Chapter 620
As the night deepened, the fog in the Qingxuan Mountains became thicker, the moonlight was obscured by the thick clouds, and only the low roars of monsters could be heard around. Lin Xiaoqi followed behind Fu Shaoping and Nangong Wan, his palms slightly sweating, but his eyes were more determined than during the day.
"Master, do we need to go deeper?" Lin Xiaoqi asked in a low voice.
Fu Shaoping raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and gently stroked the lines on the wine pot with his fingertips: "Why, are you scared?"
Lin Xiaoqi shook his head: "Disciple just feels that this mist is a little strange."
Nangong Wan paused and looked around: "Something is wrong."
Before he finished speaking, the ground suddenly shook slightly, followed by rustling sounds from all directions. Lin Xiaoqi's pupils shrank, and he saw countless red spiders crawling out from the ground, each the size of a fist, with eight eyes glowing with a faint green light.
"A group of red poisonous spiders!" Fu Shaoping frowned. "A second-level social monster. Its venom can corrode spiritual power."
Nangong Wan snorted coldly, and the silver needles in his sleeves shot out like rain, each needle accurately piercing the spider's compound eyes, clearing out a field of spiders in an instant. But there were too many spiders, and they swarmed up again in the blink of an eye.
Lin Xiaoqi took a deep breath, and the Qingmu Qi in his body circulated. The green light on the herb-picking sickle surged, and he swung the sickle violently. An arc of green light swept out, cutting off all the approaching spiders. However, the spider swarm seemed endless, and his spiritual power was consumed very quickly, and fine beads of sweat had already seeped out of his forehead.
"Xiao Qi, step back!" Fu Shaoping suddenly shouted, and at the same time, he formed seals with his hands, and a golden talisman formation unfolded under his feet.
"Golden Sun Burning Sky Formation!"
A blazing golden light burst out, and the red poison spiders within a radius of ten feet were instantly burned to ashes. However, a sharp hissing sound came from the back of the spider group, and a giant red poison spider that was much larger than its peers slowly crawled out. Its eight long legs were as sharp as blades, and its abdomen was bulging. It was obvious that it had bred countless baby spiders.
"A peak third-order Spider Queen!" Nangong Wan's eyes turned cold, "It is the real threat."
The spider queen opened her hideous mouthparts and spewed out a foul-smelling poisonous mist. Wherever it passed, the grass and trees withered and even the rocks were corroded into holes. Lin Xiaoqi hurriedly held his breath, but a small amount of poisonous mist still invaded his body, causing his meridians to ache and his spiritual power to stagnate.
Seeing this, Fu Shaoping quickly took out a red pill from his arms and stuffed it into Lin Xiaoqi's mouth: "Xuan Yang Pill can temporarily suppress the toxicity, but it won't last long."
Nangong Wan had already flown up, the silver needle in his hand turned into a stream of light, piercing the spider queen's vital point. However, the spider queen's shell was extremely hard, and the silver needle was bounced off. It roared, and its long legs were like knives, slashing towards Nangong Wan!
"A'an!" Fu Shaoping's face changed, and he was about to take action when Lin Xiaoqi suddenly rushed out.
"Master, I'm coming!"
The Qingmu Qi in his body was running wildly, and the green light on the herb-picking sickle was faintly golden. At the moment when the spider queen's long legs chopped down, Lin Xiaoqi flashed and avoided it by a hair's breadth, and at the same time, the sickle blade fiercely chopped the spider queen's joints!
"Crack!"
One of the spider queen's legs broke, and smelly green blood spurted out. It hissed in pain, and the remaining seven legs waved wildly, forcing Lin Xiaoqi to retreat again and again.
"Good opportunity!" Fu Shaoping's eyes flashed, and he clasped his hands together. A golden chain appeared out of thin air and instantly wrapped around the spider queen's body.
Nangong Wan seized the opportunity, condensed a strand of ice-blue energy from his fingertips, and gently tapped the Spider Queen's forehead.
