Wandering along the road, the black-clothed girl was a bit displeased that they passed by Peach Branch Kingdom without visiting Qingqing Mansion. However, her mood lifted again after skirting the Golden Crow Palace, a place rumored to be constantly flashing with sword light.

The girl’s mood was like the clouds in the sky, ever-changing.

Today, at a celestial ferry brimming with novelties, they were finally able to board a cloud-surfing ferry to Spring Dew Garden! The journey had been exhausting.

The black-clothed girl stood inside the large bamboo trunk, her eyes wide. They nearly turned sore from staring, but alas, they had agreed beforehand that she must remain silent and still in the trunk when they reached places crowded with cultivators. The bamboo trunk was mostly empty, save for a battered sword he never drew. She had secretly kicked it a few times, but each time she tried to squat down and draw it, the man would tell her not to, even scaring her by saying the sword had been enduring her for a long time and that he wouldn’t stop it if she pushed her luck.

This had frustrated her for a while, so she raised a hand, hesitated for a long time, and finally flicked the fellow on the back of his head. Then, she grabbed the sides of the bamboo trunk and pretended to doze off, snoring loudly. At first, the scholar didn’t notice, as he was busy haggling with a shopkeeper over a set of ancient stele rubbings. Later, the girl found it amusing and began drumming the fellow’s head relentlessly. After the white-robed scholar walked out of the shop, having spent ten snowflake coins on the set of thirty-two rubbings, he didn’t even turn around and simply asked, “Are you done yet?”

The black-clothed girl froze with her arm in mid-air, then gently patted the scholar’s shoulder. “There, all clean now, looking more like a scholar. Chen, I’m telling you, you’re such a blockhead! You have no sense of romance! So many noble ladies on the pleasure boat on the river were giving you the eyes, practically wanting to devour you! Why didn’t you just go aboard for some tea and wine? They weren’t going to actually eat you.”

Chen Ping’an changed the subject, saying, “You hit me sixteen times. I’m writing it down in the ledger, one snowflake coin per hit.”

The girl crossed her arms and stood on tiptoe in the trunk, scoffing, “Petty cash! Chump change!”

Chen Ping’an carried her onto the ferry.

Carrying such a little imp was indeed eye-catching.

However, most glances were dismissive or mocking. Out in the world, among cultivators, it was considered heroic to have a mountain beast as a mount or to ride a dragon to stir up the seas – that was true grandeur, a true celestial!

Chen Ping’an found it quite alright.

During Grain Rain season, the days were often sunny, and the nights rainy. The rain nourished all grains, making the world clean and bright. It was, in fact, a good time to hike and enjoy the scenery.

However, Chen Ping’an hoped to catch the tail end of the Spring Dew Garden gathering. His ‘Miscellaneous Goods Shop’ couldn’t always be idle.

The black-clothed girl persisted, “It would have been nice to have some tea on that pleasure boat! I saw it clearly from the shore. There were two young, beautifully dressed ladies who looked quite appealing. It would have been a lovely thing to have them add fragrance to your studies.”

Chen Ping’an chuckled softly, “If you were a boy, I’d wager you’d have your eye on women if you stayed near Dumb Lake long enough, and you’d become a menace. If I ever saw you doing that, and Qingqing Mansion caught you to be a river hag or the Golden Crow Palace snatched you to be a maid, I wouldn’t help you. I’d just clap and cheer.”

The black-clothed girl punched the uncouth fellow on the shoulder in anger, “Nonsense! I’m a great water monster, but I never harm people! I don’t even bother scaring them!”

Chen Ping’an paid it no mind, “Another snowflake coin.”

The girl was about to punch him on the back of his head, but the man said, “If you hit my head, it’s one lesser heat coin per hit.”

The girl considered her finances. Besides the Grain Rain coin she used to redeem herself, she didn’t have much left.

No wonder the Jianghu people who passed Dumb Lake often said that money emboldened heroes.

