Xuanxia

Chapter 11: Taking the Head Start
This feeling was very strange, just like seeing flowers in the fog or the moon in the water. He didn't know where these people were exactly or how far away they were from him, but he could vaguely feel their breathing and heartbeat. He also didn't know whether this feeling was strong or weak, or far or near.

But now is not the moment to experience the magical power of Wuqiao Lingxu. Fu Qingzhou slowly opened his eyes and prepared to deal with the trouble that was about to come.

The only ones who would appear here... are disciples of Wan Du Mountain.

But when he opened his eyes, he was startled by the sunlight shining down on his head.

It was clearly midnight when I closed my eyes, but now the sun is shining brightly and it is almost noon!

"I actually sat there for so long?"

He blinked.

The smoker's lazy tone carried a hint of sourness: "Are you still not satisfied? With your bones and soul, you can guide the spirit for several hours when you first open your martial orifice. This is something that many people cannot even ask for~"

Fu Qingzhou was stunned: "Why, there is an explanation for this?"

"Of course."

The Smoker sneered and said, "The longer you communicate with the spirit after your initial martial acupoints are opened, the better your bones and the stronger your spirit will be. You will be able to go further on the road of cultivation in the future. You, boy, have a bright future~"

Fu Qingzhou's eyes lit up: "Oh? Then how far do you think I can go?"

"Are you aiming too high already? Just deal with the current trouble first." The Smoker stopped talking, and the sound of footsteps in the fog ahead gradually became clearer.

Fu Qingzhou exhaled lightly and nodded.

Soon, figures gradually emerged from the fog. They were five men and women dressed in Miao clothes. Four of them looked to be in their twenties, and only one was a little older - it was Meng Zhugang.

He had changed his nightgown into a Miao garment at some point, leaving a lot of tears and bloodstains on it.

At this time, the four men were supporting him as they walked towards this side. When they saw Fu Qingzhou sitting cross-legged on the ground, Meng Zhugang's eyes suddenly lit up and he was about to speak.

But Fu Qingzhou spoke earlier than him.

"Meng Zhugang!"

He shouted sternly: "How dare you, a traitor who killed your fellow disciples, come back to find me!"

Meng Zhugang was stunned, and the other four disciples of Wandu Mountain were also stunned.

After hesitating for two seconds, Meng Zhugang was the first to react, with a ferocious look on his face: "Brothers and sisters, don't listen to this man's nonsense. He is the one who plotted against me at the foot of the mountain. Kill him now!"

"Bite back!"

Fu Qingzhou stood up suddenly, his expression righteous: "Why don't you explain why your shoes are so worn out? I guess you only had time to change your clothes and not your shoes after escaping back to the mountains last night. You forgot that you walked hundreds of miles in the mountains these days, right?"

Meng Zhugang's face changed drastically, and the remaining four disciples of Wan Du Mountain were also confused.

This is the principle of gaining the upper hand.

Fu Qingzhou had previously guessed that Meng Zhugang would return to Wandu Mountain to seek help, and now it seems that his guess was correct.

Along the way, he must have told his fellow junior brothers and sisters how he was ambushed at the foot of the mountain and how he escaped back to the mountain gate. The details are naturally impossible to guess, but one thing is certain.

He couldn't possibly say that he had been to Lingxiang Town, hundreds of miles away.

Therefore, Fu Qingzhou pointed out that there was something wrong with his identity in the first sentence, and pointed out the suspicious points about him in the second sentence, which really made the four disciples of Wandu Mountain suspicious.

"Senior brother."

A female disciple frowned and asked, "What on earth is going on?"

"You actually believe him and not me?" Meng Zhugang gritted his teeth and said, "I've worn this pair of shoes for many years. It's normal for them to be rotten!"

"Then do you dare to tell me how I plotted against you?" Fu Qingzhou said calmly.

Meng Zhugang was so angry that he laughed: "Why not?"

"I went down the mountain to collect herbs and saw you, a young hunter, groaning on the edge of a cliff. You said you had lost your way and stumbled into this place and encountered a poisonous snake. You begged me for help. I didn't doubt him and wanted to check your wound, but you took the opportunity to stab me in the ribs with your knife..."

He pointed at the torn clothes and wounds under his ribs: "I knocked you down in pain and ran away, but you drew your bow and arrow to fight me. Fortunately, I am familiar with this place, so..."

"Is that so?"

Fu Qingzhou interrupted him, narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Then why didn't you, a martial arts master of the fourth level, think of killing me, an ordinary hunter, after being stabbed, but chose to run away?"

