These past few days, the straw-sandaled youth frequently delivered family letters to Peach Leaf Alley in Fortune Street. Almost every gatekeeper in the neighborhood recognized the messenger, so his presence didn’t seem out of place. Moreover, the youth appeared composed, jogging along the bluestone streets as usual, so passersby paid him no mind. Chen Ping’an approached a residence, its entrance guarded by a stone dare, half a man’s height, in the likeness of a martial general, meant to ward off evil. Chen Ping’an knew this was the Li family’s grand estate. In Fortune Street, where wealth abounded, each household employed different methods for protection, even the door gods pasted on the gates varied between civil and military, making it easy to distinguish them.

He swiftly surveyed his surroundings and continued forward. Further ahead was the Song family, followed by the Kiln Affairs Supervisory Office. Where the Li and Song families’ grand estates met, an old locust tree grew against the outer wall. Its ancient trunk was gnarled, and its branches were lush and abundant. Although it couldn’t compare to the ancient locust tree in town with its weathered aura, it was still impressive at first sight.

The older generation said this locust tree and the towering old locust tree in the center of town shared the same lineage. The latter was called the Ancestor Locust, while the one before the youth was called the Descendant Locust.

Chen Ping’an came to the Li residence, and not the Lu family of Townhead Lu, where Lu Zhengchun resided, because the aged steward, seeing the youth off from the yamen, had intentionally or unintentionally shared some local gossip. He spoke of the Zhao family’s promising scholar, Zhao Yao, who had left town and was destined to become a Number One Scholar and a high-ranking official. He mentioned the Song family’s young lady next door, who, despite being of marriageable age, couldn’t even sew properly and only liked to wield swords and spears, hardly befitting a noble lady. The old man, amidst a heap of trivial anecdotes, slipped in an insignificant piece of news: a distinguished guest had recently arrived at the Li residence, a little girl with a face like carved jade, resembling a piece of imperial porcelain. Unless she underwent a drastic transformation as she grew older, she was sure to become a beautiful woman, and he wondered which family would be fortunate enough to marry such a daughter-in-law.

Earlier, along the way from the yamen’s rear hall, the youth had listened without speaking, deliberately walking slowly, all the while carefully observing the yamen’s architectural layout. Finally, he occasionally asked a question or two seemingly unrelated to the matter at hand, like a pauper curious about the lavish wealth of the great clans. The aged steward answered everything he asked, using the neighboring Song family and the Li family further away as examples, describing the layout of their courtyards and various rules.

The youth understood the steward’s true intentions.

However, from beginning to end, Chen Ping’an never intended to act according to their wishes.

Now, jogging slowly along the street, Chen Ping’an, seeing no one around, suddenly exerted himself, quickening his pace and running straight toward the old locust tree. With a single leap, he actually stepped four times up the tree trunk before showing signs of falling. But by then, the agile youth had already managed to grab a branch. In a flash, the youth, as nimble as a mountain ape, sat on the protruding branch. Then, steadily standing, he continued to climb, and in the blink of an eye, Chen Ping’an squatted on a sloping locust branch, just above the two-zhang-high courtyard wall. The youth concealed himself within the dense locust leaves, held his breath, narrowed his eyes, and made no haste to sneak inside.

During the return from the covered bridge to town with Ning Yao, Chen Ping’an asked many questions.

For example, how fast and high could the old ape of Zheng Yang Mountain typically run and jump within the town’s boundaries? How tough was its body, really, what did “copper skin and iron bones” mean? If he threw a punch, and it was like tickling the old ape, what kind of damage would a slingshot or wooden bow do at twenty and forty paces, respectively? Did the so-called “immortal” like the old ape of Zheng Yang Mountain have any fatal weaknesses, such as its eyes, groin, or throat? If the opponent risked injury to kill him, would he die without a doubt?

Ning Yao was almost driven to wish she were deaf and mute by the youth’s questions.

According to the black-clad girl, the higher the cultivation level of a Qi Refiner or pure martial artist, the greater the pressure they faced in this place, like heavily armored cavalry forced to hold their ground, relying solely on a continuous stream of Qi for support. Once they spoke, they would suffer damage like the sea rushing in. Imagine facing a raging flood and then trying to open a small hole in the dam?

