"Old Zheng!"
Seeing the burly man in gray fall to the ground screaming in agony, not only was the girl bewildered, but the woman in red and the thin man were even more shocked.
They never expected that the gray-clad giant, who possessed the perfected Bone and Tendon Realm cultivation, would be unable to even handle a mere passerby.
More importantly, they didn't even see how Lu Qing actually made his move.
In the blink of an eye, the gray-clad giant was lying on the ground, his limbs completely useless.
The two looked at Lu Qing in shock, realizing that they had misjudged him this time.
The seemingly weak boy in front of them was actually a monster who was pretending to be weak while actually being strong, and his cultivation level was far beyond their imagination.
Lu Qing turned her head in that direction.
"Young hero..."
The two women in red felt a chill run down their spines and wanted to beg for mercy, but the next moment, several whooshing sounds rang out.
The two men immediately felt a sharp pain in their hands and feet, and their bodies could no longer support them. They collapsed to the ground, rolling around and screaming in agony.
Unbeknownst to them, their joints had been shattered by Lu Qing's stones in an instant.
"Shut up."
The faint voice came, but it made the three women in red, who were still screaming, suddenly tremble and dare not scream anymore.
Even though his limbs were still in excruciating pain, he could only grit his teeth and endure it, not daring to make a sound.
"Alright, you can continue now. Explain why they want to harm you."
Lu Qing looked at the stunned girl and said.
Feeling Lu Qing's calm and composed gaze, the girl snapped back to reality.
She glanced at the three women in red who had been so arrogant just moments before, but now lay on the ground like dead dogs, their faces filled with fear. She immediately understood that she had truly met her savior this time.
"Young master, these three people want to kill me to steal the Xuanxin Sect token I possess," the girl said.
"What's so special about that Xuanxin Sect token?"
"The Xuanxin Sect token in my hand was bought by my father at a high price. With this token, I can go to the Xuanxin Sect's recruitment ceremony held once every three years."
These three wanted to steal the token so they could take my place at the Xuanxin Sect's recruitment ceremony.
Lu Qing asked curiously, "Recruiting disciples is no small matter. Doesn't the Xuanxin Sect have any precautions in place, allowing just anyone to participate?"
The girl said somewhat helplessly, "That's how it was supposed to be, but my father bought a cheaper anonymous spot to save money."
There is only one token for this spot. Anyone who presents the token at the Xuanxin Sect will be eligible to participate in the disciple recruitment ceremony. The Xuanxin Sect will not inquire about the token's origin.
"..."
A strange feeling arose in Lu Qing's heart.
To him, the so-called disciple recruitment ceremony of the Xuanxin Sect didn't seem very proper.
It seems less like they're recruiting disciples and more like they're trying to make money.
"Since this spot is so important, why would your father feel comfortable letting you travel with these three?" Lu Qing continued to ask.
Who would have thought they were such monsters!
The girl became agitated at the mention of this, glaring angrily at the three women in red.
"These three men had received favors from my father in the past, and they always treated him with great respect in the city, addressing each other as brothers."
Little did I know they had their eyes on the token in my hand all along. As soon as I left the valley, they forced me to hand it over, and even... they even wanted to...
If I hadn't hidden the secret weapon my father gave me, and used it to escape when they weren't looking, I'd probably... I'd probably be... by now..."
The girl was ultimately too shy to utter those filthy words, despite trembling with anger.
But everyone could guess what she wanted to say.
"Do you have any last words you would like to say?"
Lu Qing looked at the three women in red.
Upon hearing this, the three women in red were terrified and begged for mercy in pitiful voices: "Young hero, we know we were wrong. Please be magnanimous and spare us this time. We will never dare to do it again..."
However, before they could finish begging for mercy, Lu Qing had already flicked out three pebbles.
The sound of something cutting through the air rang out, and the three of them suddenly froze. A bloody hole appeared between their eyebrows, their eyes glazed over, and they could no longer move.
"I didn't expect that you would start killing again so soon after arriving in Zhongzhou." Lu Qing shook his head helplessly. "Master Ma, throw these corpses off the cliff."
Then he looked at the girl and asked, "Miss Hu, can you still walk on your own?"
The girl, who was stunned by Lu Qing's decisive and ruthless methods, immediately snapped back to her senses.
She looked at her leg, her face showing distress: "My leg, that wicked woman whipped me, and it seems like my leg bone is broken."
