76: Chapter 76 - Skip! Skip all the fluff!

"Huh?" Hearing this, Qin Muyuan wore a curious look on his face and asked,

"You guys have been pursuing me? When did that happen?"

To think there were actually people tailing and pursuing him from behind?

How come he hadn't felt it at all?

"We've been following orders to pursue you, but... we could never catch up..."

The leading soldier lowered his head slightly and said.

They were indeed ordered to pursue Qin Muyuan, but Qin Muyuan moved way too fast.

Often, before they even arrived, Qin Muyuan had already finished killing people and left directly...

Come to think of it, they didn't know whether they should consider themselves lucky or unlucky.

Precisely because they couldn't catch up to Qin Muyuan, the Dingyuan Army soldiers hadn't been slaughtered by Qin Muyuan yet and had survived until now...

While following orders to pursue him and tailing right behind Qin Muyuan, they had heard quite a bit.

Qin Muyuan, all by himself, had smashed through the Hongyan Prefecture governor and military commander, slaughtering the elite Bailian Army until they threw away their armor and fled in disarray!

If the Bailian Army was like that, then they, the border-guarding Dingyuan Army, would be sliced right through by Qin Muyuan even more effortlessly!

After all, the border garrison troops were completely inferior to the Bailian Army in terms of equipment, weapons, and strength.

The reason soldiers like them were dispatched to guard the borders was precisely because they lacked connections within the military camp, getting assigned to garrison such a barren and oil-less border place.

Not only did they lack equipment and weapons, but even the camp food was extremely poor.

Sometimes, the Dingyuan Army even had to figure out food solutions themselves.

Although this sounded unbelievable.

If they couldn't even get enough to eat, how could border garrison troops protect the frontier and fight enemies?

But what if... the border garrison troops on the Xiaoshan Country side were also like this?

Deep in the mountains, the border garrison troops from the Huoyun Country side would even bump into the border garrison troops from Xiaoshan Country while going up the mountains to hunt.

The two armies had even come to blows over snatching game before...

"Then why are you guys appearing here now?"

Qin Muyuan looked at the injured Dingyuan Army soldiers one by one and asked.

Just now, that leading soldier had shouted for Qin Muyuan to run quickly; although his tone lacked respect, Qin Muyuan was magnanimous and didn't mind.

Instead, he appreciated the leading soldier's gesture.

Therefore, Qin Muyuan was now willing to listen to this leading soldier speak a few more words.

"We couldn't catch up to you, but that military commandant who was sent down to pad his resume forcefully ordered us to continue the pursuit..."

The leading soldier said:

"We didn't want to throw away our lives for nothing, so... we killed the commandant, disguised his corpse as an accidental death, and then fled back to Qinghua County..."

"Who would have thought that right after returning to Qinghua County, the Black Water Demon would arrive!"

"Our corporal has read some strange and miscellaneous books, knowing that the demon puppets of the Black Water Demon only possess hearing and smell, lacking eyesight."

"So he led us to build a wall on the outer perimeter of the county center. First, to block the Black Water Demon puppets from swarming out in groups so we wouldn't be attacked from both front and back."

"Second, for the commoners inside the county... Some brothers in our military ranks also originated from Qinghua County..."

After listening to their words, Qin Muyuan understood.

"It seems that in this filthy world, the upper strata have indeed completely rotted away. But in the lower strata, there are still people like the Xiao Family and these soldiers who faithfully guard righteousness and act for the country and the people."

Qin Muyuan thought to himself.

He glanced at the leading soldier and said:

"Take me to the wall you guys built."

...

A moment later, Qin Muyuan and Wangcai, one man and one wolf, arrived at the wall built by these Dingyuan Army soldiers.

Calling it a wall, it was actually just a barrier piled up with bulky sundries.

According to the leading soldier, they cut off the demon puppets' path with the wall, and smeared grass juice on their bodies to mask their own Qi.

Finally, they lowered their speaking volume and didn't make loud noises.

In this way, they wouldn't be discovered by the demon puppets and could trap most of them in the county center.

As for the sporadic demon puppets outside... they could only let the outside commoners handle them themselves.

Qin Muyuan followed this group of soldiers to the wall and met their corporal.

That was a robust man wearing light leather armor, with strings of green grass hanging in front of his chest.

Whenever he sweat, the man would take down the grass in front of his chest, rub it a few times where the sweat oozed out, and cover up the scent emanating from his body.

And right above this man's head... an exclamation mark was also glowing.

"Corporal, this is..."

The leading soldier lowered his voice to the extreme and spoke by the corporal's ear.

However, the next second, he was interrupted by Qin Muyuan's voice.

"No more nonsense."

His voice wasn't lowered; it was at a normal volume.

Such a volume spread outward, causing the demon puppets in the county center not far away to become restless.

Hearing the commotion of the demon puppets, the corporal's expression turned greatly alarmed, and the gaze he cast at Qin Muyuan instantly carried a fierce glint.

It was just like in zombie movies, when everyone was quietly avoiding zombies, and suddenly heard a brat crying loudly and saying they wanted to find their mommy.

However, the brat in zombie movies and Qin Muyuan were definitely not the same breed.

Only to see Qin Muyuan gently step out with one foot.

The next moment, he traversed a distance of over ten meters like teleportation, appearing right before the corporal.

He grabbed the corporal by the collar, making the corporal's cheeks exchange several loud greetings with his palm.

After a set of greetings, the corporal's gaze regained clarity, and only then did Qin Muyuan say:

"Skip, skip! All nonsense, skip it all! State your commission!"

"Com... Commission?" The corporal, slapped into clarity by a few greetings, asked instinctively.

"Just stuff like your current wish, I can help you fulfill it."

"A wish..." Amidst clear eyes and a blank mind, the corporal stated his wish:

"I just want to... fulfill my promise and protect the families of the fallen brothers..."

[Corporal Zhao Qiang uncontrollably issues a quest to you]

[Quest: Protect Gao Yue, Meng Shu, and others]

[Corporal Zhao Qiang made a promise that he would protect the families of his fallen military brothers, ensuring they wouldn't be killed by the Black Water Demon. But obviously, being weak in strength, he was utterly powerless to fulfill this promise and could only be forced to seek help from you]

[Quest Rewards: Experience Points +2000, Mall Points +7000, White-grade Martial Art: Named Literally Direct Kick]

"What kind of martial art is that?"

Seeing the name of this white-grade martial art, Qin Muyuan raised an eyebrow.

Wasn't this name a bit... too casual?

But it didn't matter anyway.

"Killing the Black Water Demon will complete two quests and claim two sets of quest rewards! One tiger feeds two, what great wisdom of mine..."

Qin Muyuan praised himself for his super wisdom.

Fortunately, he didn't slaughter the leading soldier earlier, but instead let him bring him here to the wall.

Look at that, he directly received another quest from the corporal.

Casually, he threw the corporal, who was still in a state of tearful gratitude, to that soldier from before.

Qin Muyuan's gaze pierced through the wall piled up with sundries.

On the other side of the wall, demon puppets had already heard his voice and were roaring as they charged toward the wall.

"You guys are planning to challenge me?"

Qin Muyuan sank his shoulders and dropped his elbows, his entire body resembling a cannonball about to be ignited.

A wave of bloody Qi exploded outward, condensing into a bloody shadow that rapidly lunged back into Qin Muyuan's body, forming a blood-red crystal armor on him.

Placing his elbows in front of his body, his elbow tips instantly thrust out two extremely sharp blood-crystal spikes.

"Dayun — Impact!"

Boom!

The floor shattered in response!