But in the end, Ning Yao’s definitive conclusion was that if the youth fought the old ape of Zheng Yang Mountain, Chen Ping’an wouldn’t have the slightest chance of winning.

Amidst the locust shade, the youth’s eyes were resolute, his face cold, as he muttered to himself, “Don’t let the old ape get within ten steps. Ten steps, at the very least, maintain that distance.”

Ning Yao had said that as long as the old ape didn’t resort to desperate measures, there was a chance of survival.

But Chen Ping’an had replied that he had to force the old ape to kill him, otherwise, there was no point.

He must force the old ape of Zheng Yang Mountain to get angry and upset, forcing the old ape to use the true Qi within him to truly diminish and exhaust the cultivation he had painstakingly accumulated over a thousand years. Perhaps the old ape thought that his life and Liu Xianyang’s, and the lives of other townspeople, were worthless, but Chen Ping’an wanted to know if the old ape would feel the sting as he watched his cultivation vanish, and whether he would still think it was worth it.

Of course, all of this was predicated on the fact that he didn’t get punched to death in one blow.

Looking down at the people coming and going in the mansion, Chen Ping’an murmured, “Even if I can’t escape, I have to take a few more punches.”

Chen Ping’an never thought he could kill the old ape, nor did he think he could survive.

—————

Inside the Li family’s grand estate, the little girl from Zheng Yang Mountain, as the direct granddaughter of the Tao family’s old ancestor, was treated like a Bodhisattva by everyone in the Li family. The Li family had arranged several first and second-class maids in a separate courtyard. These young women, born into the family, were clean and efficient, and most importantly, their backgrounds were well-known and untainted. They had been loyal to the Li family, perhaps from their ancestors’ generation.

This courtyard was centrally located, not directly facing Fortune Street.

The little girl was named Tao Zi, nicknamed Taozi (Peach), and was the apple of the eye of the sword immortal ancestors of Zheng Yang Mountain, not because of her innocent and adorable looks or temperament, but because of the height of her future potential in the sword dao, which qualified her for Zheng Yang Mountain to invest massive resources at any cost.

For five hundred years, Tao Zi’s bones, talent, temperament, and opportunities ranked among the best among the old ancestors of various peaks in Zheng Yang Mountain. Simply put, the little girl Tao Zi would be a magical being with a very long board and no short board.

This was truly a once-in-a-century phenomenon, and not the run-of-the-mill platitude.

The little girl did not have the Moving Mountain Old Ape by her side at the moment, and was alone in a completely unfamiliar place. She wasn’t afraid or timid, just a little bored and regretful. Judging from Grandpa Ape’s tone, it seemed that he couldn’t move a mountain peak from here. This made the little girl very frustrated. Sister Su of Zheng Yang Mountain was given a mountain peak as a gift from the old ancestor when she entered the middle five realms, becoming Sister Su’s private territory. That mountain peak was carried back to Zheng Yang Mountain by Grandpa Ape from thousands of miles away and placed in the northeast of Zheng Yang Mountain. Although it was not big, the little girl had always envied her.

She felt that the study was a bit stuffy, so she went to the main hall, put her hands behind her back, and looked up at the plaque for a long time with an old-fashioned air.

Two pretty maids always followed closely behind the little girl. One of them was discovered by the Li family at a young age to have extraordinary talent, so she was specially cultivated to become a martial artist and made some achievements. In fact, for the Li family’s direct descendants, this behavior was no different from raising flowers, birds, fish, and insects, and they didn’t hope that the girl would become a martial arts master in the future. Within the high walls of wealthy families, it was not uncommon for servants to bully their masters, not to mention that kindness often bred resentment, and if the servants’ horizons were too high and their potential was too great, it might not be a good thing for the family’s next generation.

The little girl walked to the gate and jumped around in the yard. She didn’t leave the yard without permission, making things difficult for the servants. Grandpa Ape had reminded her that people from the Wind and Thunder Garden had also arrived in town, and she should not leave the yard before he settled things. Although the little girl was young, she had been influenced by the turbulent and dangerous cultivation on the mountain since she was a child, and her family education was very strict, so she was not the kind of naughty child who caused her elders to worry.

Bored, the little girl finally lay down on the stone table. On the table was a birdcage with a bird that seemed to be called a snake eagle, drooping its head, looking listless, and its feathers were gray and unattractive. No matter how the little girl teased it before, the snake eagle ignored her, so she found it boring. Now, because she really had nothing to do, she was whistling at the flat-feathered beast.