"Mysterious Ice Finger."
The power of extreme cold spread instantly, and the spider queen's movements suddenly stiffened, and a thick layer of frost condensed on her body. Seeing this, Lin Xiaoqi swung his sickle and chopped it down without hesitation!
"boom!"
The spider queen's head rolled to the ground and her huge body fell to the ground with a loud bang. The remaining red poisonous spiders suddenly lost control and fled in all directions.
After the battle, Lin Xiaoqi sat down on the ground, gasping for breath. Fu Shaoping came over and patted him on the shoulder: "Well done."
Nangong Wan took out a green pill and handed it to him: "Qingling Pill, for detoxification."
After Lin Xiaoqi took the pill, he immediately felt the stagnant spiritual energy in his body begin to flow again, even more smoothly than before. He was surprised to find that his meridians seemed to have widened a bit, and his spiritual energy became more condensed.
"Master, my spiritual power..."
Fu Shaoping smiled and said, "Fighting is the best way to practice, especially the breakthrough between life and death, which can often bring about a qualitative change in the spiritual power of the cultivator."
Nangong Wan added calmly: "You have now truly entered the middle stage of Qi Refining."
Lin Xiaoqi clenched his fists, feeling the surging power in his body, and a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.
"Let's go, it's time to go back." Fu Shaoping stretched, "Tonight's harvest is enough to replenish the inventory of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion for a while."
The three of them returned under the moonlight. Lin Xiaoqi looked back at the deep mountains and no longer felt any fear. He knew that his path of cultivation had just begun.
Before dawn, the Qingxuan Mountains were shrouded in lavender mist. Lin Xiaoqi stepped on the dewy grass, with the cloth bag around his waist containing the spider queen's venom sac and several Yin-attributed spiritual herbs collected at night. Fu Shaoping walked in the front, his wine gourd was empty, and he was humming a weird tune.
"Master, there is a smell of blood in the southeast direction." Nangong Wan suddenly pressed the silver needle on his waist.
The three of them pushed aside the bushes and saw five corpses dressed in black clothes lying in a fan shape. There was a red line as thin as a hair at the throat of each of them. Lin Xiaoqi squatted down to check and found that the corpses had a jade plaque engraved with the word "Xuan" hanging around their waists.
"Someone from Xuanjian Sect." Fu Shaoping turned over a corpse on his toes. "Look at the wound. It's the Thousand Silks."
Nangong Wan immediately formed a seal upon hearing this, and three silver rays of light shot into the surrounding tree trunks: "The Mohist people have also entered the mountain?"
Just as Lin Xiaoqi was about to ask, he suddenly heard a very slight "click". He instinctively rushed towards Nangong Wan, and almost at the same time, dozens of silver threads with blue light exploded on the ground where he was standing.
"Mo Sect's mechanical skills!" The copper coin in Fu Shaoping's sleeve turned into golden light to protect the three people, "Xiao Qi, hold your breath!"
Light pink smoke came from all directions, and Lin Xiaoqi felt dizzy just after taking half a breath. In a trance, he saw twelve men in black wearing bronze masks jumping down from the treetops, each holding a crystal silk thread in their hands.
“Hand over the Green Scaled Python Pill and you can keep your body intact.” The leader’s voice sounded like the grinding of rusty gears.
Nangong Wan sneered, and the silver needles formed a star map in the air. Fu Shaoping suddenly pressed her shoulders, turned his head and showed Lin Xiaoqi a strange smile: "Disciple, let me test you - what is the Mo family mechanism most afraid of?"
Lin Xiaoqi resisted the vertigo and recalled the theory of the mutual restraint of plants and trees that Nangong Wan had taught him yesterday: "Gold and metal are afraid of fire, but their silk threads..."
"Smart!" Fu Shaoping suddenly smashed the wine gourd to the ground, and dazzling flames burst out from the gourd fragments. This was not an ordinary flame, but a spiritual fire mixed with the blood of the red flame wolf!