"With my limited ability, how could I hurt your arms or break your bones?" "I just called out your name, how did I know your name?"

"Besides...are these yours?"

He kicked the package on the ground and a bunch of bottles and jars fell out of the package. They were what he had searched from Meng Zhugang after he subdued him.

Seeing these things, Meng Zhugang's face turned pale instantly, and the disciples of Wan Du Mountain also frowned.

"Isn't this the standard medicine bottle and jar used in our sect?"

Someone looked at Meng Zhugang in confusion: "Brother, if you only fought him briefly, how could he get these things?"

"This……"

Meng Zhugang clenched his fists.

"Stop making it up." Fu Qingzhou spread his hands and said, "Everyone, I know it's hard to clear my suspicion right now, and I can't be your opponent, so I don't expect you to let me go now, and... I don't want to leave either."

Under the doubtful gazes of several people, he pointed at Meng Zhugang and said calmly: "But this person is also very suspicious. I think you already know it. I can go back to the mountain with you and confront him face to face to determine who is right and who is wrong."

Meng Zhugang looked at him with extremely vicious eyes, probably regretting not trying to kill him right away last night.

The four Miao people from Wandu Mountain looked at each other with suspicion on their faces: "Boy, who are you?"

"I'm really just an ordinary hunter."

Fu Qingzhou slowly stretched out his right hand and showed the curse mark on his palm: "I was cursed in the mountains, and wanted to ask Wandu Mountain for help to remove the curse, but I accidentally saw this person committing a crime. After dealing with him, I ended up in the current situation. This is a long story. If you are willing, I can tell you all the details one by one."

"you!"

Meng Zhugang's whole body was trembling: "You are slandering me!"

"Senior brother."

At this time, a Miao man beside him said calmly: "This kid is willing to let us take him back to the mountain for investigation. If he is really a bad guy, what do you have to worry about?"

The Miao men who were originally supporting Meng Zhugang on both sides now exerted a little strength with their hands and silently changed the momentum of "supporting" to "restraining", and he did not even have a chance to escape.

"Don't trust him!"

Meng Zhugang showed a bitter look on his face: "He, he must have been prepared in advance. You can't believe what he said, you can't believe it..."

Fu Qingzhou also stretched out his hands in a very bachelor manner and said with a smile: "If you want, you can tie me up and take me away. I won't resist."

In contrast to the two, one was evasive and vague, while the other was frank and generous. Looking at the expressions and attitudes of the four Miao disciples from Wandu Mountain, they were clearly beginning to lean towards Fu Qingzhou.

But at this moment, a deep old man's voice suddenly penetrated the white fog and rang in the ears of several people.

"It's so easy to trust outsiders. Is this what Elder Yu taught you?"

In the blink of an eye, the wind rose and the white fog rolled back, and an old Miao man with dark skin, severe hunchback, and long beard that almost dragged on the ground emerged from the fog. Although he was holding a cane, he walked so fast that even a strong wind blew around him. In an instant, he stood in front of Fu Qingzhou.

"you……"

Fu Qingzhou was stunned and was about to open his mouth to explain when he saw the old Miao man swing his knife and hit him hard in the abdomen!
The severe pain came like a torrential rain, and the words he wanted to say were swallowed back in an instant. He felt the blood flowing backwards all over his body, and his muscles and bones were numb, and he fell to the ground immediately.

The appearance of the old Miao man stunned Meng Zhugang and the other Miao people.

"Nian, Nian elder?"

Several people exclaimed in unison.

The old Miao man who was called the elder glanced at them coldly. After his gaze lingered on Meng Zhugang for a moment, he said in a deep voice: "This morning, the government office of Lingxiang Town sent a letter saying that the disciple who guarded the key of Youzhu Cave had died. The person who claimed to have found the body that day was a young hunter..."

As he spoke, he swung his cane, and the tip of the cane tore through Fu Qingzhou's clothes on his chest, hooking out a brass key.

"Did you see that? This man is the one who killed people and stole the key! Tie him up and take him away, and hand him over to the Council of Elders for the final decision!"

Fu Qingzhou curled up on the ground, holding his aching stomach, his whole body shaking.

He watched the four confused Miao disciples from Wandu Mountain come forward to tie ropes around him, and watched the elder stand beside Meng Zhugang and pat him gently on the shoulder. An answer emerged in his mind.

There is more than one traitor in Wandu Mountain.

(End of this chapter)