant!"

  The old man changed his strategy and began to sow discord between Su Tang and Qian Biao, every sentence piercing the heart. Qian Biao's face was cloudy and uncertain, suddenly he jumped up and shouted: "Old fellow, don't spout nonsense! I, Qian Biao, am loyal to Young Master Zong with a clear conscience under the sun and in broad daylight!"

  Su Tang gave Qian Biao a nod of approval, but when he lowered his head to continue roasting the leopard meat, his eyes became stern. This was because Qian Biao was too close to him and also because his senses had become extremely sharp for some reason, allowing him to clearly hear Qian Biao's heartbeat quicken and become unstable, proving that Qian Biao was almost certainly smitten.

  Five forts make a village, five villages make a town. The defense of the whole town is unattainable for other young masters, let alone a lowly servant like him. Su Tang can understand but cannot forgive!