Inside the cage were two porcelain bird food jars privately made by the Li family’s dragon kiln, which were small and exquisite, one plain for water and one colorful for food.

However, after the snake eagle was captured, it did not drink a drop of water or eat a grain of rice, and had been like that for almost two days.

In the town, snake eagles were rarely caught. On the rare occasions when they were caught, whether they were young chicks or adult snake eagles, they all died of starvation without exception.

They could not be raised no matter what, let alone be trained into falcons for hunting.

The little girl, seeing that the snake eagle still didn’t react after she whistled, finally ran out of patience and stood up to leave.

A loud bang.

One of the bird food jars in the birdcage shattered violently.

The little girl was stunned for a moment, then almost instinctively grabbed a tall maid and used her as a shield.

The tall and buxom maid felt as if her wrist was being tightly箍緊by an iron wire, and the pain almost made her scream.

However, the smaller maid had sharp eyes and stood in front of the little girl herself as quickly as possible, quickly looking around.

The second bird food jar in the cage exploded again with a loud bang, like a firecracker exploding on the table.

“There’s an assassin, on the roof of the Qingxin Courtyard!” The maid who practiced martial arts finally caught the figure this time. There was a crouching figure on the ridge of the roof of the neighboring courtyard.

The maid started to run. The walls of the courtyard were not high, so she stepped up and grabbed the edge of the wall with both hands, then quickly climbed up the wall by relying on her outstanding strength.

For a moment, she was in trouble. The courtyard was not far from the opposite Qingxin Courtyard, but the assassin was on the roof of the main house of the Qingxin Courtyard, and the Qingxin Courtyard was close to Fortune Street, so the assassin could easily jump over the wall. Therefore, in an instant, she made a decision. She didn’t jump down the wall and run to the Qingxin Courtyard, but ran along the wall in a crouch and jumped onto the ridge of her courtyard. During this time, the maid was always careful of the assassin’s sneak attack.

Strangely, the assassin did not hinder her steps, nor did he immediately retreat.

There were about three丈zhang between the eaves of the two courtyards.

The maid watched the assassin’s movements while quietly retreating on the eaves, and finally quickly took a deep breath, preparing to run.

The maid’s heart shook violently. The assassin facing her from a distance was actually a thin youth wearing shabby clothes?!

The youth had two small luggage bags tied around his waist. She could not see the instruments used to commit the crime on his hands. She thought it was most likely a slingshot that had been hidden.

She was also puzzled. If he hit her head, she wouldn’t dare to say that she would die on the spot, but she would definitely be seriously injured. With the youth’s almost terrifying accuracy, could he really not hit herself or the little girl of Zheng Yang Mountain who had intentionally smashed the bird food jars twice?

In the yard, the little girl angrily said, “You fool! Be careful of being tricked away from the mountain! Come back quickly!”

It was important to catch the assassin and force a confession through torture, but it was even more important to save lives to prevent accidents.

After the little girl released the tall maid’s arm, she raised her palm and slapped the terrified girl awake, “And you, hurry up and report! Do you know that if I die, everyone in this mansion will die!”

The maid on the roof did not jump into the courtyard immediately, but shouted loudly, “There’s an assassin!”

Then she began to run wildly. She jumped on the edge of the eaves, and then the whole person began to jump towards the ridge of the Qingxin Courtyard on the opposite side.

Based on the maid’s series of climbing and running movements, she roughly judged her arm strength, foot strength, and strength. The assassin youth squatted down and picked up two tiles and threw them with his right hand, hitting the girl’s forehead. The girl who was still in the air subconsciously crossed her arms to block in front of her head. Then, with two bangs, the tiles not only caused the maid’s bones to ache, but the strength was far beyond the maid’s imagination, and the momentum of the whole person rushing forward was greatly blocked. Just when she regretted being brave.

The maid who barely landed on the opposite eaves was punched in the abdomen, causing her to fall backwards.

However, her ankle was inexplicably grabbed by the assassin, and after a slight pause, the youth released his hand.

The maid did not land safely, but at least she was not seriously injured.

Her whole head was a mess.

The youth was always looking around, and after finding black spots around him, he began to run away.

