79: Chapter 79 The Liang Family of Qinghuailing

Four people with masked faces walked out from the forest. Han Qingshan walked in the front holding a sword, followed by three Junior Brothers, blocking the narrow mountain path.

The carriage quickly approached.

Seeing the four people, the man driving the carriage showed not a trace of panic on his face. He simply pulled the reins and steadily stopped the carriage.

The black horse snorted, stomped its front hooves on the ground a few times, and quickly quieted down.

Sitting at the front of the carriage, the man looked at Han Qingshan and glanced at the long sword in his hand. He neither turned around to run away nor opened his mouth to shout questions.

A young man's voice came from inside the carriage.

"Uncle Zhong, why did we stop?"

The man driving the carriage said,

"Young Master, there are four people blocking the road ahead. They should be highway robbers."

"And all four of them are Cultivators."

The carriage fell silent for a moment.

Afterwards, the young man let out a chuckle.

"Even Cultivators have started engaging in highway robbery now?"

After saying that, he did not speak again.

Han Qingshan stood in front of the carriage, his gaze falling on Uncle Zhong.

Earlier, they were too far apart for him to notice.

Now that the two sides were separated by only a few zhang, he could tell that this carriage driver was not an ordinary person.

He was a Late Stage Lingtai Cultivator.

Han Qingshan gripped his long sword tightly, knowing that even if the four of them joined forces, they would still be no match for Uncle Zhong.

He lowered his voice and said,

"Run!"

The three Junior Brothers did not ask questions; following Han Qingshan, they turned and fled into the forest.

Although his voice was not loud, it did not escape Uncle Zhong's ears.

"Want to run?"

Uncle Zhong put down the reins, leaped up from the front of the carriage, and flew toward the four of them.

In an instant, he caught up to the Junior Brother who had fallen behind at the very end.

Hearing the commotion behind him, that person was just about to turn his head when he took a palm strike to the shoulder, causing his entire body to lunge forward and fall flat on the ground.

Seeing this, the other two Junior Brothers simultaneously drew their swords and rushed back.

Uncle Zhong sidestepped to dodge the long sword thrusting straight at him and kicked one of them over with a single blow.

Before the other person's sword could even fall, his wrist was grabbed, and he was subsequently pressed down onto the ground.

Han Qingshan had already run a dozen paces away, but seeing that all three Junior Brothers had fallen to the ground, he had no choice but to turn back and charge into the fight.

He thrust out several swords in succession, all of which were evaded by Uncle Zhong.

Just as his final sword thrust was sent out, Uncle Zhong grabbed his wrist and struck his chest with another palm.

Han Qingshan was struck back a few steps, and the long sword in his hand also fell to the ground.

He still wanted to continue fighting, but Uncle Zhong had already arrived before him, grabbing him by the collar and pressing him down onto the ground.

In just a brief moment from start to finish, all four people were subdued.

Only then did the side door of the carriage open from the inside.

A man in his early thirties bent over and stepped down.

He had a slender build, a fair complexion, and a slightly long face. He wore a moon-white lined robe, covered on the outside with a gray fox-fur coat, and his hair was tied up at the back of his head with a white jade hairpin.

The man stepped on the thin snow on the ground and came close.

The three Junior Brothers had already been subdued, but they still occasionally glanced toward Han Qingshan's direction.

The man followed their gaze to look at Han Qingshan.

"Uncle Zhong, let him go first."

Uncle Zhong released Han Qingshan and stepped back to the side.

Han Qingshan stood up from the ground, also sizing up the person before him.

He could not sense any spiritual power from the other party.

Yet this person could have a Late Stage Lingtai Cultivator drive his carriage; his identity could by no means be simple.

The man looked at the long sword on the ground, then looked at the black cloth on the four people's faces.

"Four Cultivators intercepting a single carriage, without any prior preparation, and turning to flee as soon as they saw Uncle Zhong."

He looked at Han Qingshan.

"You had already run a dozen paces away, yet you turned back for the sake of those three. You are not mountain bandits?"

Han Qingshan stared at him and asked,

"What do you want?"

"Take off the cloth on your face first."

Han Qingshan reached out and pulled off the black cloth on his face.

Seeing his appearance clearly, the man asked,

"I reckon you are not Loose Cultivators, right? Which Sect do you belong to?"