She frowned and thought for a moment, “Chen, lend me a Grain Rain coin, will you? I’m short on funds right now, so I can’t hit you many times.”

Chen Ping’an simply ignored her and asked, “Do you know why I bought a jar of pickled cabbage in that prefecture city earlier?”

The girl asked in confusion, “How would I know what you’re thinking? Did you run out of pickles along the way? I didn’t eat that much, you stingy thing! You give me such a small amount, then you give me that look.”

Chen Ping’an smiled, “I heard pickled fish is delicious.”

The girl felt she was really clever, immediately understanding. She burst into tears, squatting down in the bamboo trunk and wiping her eyes silently. She was both smart and unlucky!

However, when they reached the lower level room of the ferry, and the fellow put down the bamboo trunk, she jumped out, placed her hands behind her back, and looked disdainful, tsking, “Cheap!”

Chen Ping’an took off his bamboo hat. There was tea on the table, said to be a local specialty of the ferry, “Around the Village Tea”, unavailable elsewhere. He poured a cup and drank it. It had almost no spiritual energy, but it was indeed sweet and refreshing. Legend had it that before the ferry was established, a retired official wanted to build a summer retreat. He cleared the mountain and cut bamboo, discovering a small pool. He saw the morning glow like a veil and the water was particularly clear. It was perfect for brewing tea and second best for brewing wine. Later, many people came seeking it, including cultivators who often wrote poetry with famous literati, and they discovered that the pool was full of spiritual energy, all confined near the small mountain. This led to the establishment of a celestial ferry, though it was quite far from the sect ancestral hall of the ferry owner.

Chen Ping’an began the Six Steps Stance with his hands forming a sword furnace. The girl sat on a chair, swinging her legs, muttering, “I want to eat the tortoise jelly from the corner shop at the ferry. It’s cool and bitter. I could only stand in the bamboo trunk then, dizzy from the bumps, and didn’t taste the real flavor. It’s all your fault for liking to wander around, looking here and there, not buying much but walking a lot. Hurry, you owe me a tortoise jelly.”

Chen Ping’an pretended not to hear.

The girl was actually just bored and wanted to chat a bit.

But when the white-robed scholar started walking around aimlessly again, she knew she could only continue to be bored alone.

She jumped off the chair, dragged it to the window, stood on it, and crossed her arms. The ferry had two floors, but the fellow was stingy and unwilling to stay on the upper floor with a better view.
The inn was quite popular, so people often passed by on the wooden planks outside, and small groups lingered by the railings, which annoyed her. With so many people around, not one seemed to know she was the great water monster of Dumb Lake.

As the ferry slowly ascended, she swayed unsteadily, but her mood lifted instantly. She turned to the man and exclaimed, “We’re ascending, we’re ascending! Look, the shops by the docks are getting so tiny! Like grains of rice!”

This was her first time ever riding a celestial ferry. She wondered if the clouds above were edible, a question she’d pondered for years in the depths of Dumb Lake.

The man simply paced back and forth inside the room.

There were quite a few people by the ferry railings, chatting about recent events. Whenever the conversation turned to the Kingdom of Bao Xiang and Yellow Wind Valley, the little girl perked up her ears, listening intently, not wanting to miss a single word.

Someone mentioned that the Yellow-Robed Patriarch of Yellow Wind Valley had perished, but not by the sword of the Golden Crow Palace Master’s junior uncle. Apparently, the patriarch had been severely wounded and then subdued by a passing eminent monk from the Kingdom of Bao Xiang. However, for some reason, the old monk had neither confirmed nor denied the matter, and had not revealed any more details.

The little girl shook her head in frustration, scratching her head with both hands. If it weren’t for the white-robed scholar named Chen telling her not to speak recklessly to outsiders, she would have opened her mouth wide enough to scoop rice!

She really wanted to shout out the window, “The Yellow-Robed Patriarch was killed by the two of us!”

