The cave was extremely cold, and it was filled with the strange fragrance of cosmetics and the stench of corpse water, which were mixed together. The ground was littered with human bones, pieces of cloth, and even some human hearts that had not been taken. They were placed in a white porcelain plate in the corner. However, in contrast to this eerie scene, there was a pile of red cushions in the depths of the cave and a golden tent with colorful butterflies.
In the depths of the tent, a woman who was not fully clothed was curled up and crying. Her mind was not clear. She did not even react when other people entered the cave.
Yue Chenqing was shocked. "Why is this flower thief a woman?"
Just as Yue Chenqing finished speaking, a hand suddenly stretched out from the pile of fluffy red pillows and fiercely strangled the girl! Before she could scream, she was pulled into the red waves by the hand. Then, a pale-skinned man got up from the cushions and pressed her down. He bit the girl's lips hard in front of her.
In the blink of an eye, the girl's soul seemed to be sucked away. Her hands fell limply and her eyes were wide open. She was dead …
The man sucked her soul and then raised his head —
This man had a thin face and beautiful eyes. His cheekbones were slightly sunken. A few strands of black hair hung down beside his face. He looked very thin.
He was the real "flower thief".
There was a moment of silence.
Mo Xi said, "… It's you."
The man licked his wet lips and smiled. "Lord Xi He has seen me before?"
"… Yes."
They had seen each other before.
Many years ago, on the battlefield in the Northern Region, Mo Xi was alone in a dangerous situation. He was surrounded by the demon wolves domesticated by the Burning Country and couldn't get away. At that time, a young cultivator in green came with a sword. With an ethereal sword art, he and Mo Xi, who had never met before, fought off thousands of demon wolves together.
Before the cultivator in green left, Mo Xi wanted to ask him to stay and thank him. However, the cultivator just turned around and smiled. His eyes were gentle and the green ribbon that bound his hair fluttered in the wind.
"I just happened to pass by and helped you."
A faint smile appeared on his face. "Why do you have to worry about it?"
Bright new snow, Sword Master Qingzheng.
— That was the Li Qingqian that Mo Xi had seen with his own eyes.
Therefore, Mo Xi couldn't be sure until he saw the real person, even though there were many traces of the Water Breaking Sword on the corpse after the bloody incident at the Hongyan Brothel.
The Murong Lian had seen Li Qingqian's portrait in the Heroes' Chronicles. Obviously, he recognized him at this time. He was shocked and said sternly, "Why are you here?"
"Who else do you think it is?" Li Qingqian stood up and casually kicked Miss Lan's limp corpse to the side. He said rather mockingly, "Could it be that chef who ran away?"
He sneered, "That trash is just a chess piece in my hand. If he was half as capable as me, would he have been locked up by you for so many years? "
When it came to sarcasm, the Murong Lian would never admit defeat. After the Murong Lian recovered from his shock, the corners of his mouth curled up in a mocking smile. He said, "Haha, that's strange. The Water Breaking Sword Li Qingqian is a martial arts master whose name is known throughout the world. Today, I see that he's just a flower thief who likes to suck people's essence blood, eat their flesh, and dig out their hearts. You've really opened this prince's eyes. Amazing, amazing. "
Unexpectedly, before Li Qingqian could say anything, Yue Chenqing suddenly froze and said, "That's not right?"
"What's not right?"
Yue Chenqing said, "He's not Li Qingqian. He, he's clearly a … "
He hesitated for a moment, as if he wasn't so sure about his judgment, but finally said, "He's not a living person. He's just a sword spirit!"
As soon as he said this, the faint smile on Li Qingqian's face suddenly froze.
He slowly turned his eyes, and his gaze fell on Yue Chenqing. At this moment, the smile on his face hadn't completely faded, but the viciousness in his eyes had already reached a state of mutual hostility.
Yue Chenqing couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive, and moved to hide behind Mo Xi. Li Qingqian, however, opened his mouth and laughed sinisterly. "This little brother doesn't show his true colors. May I ask for your name?"
"My, my, my name is Yue …"
"Why are you answering him!" Mo Xi raised his long leg and kicked him fiercely. He said angrily, "Do you think you're still a disciple of the academy, answering every question?!"