Han Qingshan did not answer.

Even though the Xuanyang Sect was already gone, they were, after all, Disciples of the Xuanyang Sect.

Now masking their faces and acting as highway robbers on a mountain path—he truly could not bring himself to say such a thing.

The man waited for a moment.

"Unwilling to speak?"

Han Qingshan still did not open his mouth.

The man stopped asking as well and simply glanced at Uncle Zhong.

Understanding, Uncle Zhong walked up to one of the Junior Brothers and raised his palm.

"Stop, I'll talk."

Han Qingshan gritted his teeth.

"We are Disciples of the Xuanyang Sect."

The man nodded at Uncle Zhong and then continued to ask,

"The Xuanyang Sect near Qingshi Town?"

"Yes."

"I heard that a month ago, the Xuanyang Sect was wiped out by the Baihe Sect."

Han Qingshan said,

"That's right."

The man asked further,

"Did the Baihe Sect occupy your mountain gate?"

"The Baihe Sect was later wiped out by someone as well."

The man looked at him.

"Who did it?"

"Mo Xiaochuan."

"What kind of person?"

"The current person in charge of the Mo Family."

The man thought for a moment.

"Since the Baihe Sect is gone, you should have gone back there, right?"

"We went back."

Han Qingshan's expression was somewhat grim.

"The old mountain gate, Spiritual Vein, and herb garden of the Xuanyang Sect are now all overseen by the Mo Family. They won't even let us enter the mountain gate."

"The Mo Family?"

"Mn."

"The Mo Family used to be just a Mortal Family attached to the Xuanyang Sect. I don't know when a Golden Core Cultivator named Mo Xiaochuan emerged from them."

The man glanced at the long sword that had fallen to the ground.

"So you and Mo Xiaochuan traded blows?"

Han Qingshan nodded.

"What is his cultivation level?"

"At the very least, a Golden Core Cultivator."

The man asked again,

"Those places now belong to the Mo Family?"

Han Qingshan said,

"No."

"The Qingmu Sect only temporarily handed them over to be managed."

"Temporarily?"

"Yes."

The man asked no more, instead sizing up Han Qingshan and the four of them all over again.

He had heard of both the Baihe Sect and the Xuanyang Sect before.

As for the Mo Family, he had only heard some news from external caravans these past few days.

A previously inconspicuous small Family had taken over Qingshi Town, Xianren Valley, and the properties left behind by two Sects in just a short month.

What was more important was that the Qingmu Sect only let the Mo Family manage them temporarily.

The Liang Family's business had grown bigger and bigger over these years; it was about time to extend further east.

Thinking of this, the man suddenly smiled.

"Get up, all of you."

The several people crawled up from the ground and walked over to Han Qingshan's side.

The man cupped his fists at the few of them.

"This one is Liang Shaoheng of the Qinghuai Ridge Liang Family."

After saying that, he looked at Han Qingshan.

"I still do not know how Your Excellency is addressed?"

Hearing the words "Qinghuai Ridge Liang Family", Han Qingshan felt somewhat surprised inside.

The Qinghuai Ridge Liang Family had a Legacy spanning over four hundred years and was a famous Cultivation Family in this region, far from being something the former Xuanyang Sect could compare with.

He hadn't expected that the man before his eyes, who had no cultivation, actually hailed from the Liang Family.

Han Qingshan cupped his fists again.

"So it is Young Master Liang. This one is Han Qingshan, head Disciple of the Xuanyang Sect."

Liang Shaoheng said,

"So you are Sect Master Lu's head Disciple."

"Young Master Liang has heard of me?"

"The Xuanyang Sect is not too far from Qinghuai Ridge, and I have heard people mention Brother Han."

Liang Shaoheng looked toward the three Junior Brothers behind him.

"Since Brother Han is still alive and still has three fellow Disciples by his side, the Xuanyang Sect cannot be considered truly cut off."

Han Qingshan said,

"With only the four of us left, we don't even have a place to settle down. Wanting to rebuild the Sect, how could it be easy?"

"If there are few people, more can be recruited; if there is no mountain gate, it can be rebuilt."

Liang Shaoheng said,

"If Brother Han truly wishes to rebuild the Xuanyang Sect, the Liang Family is willing to help with this matter."

Han Qingshan did not immediately agree.

"Why would the Liang Family want to help me?"