The little girl turned her head in aggrieved silence, lowering her voice, “I can reveal my true form and cut off a few pounds of my own flesh for you to make boiled fish. Then, could you let me tell those people about it? I won’t say you killed the Yellow-Robed Patriarch, just that I’m the great water monster of Dumb Lake and witnessed the great battle firsthand.”

But the man was unyielding. “What’s the rush? Eventually, when someone writes a book of strange tales or a travelogue, and it’s printed and published, everyone will know. They can even say you killed the Yellow-Robed Patriarch with a single punch.”

The little girl thought about it and, still with a resentful look, admitted that it made sense.

Fortunately, the man had some conscience. “The rooms on the first floor of the ferry don’t include a copy of the mountain gazette. Go buy one. You can even buy older issues if they have any unsold, but don’t get anything too expensive.”

The little girl responded with an “oh.” Just being able to walk around outside the ferry a bit would be worth it. She jumped off the chair, untied her package, and took out a pouch that shimmered with brocade and leaked precious light. The man waved his sleeve, closed the window, and stuck a turtle-borne stele talisman on it. The little girl wasn’t surprised. She took a handful of snowflake coins from the pouch and, after thinking for a moment, also picked out a Little Heat coin. In the process, the pouch jingled with the sound of not only god money but also all sorts of random trinkets, like the string of snowy-white bells she had given away years ago—all treasures she had painstakingly collected over the years. Then she put the pouch back into the package, just casually placing it on the table. As she left the room, she reminded him, “Be careful when traveling the world. Don’t let thieves steal our belongings, or you’ll be left with nothing but the north wind!”

Chen Ping’an smiled. “Oh, you’re being so generous today, willing to spend your own money.”

Reaching the doorway, the black-clad little girl raised an eyebrow and turned back. “If you keep making fun of me like that, we’re splitting the cost of the gazette in half!”

The man immediately shut up.

The black-clad little girl sighed, sounding older than her years. “How can mountain fairies like you if you act like this when traveling the world?”

Chen Ping’an continued his boxing stances, smiling. “Same rules as always. No causing trouble. Come straight back after buying the gazette.”

About an incense stick later, the little girl pushed open the door, swaggering back in. She slammed the stack of gazettes heavily on the table and, while the man was facing away from her practicing his stances, quickly bared her teeth and grimaced, then swallowed. When the man turned his head back, she immediately crossed her arms and sat upright in the chair.

Chen Ping’an stopped his boxing stances, took out his folding fan, and sat down at the table, glancing at her. “Did you overpay?”

She scoffed. “Do you take me for a fool? So many valuable mountain gazettes, originally two Little Heat coins, but I only spent one! Who am I? The great water monster of Dumb Lake! I’ve seen all sorts of merchants. When I bargain, I can make them feel like they’re being skinned alive!”

Chen Ping’an felt a bit helpless. He sorted through the gazettes, some of which were from years ago. At normal market prices, the total cost would indeed be one Little Heat coin, but gazettes were like seasonal fruits and vegetables, often worthless once expired. There were a lot of gazettes, but they weren’t worth even half a Little Heat coin. None of this mattered too much. Business was business. As long as both parties agreed, there was no such thing as a deal where only one side should profit. But some things, since they were no longer about business, shouldn’t be handled so casually.

This little girl in front of him was actually very good.

She was indeed stubborn and a bit of an airhead, but she possessed qualities that were priceless. Like the young镖师, his lips chapped and bleeding, offering a water skin from horseback. Even if Chen Ping’an didn’t take it, it would still quench his thirst.

If the little girl was bullied badly outside, she seemed to think of it as an external matter. Stumbling and swaying, she would return and, before opening the door, hide far away at the end of the corridor, squatting against the wall for a long time to recover. Then, when she entered the room, she wouldn’t feel that just because there was a familiar sword immortal by her side, things had to be a certain way.

Perhaps she felt that this was her own journey through the Jianghu? One of the stories she was accumulating for her future book. Some things had to be written in the book, but embarrassing or insignificant events could be skipped.

