“Whoa—”
“Clip-clop… clip-clop…”
The two horses slowed to a trot, then stopped the carriage by the roadside.
“Shh!”
The carriage door had been modified into a sliding side panel.
The woman turned and saw a young man with sharp brows and bright eyes, dressed in green scholarly robes, stepping down from the carriage.
After he disembarked, he turned and extended his hand. A delicate hand reached out, gently taking his, and a stunning woman in a light green silk skirt gracefully stepped down.
Seeing this perfect couple disembark, and recalling the burst of blood qi from the carriage, it was clear this was a martial arts master traveling with his non-martial wife.
The woman on the ground brightened, her eyes revealing a hint of longing.
Lu Zheng helped Liu Qingyan down but did not address the woman on the ground. Instead, he waved his hand, using a manipulation technique to gather the bodies and weapons of the bandits into a pile, then flung them deep into the woods.
This place was far from any inhabited town. At night, wild beasts roamed, and by morning, these bodies might not even have bones left.
Taoist magic!
A dual practitioner of Taoism and martial arts!
The woman’s pupils shrank; she immediately lowered her gaze, restraining her expression.
Though Lu Zheng had disposed of the bandits’ bodies, he left the scholar’s body in white robes untouched. Looking closely, he realized it was indeed a scholar.
“This…”
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow, then turned to the woman, only to find Liu Qingyan already by her side.
The woman appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, wearing a moonlit silk dress adorned with a bronze sparrow hairpin that held her hair, revealing a fair, delicate face with clear eyes and a pure expression.
“Don’t be afraid, miss. The villains are dead.” Liu Qingyan bent down, gently taking the woman’s arm to help her up.
But the moment she touched her arm, Liu Qingyan’s expression shifted. She glanced at the woman, helped her up, then subtly released her hand.
The woman stood, ignoring the dirt on her clothes, and bowed slightly. “This humble woman, Luo Yun, greets her benefactor and his lady!”
Lu Zheng nodded, pointing to the body on the ground. “This is…”
Luo Yun bit her lip, her expression sorrowful. “Young Master Li promised to marry me, but who knew…”
“Uh… my condolences…”
Lu Zheng smacked his lips, unsure how to comfort her, and said, “How about we take you to Limen Town ahead, to find a charity cemetery?”
That was all he could do to help.
Luo Yun’s brows furrowed slightly, tears in her eyes as she shook her head. “I don’t know where Young Master Li’s home is…”
“What? You don’t know?” Lu Zheng was taken aback.
“I met Young Master Li in Yuhe County, on his way to Yizhou Prefecture for the exam.” Luo Yun said timidly. “He said he would take me as a concubine after the exam, so I followed…”
Lu Zheng blinked. Why did this story sound more and more off?
Sure enough, before Luo Yun could finish, Liu Qingyan had quietly moved to Lu Zheng’s side, pointed at her, and shouted, “You’re not human!”
“Hm?” Lu Zheng was startled by her outburst.
Luo Yun’s pupils shrank, her expression showing a mix of grievance and pitifulness.
“Why would you say that of me, madam?” Luo Yun’s tone was full of grievance.
“I am a physician. When I helped you up, though you had a pulse, it was stiff, lacking the variation of a living being’s pulse. It’s clearly simulated.” Liu Qingyan declared firmly. “You are not a living thing!”
Luo Yun froze.
Lu Zheng, holding Liu Qingyan’s hand, looked at Luo Yun with interest, his eyes gleaming. “Not a living thing?”
He had observed her for a while and detected no non-human aura. With a dead scholar by her side, he had assumed she was just an ordinary person, but now…
Luo Yun dropped her sorrowful expression and slowly backed toward the woods. “Young Master, let’s not cross paths. You take your broad road, and I cross my narrow bridge. What I am has nothing to do with you.”
“No, it does.” Lu Zheng nodded.
Luo Yun’s eyes narrowed.
“This gentleman and I are both scholars. You harmed him, so I must avenge him.” Lu Zheng said matter-of-factly.
“But I haven’t harmed him!” Luo Yun said immediately. “The bandits killed him!”
“But you were going to harm him.” Lu Zheng stated as if it were obvious.
Luo Yun: ???
“What kind of logic is that? Even the Great Jing Code doesn’t convict someone for uncommitted acts!”
Lu Zheng shrugged. “Learned it from the Anglo-Saxons.”
Without waiting for her response, he waved his hand, sending an exorcism spell her way.
“Swish!”
Luo Yun dodged, not resisting, and darted into the woods.
“Freeze!”
Lu Zheng pointed a finger.
“Crack—”
Luo Yun’s body stiffened mid-run, frozen in place, unable even to move her eyes.
“Bang!”
The next moment, the green light of the exorcism spell struck her.
“Screech—screech—”
Black smoke rose, enveloping Luo Yun, carrying a faint stench.
Liu Qingyan frowned, fanning the air in front of her nose in disgust.
As the black smoke cleared, the previously delicate woman was gone.
In her place stood a corpse ghost with ashen skin, oozing pus, grotesque features, sharp fangs, and a ghoulish mouth.
“Corpse ghost!” Liu Qingyan gasped, then grimaced. “So disgusting!”
Lu Zheng shook his head and flung two more exorcism spells.
“Screech—screech—screech—”
“Boom!”
The corpse ghost’s body was shattered by the spells, exploding into several streams of black smoke that rose and slowly dissipated.
“Hm?”
Lu Zheng frowned. Something was off; why hadn’t he gained any luck light?
The corpse ghost wasn’t dead!
The next moment, a breeze seemed to blow across the road, and the black smoke drifted toward Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan.
“By the Supreme Command, exorcise evil, now!”
Three exorcism spells shot into the black smoke. A scream echoed from within, and a wisp of faint black smoke darted toward Liu Qingyan’s face.
“You destroyed my dharma body; now I’ll take your wife’s skin!” a hoarse voice rang out. “Die!”
Before Lu Zheng could act, Liu Qingyan, with an excited expression, fiercely swung her hand forward.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
A gust infused with demonic power swept through, instantly scattering the black smoke.
“You’re… ah!!!”
“Buzz!”
Twelve strands of luck light were gained.
Having dispatched the corpse ghost with one swipe, Liu Qingyan’s face flushed with excitement, though she glanced at Lu Zheng with a hint of nervousness.
Lu Zheng: “…”