Yue Chenqing shook his head like a rattle-drum and hurriedly said, "My name isn't Yue —"
Li Qingqian raised his head, his bright red robes unbuttoned, and laughed loudly, interrupting him. "Enough. I only know that your surname is Yue. Chong Hua's Yue family is one of the top blacksmithing families in the Nine Prefectures' 28 countries. No wonder Wang Shu and Xi He, the two monarchs, couldn't tell, but a little brat like you saw through it. "
Yue Chenqing liked to hide in the back on the battlefield. At this moment, there were only three people and a bamboo warrior in the cave. He couldn't help but feel very nervous when he was suddenly focused on. He curled up like a quail.
"My, my, my …"
Mo Xi kicked Yue Chenqing, but after that, he still pulled him back and shielded him behind him. He turned to the side and asked, "The one who fought with you in the tavern was him?"
"Yes, yes …"
"Why didn't you recognize that he was a sword spirit at that time?"
"At that time, I just felt that there was a familiar smell on him …" Yue Chenqing murmured. "Do you still remember Lord Xi He? I told you before. Now that I think about it, it was the aura of a sword spirit, but … "
"It's just that I deliberately suppressed it at that time." Li Qingqian continued his words, sneering. "Plus, this Young Master Yue and I only exchanged a few moves. He's also young, so he probably hasn't fully grasped the methods of the Yue family's blacksmithing and appraisal. That's why I couldn't think of an answer. "
He paused, licked his lips, and said, "But Young Master Yue, I think that what your family's elders need to teach you the most is not blacksmithing. It's something else. "
Yue Chenqing was stunned. "Ah?"
"That is, even if you know something, it's best to pretend …" Before he finished speaking, he had already soared into the air, summoned an iron sword, and stabbed towards Yue Chenqing. He bit out the last three words, "I don't know —!"
Seeing the tip of the sword approaching, Yue Chenqing screamed, "Lord Xi He, save me!"
Mo Xi pushed Yue Chenqing to the Murong Lian, and rushed forward. A red light flashed, and suddenly it transformed into a long blade, colliding with Li Qingqian.
Sword spirit … Sword spirit …
So that's how it is!
No wonder the wounds on the corpses were caused by evil energy, and also by ordinary weapons. Malicious spirits generally wouldn't use weapons to hurt people, and also wouldn't maintain a clear consciousness, so it was impossible for them to inscribe on the wall. But if it was a sword spirit, then everything made sense.
In the World of the Nine Continents, some blacksmiths, in order to make their weapons more powerful and flexible, would use living people as sacrifices to their swords in addition to the usual spiritual attachment. However, this method was too cruel, and the twenty countries led by Chong Hua had long ago abolished this method of tempering their swords. Only the Liao Country still used this method the most.
The soul entered the weapon, or fell into eternal sleep in the long river of time, never to wake up again. Or the obsession couldn't be dispersed, and the soul could slowly reform into a human form. And the sword spirit that reformed into a human form could almost be said to have the same appearance and behavior as a living person, but the evil energy in its body was very strong. Due to the large amount of spiritual energy required to maintain the transformation, if one's cultivation was insufficient, they would end up like Li Qingqian, who could only rely on eating the hearts and flesh of cultivators and absorbing the souls of the weak to achieve their goals.
This kind of transformed sword spirit was often very powerful, and each of its moves was better than before. But they also had a very fatal weakness — this was also the reason why Li Qingqian was so angry after being pointed out by Yue Chenqing, and wanted to kill Yue Chenqing —
Their bodies couldn't fall into the enemy's hands.
In other words, as long as the sword spirit's body was obtained, sealed, or destroyed, then no matter how powerful the sword spirit was, it could only wait to be captured!
The Murong Lian obviously also thought of this. While Mo Xi and the sword spirit were fighting, he pulled Yue Chenqing aside and asked him, "You said that Li Qingqian is a sword spirit, then do you have a way to find his body?"
"I'll try!" Yue Chenqing said and closed his eyes, forming a seal with his hands. After a while, he opened his eyes and turned to look at the Murong Lian in a daze.
The Murong Lian asked curiously, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"…" Yue Chenqing said in disbelief, "Brother Murong … his body … his body is in your body!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" The opium pipe hit Yue Chenqing's head, and the Murong Lian said angrily, "You dare to say that I'm in cahoots with the Liao Country's lackeys?"
"I'm not, I'm not! I'm just saying that his body is, is — "
"It's not in my body!"