Chen Ping’an leaned back in his chair, holding his folding fan and gently creating a breeze. “If it hurts, just yell a few times. I’m not that scholar who’s helping you write your story. What are you afraid of?”

The black-clad little girl’s face suddenly crumbled, covered in snot and tears, but she didn’t forget to quickly turn her head away and forcefully swallow a mouthful of blood.

Chen Ping’an asked with a smile, “What exactly happened?”

The little girl raised her hands, wiping her face haphazardly, lowered her head, and didn’t speak.

Chen Ping’an smiled gently. “What, are you afraid that if you tell me, and I know you caused trouble after finally getting a chance to leave the bamboo chest for a short outing today, you won’t get another chance in the future?”

In truth, having traveled through so many mountains and rivers together, she had never once caused trouble.
Her eyes were wide with curiosity and longing as she gazed upon the vast world outside Yellow Wind Valley and the Mute Lake.

The little girl in black nodded faintly, looking unwell.

Chen Pingan closed his folding fan and chuckled, “Speak. You’ve seen me make so many jokes along the way, shouldn’t you give me a chance to laugh as well? That’s called reciprocity.”

The little girl lay on the table, tilting her head against its surface. She held no grudges or resentment, just a tiny bit of worry, like a grain of rice. She whispered, “I don’t want to talk about it, it’s not a big deal. I’ve seen so many massive water monsters and watched many people die near the Mute Lake. I dared not save them, the Yellow-Robed Ancestor is powerful. If I went out, I wouldn’t be able to save anyone, and I would die too. So I could only secretly gather some of the remains. Some would be taken away by people weeping, while others were left in the wind and sand, very pitiful. It’s not that I’m afraid of death, it’s just that I’m afraid no one will remember me. There are so many people in the world, and not a single one knows me.”

Chen Pingan leaned forward and tapped the little girl’s head lightly with his folding fan. “If you don’t tell me, I won’t listen to you even if you decide to speak later.”

The little girl sat up straight, scoffed, and shook her head back and forth, swaying from side to side, happily saying, “I won’t tell, I just won’t tell.”

Then she saw the white-robed scholar tilting his head, holding the folding fan against his own head, and smilingly said, “Do you know that, often times, there are many people whom parents don’t teach, teachers don’t teach, and masters don’t teach, and it’s up to the world to teach them how to behave?”

The little girl frowned again, her delicate face and faint eyebrows furrowing. What was he saying? She didn’t understand, but if she let him know she didn’t understand, it didn’t seem right. So should she pretend to understand? But pretending was a bit difficult, like that time they accidentally entered a secluded paradise, and he asked those few mountain spirits wearing Confucian robes to compose a poem, and he was completely stumped.

The man stood up, and without any visible movement, the talisman flew from the window into his sleeve. The window opened on its own.

He stood by the window, the ferry already sailing on the sea of clouds, a gentle breeze caressing his face, his snow-white sleeves swaying. She felt a little angry; so what if he was tall!

She hesitated, standing on the chair. Suddenly, she realized something. Wouldn’t encountering some danger while traveling the world make her seem more knowledgeable?

She immediately smiled, put her hands behind her back, and strolled proudly on the small space of the chair, laughing, “After I paid for the news bulletin, the ferryman who sold it to me laughed out loud with his friend. I didn’t know what they were laughing at, so I turned around and smiled at them. Didn’t you say that whether walking on the mountains or down below, and whether you are a human or a demon, you should be polite to others?”

“Then the ferryman’s friend was just about to leave the room, and at the doorway, he accidentally bumped into me. I lost my balance, and the news bulletin scattered all over the ground. I said it was okay, and then I went to pick up the news bulletin. The man stepped on my foot, and twisted it hard with his toe, it wasn’t an accident. I couldn’t help it, and I frowned and grimaced. As a result, he kicked me away. But the ferryman said I was still a guest, so the fierce man ignored me. I picked up the news bulletin and ran back here.”