The moment the flames licked the silk threads in the air, the invisible thousands of threads all appeared, burning violently like a ignited spider web. The Mohist assassins hurriedly retreated, but saw Nangong Wan's silver needles shooting along the trajectory of the burning silk threads, accurately piercing the wrist acupoints of each assassin.
"Let's go!" Fu Shaoping grabbed Lin Xiaoqi and jumped onto the treetops. The three of them ran half a mile under the cover of the morning mist, and were suddenly blocked by a turbulent underground river.
Amid the roar of water, Fu Shaoping leaned close to Lin Xiaoqi's ear and shouted, "The Green Scale Python Pill can prevent all poisons, hold it under your tongue!" Before Lin Xiaoqi could react, he was pushed into the rapids by his master. The moment the cold river water poured into his nasal cavity, Lin Xiaoqi felt something soft wrapped around his waist. He opened his eyes and saw a translucent fluorescent jellyfish dragging him to a cave at the bottom of the river, and the dense suction cups on its tentacles were extracting the spiritual power in his body!
The fluorescence of the jellyfish illuminated the cave, and Lin Xiaoqi was surprised to find that it was an ancient altar submerged in water. In the center of the altar stood a moss-covered stone tablet, the inscription of which was distorted by the water, but the word "Lin" was clearly visible.
The tentacles were getting tighter and tighter, and Lin Xiaoqi suddenly had an idea, and injected all the little Qingmu Qi left in his body into the herb-picking sickle. The green light on the sickle blade turned into countless fine leaves in the water, growing in the reverse direction along the jellyfish's tentacles. The fluorescent jellyfish trembled violently, and actually let go of the tentacles as if it had encountered a natural enemy.
Lin Xiaoqi took the opportunity to swim towards the altar. As soon as his finger touched the stone tablet, the whole altar suddenly made a dull roar. The stone tablet cracked, revealing a section of white finger bone. The finger bone automatically attached to his right ring finger and instantly turned into a bone ring.
"The bloodline of the Lin family. Finally." The old voice sounded directly in his mind. Countless fragmented images flashed before Lin Xiaoqi's eyes: a burning house, a blood-stained jade pendant, and... a young couple locked in iron chains?
"Xiao Qi!" Nangong Wan's voice came from the water. Lin Xiaoqi struggled to float up, and when he rushed out of the water, he found that his master and his mistress were confronting three assassins wearing bronze masks on the shore - this time there was an extra golden pattern on the mask.
There was a deep wound on Fu Shaoping's chest, but he was still smiling: "Three of the Twelve Golden Guards of the Mohist School have come. They really think highly of us."
The bone ring on Lin Xiaoqi's ring finger suddenly became hot, and he waved his arm towards the nearest golden guard. The river water suddenly surged and condensed into a transparent water python that wrapped around the other person's neck. What was even more amazing was that he could actually sense the trajectory of the flow of spiritual power in the golden guard's body through the water python!
"Innate water spirit body?" Nangong Wan's pupils shrank suddenly, "No, this is..."
Seeing this, the remaining two golden guards attacked at the same time, and the thousands of threads formed a net. At the moment of despair, a bright sword light fell from the sky, cutting the net and the entire river bank rock together.
After the smoke and dust cleared, a man in white with a sword case on his back stood at the other end of the rift.
"Child of the Lin family," the man pointed the tip of his sword at Lin Xiaoqi's ring finger, "where did you get that bone ring?"
"Go, go now."
Nangong Wan didn't say much. He just moved his fingertips and three silver talismans floated out and stuck to the three people.
"The magic talisman can shrink the earth to an inch, but it can only last for three hours."
Before Lin Xiaoqi recovered from the shock, Fu Shaoping grabbed his wrist and whispered, "Don't look back, don't stop, no matter what you hear, don't look back."
Before he finished speaking, the figures of the three people suddenly blurred, and the next moment, they appeared on a mountain path a hundred feet away.