"Let me take a look." Upon hearing this, Lu Qing didn't hesitate and reached out to touch the girl's leg. "Not bad, the shinbone is broken."
Not only were his bones broken, but his leg was also a bloody mess.
The fact that this girl has managed to hold on until now without fainting is quite a testament to her willpower.
"Miss Hu, we have medicine in our car. Shall I set your leg bone first, and then apply the medicine?"
"Um......"
The girl's face flushed red, and she responded in a barely audible voice.
This was all because her current appearance was rather embarrassing; her clothes were disheveled and rather unseemly.
"Zi'an, bring the medicine box down."
However, Lu Qing did not care about the girl's disheveled state. Instead, he called out to the back and began to set the girl's bones.
With Lu Qing's martial arts skills and understanding of human bones, setting a leg bone would be a piece of cake.
Moreover, the girl's leg bone was only broken in two, without any broken bones, making treatment even simpler.
Therefore, by the time Wei Zian brought the medicine box, his leg bone had already been perfectly set.
To the girl's great surprise, Lu Qing's bone-setting movements were very gentle, and she did not feel much pain.
Next, Lu Qing used a wooden board to fix the girl's leg bone before applying ointment to her bloody and mangled area.
"hiss!"
As the wound medicine was applied, the girl couldn't help but let out a throbbing pain.
"Bear with it, it won't hurt as much in a while," Lu Qing comforted her.
"Young master, will I be left with a big scar on my leg in the future?"
Looking at the large, bloody mess on her leg, the girl finally couldn't help but ask.
"Are you bothered by the scar?" Lu Qing asked.
"No, I am already fortunate to have survived thanks to you, young master. How could I dare to ask for more?"
The girl shook her head, but the disappointment in her eyes was impossible to hide.
Lu Qing thought for a moment and said, "There is a way to avoid leaving scars, but it will be troublesome."
"Young master, do you have a solution?" The young girl looked up in surprise.
"Yes, but you'll need to prepare another medicine, so you'll have to wait a while."
"Thank you, young master!"
The girl was moved to tears. No girl is immune to the desire to look beautiful, and she had previously thought there was no way to achieve that.
Now that we know it's possible to avoid scarring, it's naturally best to avoid scarring altogether.
"Young master, it's all done."
On the other side, Magu also carried the three corpses to the other side of the cliff and threw them back.
“Miss Hu, what are your plans? Why don’t we send you back to Qinglong City?” Lu Qing asked.
“I can’t go back.” The girl shook her head. “Qinglong Pass only opens once every seven days. Before that, unless something terrible happens, the pass will never open easily. Now that the pass is closed, even if I go back, I will have to wait seven days to enter the city.”
Lu Qing recalled what he had seen before: the city gate that required dozens of martial artists at the Bone and Tendon Realm to open.
Knowing that it would be impossible for Qinglong City to make an exception based solely on the girl's identity, they realized that it was unlikely.
But they couldn't possibly stay here with the girl for seven days.
Could this be what they call "divine will"?
A strange look appeared in Lu Qing's eyes, and an amused expression appeared on his face.
"In that case, if Miss Hu doesn't mind, why don't you come with us on the journey? That way, we can look after each other."
The girl was initially worried that Lu Qing and the others might just leave her there unattended.
Hearing this, he was overjoyed and nodded quickly, "Thank you, young master!"
"Alright, let's continue on our way then. Excuse me, Miss Hu."
Lu Qing bent down, gently picked up the girl, and walked towards the carriage.
“Master, this young lady has injured her leg and has difficulty walking. There is no one around here, so it is not appropriate to leave her here alone. I am afraid she will have to travel with us for the time being.”
Arriving at the carriage, Lu Qing explained.
"It's alright, we can just make room."
The senior doctor naturally had no objections.
He had just heard what was happening outside.
The girl blushed and was carried into the carriage by Lu Qing, who placed her in a seat towards the inside. Then Wei Zian also climbed in.
It's fortunate that their carriage is big enough, otherwise it would be difficult to fit so many people.
"Master Ma, that's enough. Let's go. Run as fast as you can, and try to find a town where we can stay before dark."
After everyone was seated, Lu Qing said.
Let them run freely?
Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, Ma Gu was taken aback at first, but soon, when he sensed the peculiar aura emanating from the surroundings, he immediately understood what Lu Qing meant.
He felt a surge of excitement and cracked his whip.
The two horses pulling in front seemed to sense something, excitedly reared up, and slowly ran forward.
