75: Follow-up and finishing

"Third Brother," Li Qinghe looked at Li Qingfeng with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"In your Storage Pouch, do you have any clothes that ordinary commoners wear? The kind with ordinary fabric that doesn't stand out."

"I do!" Li Qingfeng also had a cigarette in his mouth as he blinked in confusion.

"What's up? You want to wear them?"

The items in his Storage Pouch were quite varied; besides Sect robes, spare weapons, and Medicinal Pills and Talismans, he had indeed stuffed in a few sets of ordinary long robes he had acquired later for emergencies.

*Inhale~*

*Exhale~*

"Pick out two sets and give them to Man En."

Li Qinghe gestured with his chin toward Man En, who was currently taking small puffs of a cigarette and trying hard to adapt to that icy-cool sensation.

"Also, give him a few healing pills and some Qi Recovery Pills to replenish his Qi and blood."

"Why give him these?" Although Li Qingfeng was puzzled, he still did as he was told.

He brushed his hand over the Storage Pouch at his waist, and two sets of semi-worn grey coarse cloth clothes appeared in his hand. The fabric was sturdy and wear-resistant, exactly the style often worn by villagers.

Then he pulled out a small porcelain bottle and poured out five or six brown Medicinal Pills the size of soybeans, which emitted a faint medicinal fragrance.

"Here, take them."

Li Qinghe didn't explain immediately.

With the cigarette in his mouth, he walked over to the dirty beast hide that had been tossed on the ground earlier, part of which was covered in excrement and urine.

With a wave of his right hand, a large mass of water appeared out of thin air, splashing down and washing the thick beast hide inside and out several times, thoroughly rinsing away the remaining filth.

Then, he looked back and gave Li Qingfeng a look.

Li Qingfeng understood. He let out a muffled "Mm" through the cigarette in his mouth and casually waved his right hand toward the soaking wet beast hide.

The beast hide was immediately seized as if by an invisible giant hand, flying dozens of meters into the air with a whoosh.

Next, Li Qingfeng circled his right hand in the air a few times, and the mass of beast hide began to spin at high speed in the sky, flinging out lines of water.

A few seconds later, the spinning stopped abruptly. The beast hide had been spun until it was semi-dry and no longer dripping.

With another wave of Li Qingfeng's hand, the beast hide flew steadily back to Man En, who caught it.

Li Qinghe held out the clothes, Medicinal Pills, and a small bag of silver (about several dozen taels) to Man En:

"Man En, listen up. I'm giving you your first mission!"

Man En immediately straightened his back, his expression solemn:

"Please give your orders, My Lord!"

He pointed at the beast hide that had just been spun dry:

"Take these things and go back into the Black Mountains. I have a map of the Black Mountains' outskirts here—" he stuffed the map over as well—"this map marks several relatively safe paths on the outskirts of the Black Mountains."

He pointed to one of the lines thickened with charcoal, "Follow this line. It leads toward Qingshui Town. Qingshui Town is that large town a bit further south of your hometown, Kaishan Town. You should have heard of it."

Man En nodded: "This subordinate knows of Qingshui Town!"

"Very good," Li Qinghe continued:

"What you need to do is pretend to be heavily injured and lead the second wave of pursuers toward Qingshui Town!"

He pointed at the clothes and the silver:

"These two sets of clothes will help you disguise yourself as an ordinary merchant or mountain dweller. The silver can be used to buy food and lodging once you get there, making it easier for you to hide your identity. However!" His tone grew heavy:

"You must be careful with your disguise! There are also Cultivators like us stationed in Qingshui Town! You absolutely cannot expose yourself, and even more so, you cannot be caught by them!"

"In case—I'm saying just in case—you are exposed and actually caught by the Cultivators there, you must stick to your story. Say you're a refugee fleeing from pursuers. You absolutely must not reveal any information about the two of us! Not a single word!"

"If your luck is truly bad and the second wave of pursuers is led by an expert much stronger than you, like someone in the Bone Forging Realm who is stronger than you... then I also hope you can do your best to lead them further south! The further from us, the better!"

"If you can complete the mission, after you escape, just ask a few locals where 'Qingxuan New Town' is. They will definitely know!"

"Because within these hundreds of miles, there are few who don't know the name of Qingxuan New Town! When you return safely, look for us at the Town Guardian Residence."

"At that time, I'll find you a wife and help you settle down. You and your wife can take care of your young master together. When this child grows up, if he really wants revenge, we can provide some support and lend a hand!"

Li Qinghe looked into Man En's eyes:

"Man En! I'm not forcing you. Whether you agree or not, I will fulfill everything I just promised!"

After hearing this, Man En didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately dropped to both knees and took the items Li Qinghe handed him with both hands:

"Rest assured, My Lord!" Man En nodded vigorously. "This subordinate will complete the mission you've assigned, even if it costs me my life! If I'm unlucky enough to run into a top expert of the tribe leading the pursuit, even if I die, I will lead them as far south as possible!"

"If... if I unfortunately fall into the hands of the Practitioners there, before this subordinate severs his own meridians, I will definitely erase all traces that could implicate the two Lords! I will never let anyone pry a single word from my mouth!"

He spoke with iron-clad determination.

"Good!"

Li Qinghe patted his shoulder:

"Man En! Take care! We'll wait for you to come back and drink at your wedding!"

"Hahaha!"

Li Qingfeng, standing nearby, also laughed. "Now that's a solid promise!"

"Haha! Then this subordinate thanks My Lord in advance for finding me a wife!"

Man En grinned, revealing his white teeth. He quickly stuffed the clothes, silver, and map into the beast hide bundle he had just spun dry and tied it tightly to his chest.

Then he knelt on one knee and solemnly cupped his fists in a salute to the two: "My Lords! This subordinate shall take his leave first!"

Finally, he took a deep look at the sleeping young master in Li Qingfeng's arms, his gaze complicated.

Without any further hesitation, Man En grabbed the few Qi Recovery Pills Li Qingfeng had given him, stuffed them all into his mouth at once, and swallowed them whole.

As soon as the pills entered his stomach, a warm current immediately spread, helping to suppress his body's extreme fatigue and pain. He took a deep breath, turned abruptly, and dashed away without looking back toward the cliff he had just escaped from.

Within a few leaps, his burly figure disappeared into the dense mountain forest, leaving only swaying branches and leaves.

Watching the direction in which Man En disappeared, Li Qingfeng held the child and kicked the corpses of the Barbarian pursuers on the ground:

"Fourth Brother, what should we do with these corpses? Dig a hole and bury them? Or..."

Li Qinghe exhaled a smoke ring and shook his head:

"No need for that trouble. Once we leave on the Flying Shuttle and the pressure of your Qi Refinement Stage dissipates, it won't be long before the starving wolves, tigers, leopards, and scavenging birds in this forest follow the scent of blood to help us clean up the scene. They'll ensure not even a scrap of bone remains. It saves us time and effort."

"Heh! True! That does save us some work!" Li Qingfeng thought about it and realized it was true. The mountain forest had its own Law.

"Let's go!"

Li Qinghe casually stubbed out his cigarette butt against a nearby tree; he didn't care to look at those corpses anymore.

With Li Qingfeng holding the child, the two jumped onto the Flying Shuttle and flew toward the New Town.