The night wind was howling, and Lin Xiaoqi felt that the scenery in front of him was rapidly receding. The trees, rocks, and streams all turned into blurred afterimages. His ears were filled with the sound of the wind, but vaguely, he seemed to hear the sound of swords coming from afar, as well as some creepy whispers.
"Master, who are those people?" he asked through gritting his teeth.
Fu Shaoping did not answer, but quickened his pace. Nangong Wan said calmly, "The Mo family's golden guards, twelve people, each of them is at the peak of foundation building, specializing in killing people who should not be alive."
Lin Xiaoqi's heart was shocked.
The person who shouldn't be alive... is that him?
Before dawn, the three of them had crossed three mountains and crossed two turbulent underground rivers. The effect of the magic talisman gradually faded, and Fu Shaoping finally stopped in front of an abandoned temple.
The temple gate had long since decayed and was covered with cobwebs, but strangely, there was a long-burning lamp inside the temple.
Nangong Wan took a look and frowned slightly: "Someone has been here."
Fu Shaoping sneered: "Not a human being."
He raised his hand and waved it, and the temple door opened without wind. The flame of the eternal lamp suddenly increased, illuminating the scene inside the temple.
A skeleton sat cross-legged on a cushion, wearing a tattered Taoist robe and holding a copper coin between his fingertips.
On the copper coin, there is a word "Lin" engraved.
Lin Xiaoqi's pupils suddenly shrank.
Fu Shaoping walked forward, took the copper coin from the dried bones, and said calmly: "Thirty years ago, the entire Lin family was wiped out, except for a baby who was taken away."
He turned around and handed the copper coin to Lin Xiaoqi.
"Now, do you know why the Mo family's golden guards want to kill you?"
Outside the dilapidated temple, the morning light is dim.
Nangong Wan stood at the temple gate, with silver needles suspended on his fingertips, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Fu Shaoping took out the wine pot, tilted his head back and took a sip, then spilled the remaining wine on the ground.
"We must leave the Qingxuan Mountains before dawn." He whispered, "Otherwise, the next time it will not just be the Golden Guards who come."
Lin Xiaoqi clenched the copper coin in his hand, remained silent for a long time, and finally spoke:
"Master, Master's Wife...you already knew my background?"
Fu Shaoping smiled and did not answer.
Nangong Wan said calmly: "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you are still alive."
When the first ray of sunlight penetrated the clouds, the figures of the three people had disappeared in the vast mountain fog.
In the dilapidated temple, the eternal lamp went out quietly.
The dry bones of the fingers moved slightly.
On a mountain road where the morning mist had not yet dissipated, three figures walked on the dew into an unknown town.
"From today on, my surname is Chen, and I'm a casual winemaker." Fu Shaoping took off the wine gourd from his waist, wiped off the mark of the word "Fu" on it, and with a rub of his fingertips, carved a crooked "Chen".
Nangong Wan's fingertips shone with silver light, and three masks as thin as cicada wings fell into her palm: "Qingqi mask can change bone structure." She pressed one of them on Lin Xiaoqi's face, and the cold touch instantly penetrated into his skin. The boy's delicate features gradually became mediocre, and even his bright eyes dimmed a little.
"Your name is Chen Mu, and you are the medicine boy we picked up from the mountains."
Lin Xiaoqi touched the unfamiliar face and suddenly discovered that the appearance of his master and his mistress had also changed - Fu Shaoping had become a rough man with a weather-beaten face, and Nangong Wan had turned into a sickly woman with a sallow complexion.
The three of them walked into an abandoned teahouse at the east end of the town. Behind the cobweb-covered counter, Fu Shaoping lifted the floor tiles to reveal a secret compartment, and unexpectedly took out a few ingots of dusty silver. Twelve copper coins flew out of Nangong Wan's sleeves, jingling and falling on the beams of the house, forming a hidden formation. (End of this chapter)