She crossed her arms and said seriously, “I’m not lying to you, I only grimaced a little bit because it hurt!”

Afraid that he wouldn’t believe her, she held up two fingers, “At most this much!”

The man turned his head and asked with a smile, “Is it right to be kind to others at all times and in all places? Should it be split into two, be kind to the kind, and be evil to the evil? But if the order, size, and calculation of evil actions are all cleared up, if the size of the punishments imposed on them are inconsistent before and after, does it violate the order? When good and evil collide, and evil begets evil, accumulating bit by bit, it is also a kind of atmosphere of accumulating soil into mountains and wind and rain rising, but it is the sinister wind and evil rain, what can be done?”

The little girl frowned hard, silently telling herself that she understood, but she was just too lazy to open her mouth, she wasn’t full and had no strength.

The man smiled and tapped his chest lightly with his folding fan, “You don’t need to think too much, I’m just asking myself.”

The little girl in black didn’t like him like this, so she felt a little guilty.

Compared to this kind of cloudy and obscure, she still preferred the him who planted rice seedlings in the fields and opened mountains with his fists.

Fortunately, the man suddenly laughed, and with a flip of his body, leaped over the window and stood on the deck outside, “Let’s go, let’s enjoy the scenery. There is not only miasma, but also magnificent mountains and rivers.”

He leaned on the window, extended a hand, and teased, “I’ll lift you out.”

The little girl said angrily, “Get out of the way! I can do it myself!”

She jumped out of the window by herself, but she was a little scared due to being bitten by a snake once, and was timidly holding his sleeve. She actually felt that standing in the bookcase was quite good.

She turned her head and glanced at the open window, and said softly, “We are poor, but at least we are well-fed and clothed. If someone steals our belongings, wouldn’t it be adding insult to injury? I don’t want to eat sauerkraut fish, and you don’t want to either.”

But the man said, “That also depends on whether they have the life to hold on to the things they stole.”

She blinked her eyes and nodded vigorously, “Domineering!”

As a result, the man knocked her head with the folding fan, “Don’t learn bad things.”

She hugged her head and stepped on his foot.

The man smiled, “This is very good.”

In the end, she didn’t dare to walk on the railing, and he put her on the railing while holding her.

Then she felt very proud as she walked.

Many people were looking at her.

She looked down, and that guy was lazily walking below, fanning himself with one hand and raising the other high, just holding her little hand.

She then said that she didn’t need him to protect her, she could walk by herself, very steadily!

At that moment, many cultivators and pure martial artists on the ferry saw this strange scene.

A little girl in black, swaying her arms, walking with her head held high and chest out.

Next to the railing, there was a white-robed scholar holding a folding fan, walking slowly with a smile on his face.

The little girl casually asked, “Surname Chen, one time I woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t see you by my side. Where did you go?”
Chen Pingan smiled, “Just strolling around. Pretending to almost get beaten to death, then almost break something…it’s nothing, just like flipping through a boring book. Read halfway, and you feel sleepy. Close the book and talk about it later.”

The little girl frowned, “You’re so annoying when you only say half a sentence!”

The man smiled, “We’re traveling the Jianghu together, please be considerate.”

The little girl crossed her arms and walked on the railing, “Then I want to eat Guilinggao! One bowl isn’t enough, I need two big bowls. I paid for the Dibao, so you pay for the two bowls of Guilinggao.”

The man nodded, “Alright, but the next ferry must have Guilinggao for sale.”

The little girl frowned, “If there’s no Guilinggao, I’ll change to something else.”

As soon as she said it, she felt that she was really clever and resourceful, with no loopholes!

The man hesitated for a long time, “Too expensive things are not allowed.”

The little girl gently and slowly kicked out, “I’ll kick you.”

The man slowly tilted his head to dodge, using his folding fan to brush away her foot, “Walk properly.”

Among the onlookers were the ferry manager and handymen.