The speed was fast, the steps were big, and the rhythm was good. Especially with the well-coordinated breathing, if the maid could see it, she would definitely think that the youth had been practicing martial arts for many years and had been immersed in it for a long time, and he was definitely not an amateur.

The youth’s figure quickly disappeared on the ridge, like a light bird, a snake eagle out of its cage.

—————

About a quarter of an hour later, the burly old man hurried back to the Li family mansion, full of murderous aura.

From the Li family’s master Li Hong to the maids in the other courtyard, everyone was afraid to breathe. Especially the maid who practiced martial arts, kneeling on the ground, with her cheeks swollen on both sides. The maid did not say a word, not daring to have the slightest resentment on her face.

The little girl, whose mood had returned to normal, sighed and shook her head to teach him, “Grandpa Ape, the Li family seems to be a bunch of trash. How dare you entrust me to them?”

The Moving Mountain Ape knelt on one knee, still taller than the little girl. The white-haired old man said guiltily, “Miss, it’s this old servant’s fault.”

The old man turned his head and said in a deep voice, “Li Hong!”

The Li family’s master, who was familiar with the orthodox elegant language of Dongbao Continent, which happened to be the language of Zheng Yang Mountain cultivators, had to smile bitterly and apologize, “This is indeed the Li family’s fault, and we cannot shirk it. According to the current situation we have obtained, it is a young man, mostly not a cultivator. The yamen has not given us useful intelligence for the time being, but said that they will send more capable people to guard the mansion day and night. ”

Tao Zi thought for a while and said, “That assassin doesn’t seem to be here to kill me.”

Then she added, “At least not today.”

The Li family’s master, who was about to put his heart down, immediately hung it back in his throat.

The white ape frowned and asked, “Is that youth thin, with dark skin, and about this tall? Hmm, and wearing straw sandals?”

The maid kneeling on the ground nodded vigorously.

The white ape grinned and said with a sinister look, “Good fellow! So he came to demonstrate and provoke!”

He waved his hand and said, “Don’t interfere in this matter. I know the assassin’s details. He is an ordinary youth from Mud Bottle Lane.”

The little girl said in a low voice, “Grandpa Ape, don’t be careless.”

The Moving Mountain Ape hesitated for a moment, then stood up and instructed the Li family’s master, “Then let the yamen take a copy of the household registration file to the Li family mansion and thoroughly investigate the youth’s ancestors for eighteen generations. And as for the manpower guarding this courtyard, it is better to have a few elites than a large number of miscellaneous people!”

The old man quietly increased his tone and said with a cold smile, “Li Hong, I advise you to invite the Dinghai Shenzhen from your family to sit here. Don’t take things lightly. If something happens to my miss here, even I, this old beast in your eyes, can’t bear it. Can your Li family branch bear it?”

The Li family’s master quickly bowed and apologized, panicking and saying, “Old Ancestor Ape, you are killing the Li family.”

The Zheng Yang Mountain Guardian Ape fell into deep thought and murmured, “Is that kid from Wind and Thunder Garden taking the opportunity to cause trouble? Or is it the plan of Song Changjing of the yamen?”

The old man finally shook his head and found it ridiculous, “No matter who instigated him to come and die, you don’t know how to find a better pawn to cross the river. A little grasshopper with no meat, can it fill the gaps between the teeth? Okay, I’m worried that I don’t have a chance to kill people. This is a good reason to first kill the clay embryo from Mud Bottle Lane, and then solve your little bastard from Wind and Thunder Garden together.”

The old man smiled at the little girl and said, “Miss, this time the old servant will definitely clean up the mess for you and there will be no accidents.”

The little girl smiled brightly and raised her fist to cheer up the Zheng Yang Mountain Guardian Ape.

Before leaving, the old man looked at the Li family’s master, who smiled bitterly and said, “I will go and invite the old ancestor to come out of the mountain and personally serve as Tao Zi’s bodyguard.”

The old man nodded and strode away.

The old man boldly bit the bait and directly followed the fishing line to Mud Bottle Lane.

It’s clear that I’ve been hooked, so come and kill me.

If it was outside the town, the Zheng Yang Mountain Moving Ape would not dare to be so arrogant, but in this world, spells, divine powers, and magic weapons are all forbidden, and he has a huge advantage instead. This is also why Zheng Yang Mountain did not send a sword immortal ancestor.