"… Okay."
The Murong Lian pressed his head angrily, "Try again!"
Yue Chenqing could only try again, but after three or four tries, he finally opened his eyes and didn't even dare to say a word. He just stared at the Murong Lian with an aggrieved expression. The Murong Lian's face was a little pale, and his lips were trembling. He wanted to smoke 'Floating Like Dreams' to calm himself down, but when he thought of how he had stabbed the female corpse's mouth with his opium pipe, he felt disgusted, so he wiped the opium pipe on Yue Chenqing's clothes many times.
As he wiped, he suddenly thought of something. His expression froze, and his hands gradually slowed down.
"Wait." He muttered, "… Indeed … It's possible that it's in my body."
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Li Qingqian and Mo Xi, whose sword Qi pierced through the clouds. Seeing that Li Qingqian couldn't get past Mo Xi to reach them, he hurriedly pulled Yue Chenqing to a hidden place behind a rock. Li Qingqian wasn't stupid. He saw their movements from the corner of his eye, and snorted, trying to chase after them.
But he had only moved a few feet when he heard Mo Xi's cold voice behind him, "Shuiran, turn into a spirit!"
Li Qingqian was shocked. He heard the sound of an explosion behind him, and a red light illuminated the whole cave like a sea of fire. A spirit snake as tall as three people darted out of the red light, and rushed towards Li Qingqian, blocking his way. Li Qingqian turned around and said angrily, "Mo Xi, don't go too far! Others don't know about the scandal between you and that Gu guy, but I know it very well! I also know what you said and did with him at Luo Mei Resort after you came back! If you try to stop me again, I will destroy your reputation! "
Unexpectedly, Mo Xi just looked at him coldly, and held the whip in his hand that resonated with the spirit of Shuiran. He flicked it in the air, and spat out a word, "Go."
Shuiran pounced towards Li Qingqian.
Li Qingqian shouted, "Mo guy! You really don't care what I say?! "
"I care what you say." Mo Xi narrowed his eyes, his face full of disdain. "Will anyone believe you?"
"You —!"
But Li Qingqian knew that Mo Xi was not lying. Since he was young, Mo Xi had been upright and had never done anything rash. He had no interest in good-looking men or gentle women. In this world, only Gu Mang could be this man's only stain and scandal. He was an evil spirit. Even if everything he said was reasonable, who would believe him? So what if they believed him?
He gritted his teeth and turned around to fight with Shuiran.
The bamboo warrior ran around, wanting to help. Mo Xi glanced at Gu Mang, who was still tied up and sleeping. He waved his hand, and a protective barrier fell down, trapping him in it.
The bamboo warrior said, "Da da da! Da da! "
Mo Xi said, "Stay inside and don't move."
The bamboo warrior seemed to be depressed that it could not help. Its head drooped down, and Gu Mang's head also drooped down. After a while, it opened its hands, stood up listlessly, and began to make a scarecrow.
Behind the stone forest.
Yue Chenqing squatted on the ground, staring dumbfoundedly at a pile of miniature weapons in front of him. There were fingernail-sized knives, swords, rods, whips, and everything else. They all came out of the Murong Lian's Qiankun bag.
"These were taken from the captives in the Fallen Plum Garden." The Murong Lian said, "Although their owners' spiritual nuclei were destroyed, these weapons are not willing to change owners. They have a lot of resentment."
Yue Chenqing said in shock, "Brother Murong, it's very dangerous for you to carry so many ownerless weapons with you. If they turn into spirits, it'll be bad!"
The Murong Lian rolled his eyes at him, treating his good intentions as ill intent, "I'm not a fool. This Qiankun bag was made by your father when he was alive. It has his seal. Let alone hundreds of weapons, even thousands of weapons will be able to withstand it. What's more, I've already asked your father to extract the spirits of all these weapons and suppress them in the clear spring pool in the Fallen Plum Garden. He also raised forty-nine Spirit-Suppressing Golden Carps in the pool. Not to mention that the Fallen Plum Garden itself has a barrier to prevent evil spirits from escaping. Generally … "
When he said this, he suddenly paused.
Then he seemed to have thought of something. His face slowly turned pale, and he muttered, "I understand …"
"Brother Murong, what do you understand?"
The Murong Lian said, "I understand how the sword spirit Li Qingqian escaped from the Fallen Plum Garden."
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