Sure enough, as the carriage moved, the familiar blue aura that they had been acquainted with for days suddenly appeared and enveloped the entire carriage.
After such a long period of adjustment, Magu will naturally no longer exhibit the embarrassing situation of being unable to control his speed as before.
Under his control, the carriage first accelerated slowly, and after more than ten breaths, it gradually reached high speed. Protected by the blue aura, it began to move forward at an incredible speed.
All of this was done silently; the people inside the carriage could hardly feel the change in speed.
The girl was even less aware of what was happening outside. Although it was somewhat unexpected, Lu Qing and the others' carriage was much smoother than they had imagined, and they could hardly feel any bumps.
But right now, her mind isn't on that.
Therefore, she was still feeling embarrassed and agitated from being carried into the car by Lu Qing.
The quietness in the carriage made her feel extremely awkward.
"By the way, Miss Hu, may I ask your name?"
Lu Qing noticed the girl's embarrassment and casually started a conversation.
"Don't you know my father, young master?" the girl asked, somewhat surprised.
“We only met your father once when we entered the city; we can’t be considered familiar with him,” Lu Qing said with a smile.
"Dr. Lu Qing, is this young lady the daughter of the city guard who was in charge of collecting the entrance fee when we entered the city?"
At this moment, Wei Zian also realized what was happening.
"So, you and my father don't know each other?"
The girl understood.
She was wondering when her father had met someone as powerful as Lu Qing, since she had never heard of him before.
So they were just strangers, and had nothing to do with us at all.
This made the girl even more grateful.
Although they were complete strangers, Lu Qing's act of saving them made the debt of gratitude all the more profound.
She couldn't help but thank him again: "Thank you so much for saving me, young master. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have..."
"Hehe, it's fate that we met. Miss Hu, it's fate that you met us. There's no need to be so polite," Lu Qing said casually.
"My name is Zezhi."
When Lu Qing said they were destined to be together, the girl blushed again and whispered.
"Zezhi?" Lu Qing asked, somewhat puzzled. "Didn't your father call you Xiaolian before at Qinglong Pass?"
"So you were there too, young master?" Hu Zezhi was taken aback.
"Oh, I overheard your conversation with your father while I was crossing the bridge. I hope you won't take offense," Lu Qing explained.
"How could that be?"
Hu Zezhi shook her head. If Lu Qing hadn't heard those words, she would probably be dead by now.
She glanced at Lu Qing, then lowered her head: "Xiao Lian is my nickname, and my father has always been used to calling me by this name."
"I see." Lu Qing suddenly realized. "Oh right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Lu Qing. This is my master, Doctor Chen. This is my younger sister, Xiao Yan. As for this gentleman, he is Wei Zi'an, the young master of the Wei family."
Hearing Lu Qing's formal introduction of them, the young girl didn't think much of it, but the old doctor was slightly taken aback and finally realized something was amiss.
"I've met a few of them."
Hu Zezhi was clearly well-mannered; despite her leg injury, she still gave a graceful bow.
"No need for such formalities."
The old doctor smiled slightly, but his curiosity only deepened.
"Sister Hu, does your leg hurt?"
At this moment, Xiao Yan looked at Hu Zezhi's legs with concern and asked in a sweet voice.
"Yes, it hurts a little, but after applying the medicine, it doesn't hurt as much."
Seeing Xiao Yan's concerned expression, Hu Zezhi felt a warmth in her heart and explained softly.
"Yes, with your brother here, you'll get better soon. Your brother and Grandpa Chen are really good at medicine, you'll definitely be fine soon!" Xiaoyan said earnestly.
"Thank you."
Hu Zezhi smiled, and her beautiful face immediately stunned Xiao Yan.
"Sister Hu, you're so pretty!" the little guy exclaimed, dazed.
Hu Zezhi blushed and couldn't help but say, "You're cute too, much prettier than my sister."
"Really? Then when I grow up, will I be as pretty as my sister?"
The little guy was immediately delighted upon hearing this.
"Definitely!" Hu Zezhi nodded firmly.
She wasn't just being polite.
Xiao Yan's delicate features clearly indicate that she's a beauty in the making.
Watching the two of them, one big and one small, flattering each other, Lu Qing couldn't help but shake his head and smile.
Just then, a voice rang in his mind: "Ah Qing, what's going on? Why are you treating this girl so differently?" (End of Chapter)