The old ape walked all the way, and when he approached Mud Bottle Lane, the old ape realized one thing, “Could it be that the boy in the lane is simply avenging his friends?”

Before that, the old ape had always thought deeply, involving conspiracies that were covered with ash and stretched for thousands of miles. Now, after suddenly realizing this possibility, he felt it was particularly absurd.

The old ape laughed and quickly understood the reason, “If that’s the case, it makes sense. That’s right, people who are not cultivators are not so afraid of death anyway, it’s just a lowly life.”

However, just in case, the old ape still did not swagger into Mud Bottle Lane from this end.

No matter what, this trip is destined to be not in vain, that little bastard who is valued by Wind and Thunder Garden will only live a little longer than the little mud leg from Mud Bottle Lane.

The old ape grinned.

Then the smile instantly froze.

In the dusk, the small road in Mud Bottle Lane already looked dark and blurred.

The burly old man suddenly looked up.

A thin youth did not know how he was standing on the height in front of the small lane, with his feet on the holes dug out of the walls on both sides not long ago, just enough to borrow strength.

The youth had a quiver on his back and a wooden bow in his hand, with the arrow pointing directly at the old ape’s eyeball.

The youth was silent, and not only was the bow drawn like a full moon, but even the most subtle breathing seemed to have disappeared.

As a result, the Zheng Yang Mountain Guardian Master could only detect the existence of the youth above his head by relying on his keen sense of danger.

Without giving the old ape more time to react.

The arrow shot out, howling into the wind, powerful and heavy.

After shooting an arrow, the youth did not make a second choice. He quickly shrunk his neck and hung the wooden bow diagonally on his shoulders. With his toes exerting force, he borrowed force from the walls on both sides and went up to the eaves in an instant.

The old ape retracted his palm that was blocking his forehead, only to see that the arrow was nailed into the palm of his hand, not deep, and vaguely visible wounds were cracked.

But the old ape was afraid for a while.

If he was in the town and was shot in the eyeball by an arrow at close range, it would be a tragedy that would be impossible to cry out to.

He pulled out the arrow at random, broke it, and dropped it in Mud Bottle Lane.

The old man clenched his fists, looked up at the sky in the small lane, his face was iron blue, his throat was throbbing, and he made a low and suppressed sound, like an extremely angry ancient beast.

The old man used both hands and feet and instantly climbed to the roof, but as soon as he poked his head out, the second arrow arrived instantly.

The old man, who was already prepared, just raised his hand and let it nail into his arm a little, and strode forward with a grin.

The youth who had put away the wooden bow turned around and ran.

A series of shattering sounds rang out on the continuous eaves on one side of Mud Bottle Lane.

The old man’s steps were much larger than the youth’s after all, and the distance was gradually shortening. Sooner or later, he was about to catch up with the thin youth whose figure was actually flexible enough.

The old man exerted his strength in an instant, and the whole person soared into the air and pounced forward, with a huge hand that seemed to be the size of a蒲扇pu shan (fan made of cattail leaves) reaching out to the youth’s head.

The youth seemed to have eyes behind his back. Just at the critical moment, he actually twisted his waist, and the whole person bent over, then turned and jumped to the roof opposite the small lane.

After landing gently, he continued to run wildly.

The old ape’s movements were also extremely agile and swift, and he also abruptly turned to the other side of the Mud Bottle Lane on the right.

The youth suddenly stopped.

It was too late when the old ape realized that something was wrong.

It turned out that no one lived in that roof, and it was dilapidated and had been in disrepair for many years, and could not bear the old ape’s jump of more than two hundred pounds.

With a crash, he fell into the house with people and tiles.

The old ape landed with a bang. After supporting the ground with one hand, he twisted his head to dodge the tricky and sinister arrow.

The arrow directly nailed into the ground.

It can be seen that it was not that the youth’s arm strength was not strong enough, but that the old ape was too thick-skinned.

The youth stood on the edge of the big hole in the roof, skillfully put away the wooden bow, and pointed his middle finger at the old ape and cursed, “Old beast! Fuck your mother!”

The youth’s face suddenly became strange, and he suddenly slapped himself and muttered, “Isn’t it just that I suffer!”

The old ape suddenly got up, and the youth had already gone far away.