There was also the burly man standing on the second floor, admiring the scenery with his friends on the viewing platform. He and seven or eight others were surrounding a young couple like stars around the moon.

He lived next to the Heavenly Character Room of this ferry, just as expensive, and was enjoying the benefits without having to spend a single snowflake coin himself.

This was the benefit of having incense connections between the sects.

Calling friends, riding the wind on the mountain, experiencing the world below, looking down on kings and nobles, and despising the Jianghu.

A young female cultivator with ordinary looks but wearing a rare magic robe smiled, “Has this little fish monster reached the Cave Realm?”

The handsome young cultivator beside her nodded, “If I’m not mistaken, it’s just at the Cave Realm, not yet proficient in controlling the wind. If it weren’t for the ferry’s array protection, if it fell, it would be fine if it landed in a river or lake, but if it landed on a mountain, it would definitely die.”

The burly man chuckled softly, “Young Master Wei, this little water monster of unknown origin bought Dibao from Ferryman Liu earlier, and got ripped off, spending a whole Minor Heat Coin.”

The handsome youth, called Young Master Wei, feigned surprise, “So extravagant and rich?”

The woman covered her mouth and giggled, looking at the young man beside her, her eyes were full of affection, revealing everything.

The others joined in the laughter, as if they had heard a profound and brilliant saying.

Being a sycophant is not just about observing expressions, but also about turning solitary enjoyment into collective joy.

The young female cultivator asked again, “Young Master Wei, does that white-clothed scholar look like the little dirty thing’s master? Why doesn’t he seem like a Qi Refiner in the Middle Five Realms, but more like a crude martial artist?”

Young Master Wei laughed and turned to look at the woman, “You can’t say that in front of my father, it would embarrass him. He’s now the number one martial artist in our Great View Dynasty.”

The young female cultivator quickly apologized with a smile, “Qingqing misspoke.”

Young Master Wei smiled helplessly, “Qingqing, are you being so polite to keep me at arm’s length?”

The young female cultivator, nicknamed Qingqing, immediately smiled like a flower.

She came from the Shining Grass Hall of the Spring Dew Garden. Her father was one of the Spring Dew Garden’s offerings, and also good at making money, independently managing half of the Spring Dew Garden’s mountain range. A Golden Core Earth Immortal, who is revered by secular dynasties and emperors and generals, is a guest of honor in wealthy mansions and immortal sects wherever he goes. This time, she came down the mountain specifically to invite the noble young man beside her to the Spring Dew Garden to attend the Farewell to Spring Banquet that caps off the gathering.

In the Southeast Coast, there is the Great View Dynasty, with three vassal states as its barriers. The Ironclad Prefecture, where the young man comes from, is one of the three most powerful wealthy clans in the Dynasty, with generations of officials. Originally, they were all officials in the capital, but now the family head, Wei Ying, abandoned his pen and joined the army when he was young, opening up a new path for the family. Now he holds military power and is the number one border pillar. The eldest son is an official in the court and is already a vice-minister. And this Young Master Wei, Wei Bai, as the youngest son of General Wei, has been spoiled since childhood, and he himself is a young genius who has achieved success in cultivation. He is extremely famous within the Dynasty, and there is even a beautiful story. The Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Spring Dew Garden once rarely descended the mountain to travel, passing by the Wei Clan’s Ironclad Prefecture, and looking at the father and son who opened the main gate to welcome him, smiled and said that now when he sees you father and son, outsiders introduce, mentioning Wei Bai, they still say he is the son of General Wei Ying, but in less than thirty years, outsiders seeing you father and son will only say that you Wei Ying is the father of Wei Bai.

General Wei Ying laughed heartily, he couldn’t help but be happy. After all, the founding master of the Spring Dew Garden rarely praises people easily.

Wei Bai received the personal praise of a Nascent Soul Ancestor, acknowledging his cultivation aptitude, which aroused countless envy from the court and the public. Even His Majesty the Emperor bestowed an imperial decree and a secret treasury treasure to the Ironclad Prefecture, hoping that Wei Bai could continue his efforts, cultivate with peace of mind, and become a pillar of the country as soon as possible.

She and Wei Bai are actually not a perfect match.

When they first met, the Ironclad Prefecture intended to bring them together. General Wei Ying said in front of her that they were a match made in heaven, but at that time, the Spring Dew Garden Ancestor had not yet gone down the mountain to the Great View Dynasty, and her father was not very willing, feeling that Wei Bai, who had not yet entered the Cave Realm, had an uncertain future. After all, after becoming a Qi Refiner, the Cave Realm is the first big threshold.

Later, as Wei Bai’s smooth sailing on the road of cultivation, at a young age he was expected to break through the bottleneck of the Cave Realm, and he also received the undisguised favor of the Spring Dew Garden’s Founder Master. The Ironclad Prefecture also rose with the tide in the Great View Dynasty. As a result, her father became anxious, and the Ironclad Prefecture began to make excuses everywhere, which is why she came down the mountain this time. In fact, without her father’s urging, she herself was willing in every way.

She did not bring followers. In the coastal area of the East Sea, although the Spring Dew Garden is not the top power, it has a wide range of friends, and everyone will give some face to the Spring Dew Garden cultivator.

For example, the Little Grand Uncle of the Golden Crow Palace would go to a secluded mountain in the Spring Dew Garden every few years to fetch water and brew tea alone with his sword.

But Wei Bai had two followers, a taciturn Ironclad Prefecture offering cultivator, said to have been a demonic cultivator who had been seeking refuge in the Ironclad Prefecture for decades, and a seventh-realm golden body martial artist who could influence the martial fortune of a vassal state!

Wei Bai turned his head and looked towards the sturdy old man standing behind the crowd, and asked, “Master Liao, can you tell the origin of that white-clothed scholar?”
The black-clothed girl hurriedly stopped, jumped off the railing, and hid beside him, her face pale. She didn’t forget his instructions and asked with a mental ripple, “More powerful than that Yellow-Robed Ancestor?”

The white-robed scholar didn’t reply with mental speech, but simply nodded lightly and said, “Much more powerful.”

Except his strength wasn’t in Daoist cultivation, just malevolence.

The girl grew anxious. “Then let’s hurry and run away!”

The white-robed scholar’s expression suddenly changed. He gently placed a hand on her head, closed his folding fan, and smiled. “If we run today, will we let these scourges harm other people tomorrow? The world is a pot of porridge, and those flies ought to be hooked, thrown out, one by one. Do you remember those people we met on the road? Do you remember what I said afterward?”

The girl thought for a moment and nodded. “You said that when disaster really comes, everyone seems to be a weakling. Before that, everyone seems to be a strongman, because there’s always a weaker weakling.”

Previously, they had slowly climbed a mountain together. According to the local people, there was something strange about the mountain recently, so they wanted to take a look.

On a secluded mountain path, they encountered a group of Jianghu heroes riding horses and drinking, full of vigor and speaking loudly, saying they would slay the monster to make a name for themselves.

For some reason, the white-robed scholar walking in the middle of the road didn’t give way, and was knocked flying by a tall horse. The riders all laughed loudly, and their hooves pounded as they rode away.

However, she wasn’t worried at the time.

He was a sword immortal who could beat a Yellow-Robed Ancestor to death, after all.

And he didn’t even use the flying sword he kept in his wine gourd.

But she still felt angry.

She couldn’t help but open her mouth to speak, but the white-robed scholar was already standing beside her, gently pressing down on her head, smiling and saying it was nothing.

Afterward, the two of them saw that group of Jianghu warriors blocked by a two-丈 tall monster with fangs. It was chewing on an arm at the time, and clutching a man’s bloody corpse in its hand.

The black-clothed girl roughly figured out that the one who had died was the scoundrel who had knocked the white-robed scholar flying.

Finally, she hid behind the white-robed scholar, and he stretched out his folded fan, pointing at the violent, man-eating, burly monster, and laughed, “You should finish your last meal before losing your head.”

The monster blocking their path actually dropped the corpse in its hand and wanted to flee into the depths of the forest.

Those Jianghu people who had been full of themselves and wanted to climb the mountain to slay demons, began to kneel and kowtow, begging for their lives.

The girl didn’t like this Jianghu story.

From beginning to end, she didn’t like it.

On the second floor of the ferry, a viewing platform was also crowded.

Seeing that the white-robed scholar had blocked that palm strike, they felt bored.

They would simply let the big and small ones pass.

And that white-robed scholar didn’t dare to question them, seemingly pretending that nothing had happened.

The people on this viewing platform burst into laughter.

They didn’t hesitate to let the big and small ones know who had attacked.

A ferry worker, steeling himself, walked up to the white-robed scholar. He wasn’t worried that this ferry guest would nag, but he was worried that he would be forced by the manager to come here, and accidentally incur the displeasure of the VIPs on the second floor. If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to earn any tip money from this Spring Dew Garden trip.

The young worker stood in front of the white-robed scholar with a stern face and asked, “What are you yelling about? Where did your dog eyes see someone committing violence?”

The white-robed scholar turned to look at the black-clothed girl. “Was it him who sold you the gazette, and persuaded that other guest not to beat you to death, acting like a great benefactor?”

She shook her head.

It was an older one.

The white-robed scholar gently tapped his chest with his folded fan, and said to himself, “Those who cultivate the Dao must cultivate their hearts more, or they’ll walk with a limp and never reach the highest point.”

The black-clothed girl tugged at his sleeve, put a hand in front of her mouth, and looked up at him, quietly saying, “Don’t be angry, or I’ll be angry at you, I’m very fierce.”

The white-robed scholar looked up at the second floor. “No, I need to reason with them, I didn’t say enough last time at Azure Ripple Lake.”

The young worker reached out to shove the white-robed scholar, who looked unpleasant, pretending to be refined. He reached out, “You’re still not quiet, are you? Go back to your room and cool off!”

Then he was dumbfounded.

Why couldn’t his palm reach past an inch in front of that person?

The white-robed scholar didn’t even look at him, and smiled. “Just because I suppressed my cultivation to the Fourth Realm, you really think I’m a Fourth Realm martial artist?”

The young worker suddenly bowed and clasped his fists, laughing, “Guest, please continue to enjoy the scenery, I won’t disturb you.”

Without saying a word, he turned around and ran.

He really got away.

He ran to the bow of the ship, and when he turned around, the white-robed scholar was gone, leaving only a frowning black-clothed girl.

On a viewing platform on the second floor of the ferry, not far from Wei Bai and the others.

Seven or eight male and female cultivators who were traveling and training together retreated in unison.

In a flash, the white-robed scholar, who had struggled to block a qi sleeve arrow, was already standing on the railing for some inexplicable reason, with one hand behind his back and the other gently waving his fan, looking down at them.

When one of them wanted to speak, the circulation of qi in his body suddenly stagnated, as if carrying a mountain on his back, and his face turned red, speechless.

The white-robed scholar smiled. “When I’m reasoning, you just listen.”

With a “啪” sound, he closed his folded fan and lifted it lightly.

The qi cultivator who had launched the sleeve arrow was lifted into the air, his head grabbed by the white-robed scholar, and casually thrown backward, directly falling out of the ferry.

He lifted his fan again, and another person was lifted high as if his neck was being strangled, and slapped out of the ferry with a sleeve.

Everyone was dropped into the water like dumplings.

The viewing platform was now empty, except for the white-robed scholar with the vermilion wine gourd hanging from his waist.

He leaned back, and flew out of the ferry, his snow-white sleeves fluttering in the wind, instantly falling downward, disappearing from sight.

A moment lat…