I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

Chapter 198 Xie Yuan Gives Gifts
The guard walked leisurely to the big tent next to him, greeted the gatekeeper and asked him to take over his post.

"I don't want to serve that guy anymore. Go ahead. I'll treat you to lamb legs later."

"Damn it, Jia Lao Er, you are such a troublemaker!"

The guard who was driven away by Jia Laoer cursed and went to stand at the door of the tent where Xie Yuan was imprisoned.

"Jia Lao Er", it's really Xie Yuan, he stood at the door of the tent for a while, listening carefully.

"…I've been here for more than half a month, and I don't know how long I'll stay here! This place is full of sand and sun every day, and you're not allowed to drink or bring women. I don't know what to do, it's so fucking boring!"

"If you have any objections, go and tell the commander-in-chief. Stay away from me. I'm afraid of blood on me."

"Don't talk nonsense! I'm just saying it casually."

"According to what the commander-in-chief said, our work will be finished in a few days at most, and we can go back to the city to eat meat, drink wine and play with women. Just be patient."

"Hey."

A bandit lowered his voice:

"What are we here for, you ask?"

"Shut up! The commander-in-chief said that you are strictly prohibited from asking questions. If you ask too much, he will personally pull out your tongue."

The second bandit heard the sound was from the leader and seemed more cautious, so he stopped him again.

Another person snorted:
"It's probably because of the stuff in that dirt pile... Why are you glaring at me? It's not like we haven't discussed this before. To be honest, we are bandits, not the military. If there were so many rules, why would I come here in the first place?"

"If you say this in front of the commander-in-chief, you will die."

"Isn't he not here? Humph, he was about my level back then. I heard, I heard that after entering this place..."

The tent was silent for a moment. Xie Yuan guessed that the people were communicating with each other through eye contact and could even imagine their expressions.

After a moment, the leader said coldly:

"Stop talking, I'm afraid your blood will splash on me."

"What are you afraid of? I'm just kidding. But what do you think is in there?"

"Who knows? We can't even get close to the ruins. I heard that the innermost part is guarded by his son himself. Anyone who gets close will die. Just do your job honestly, unless you want to be his son too."

"Hey, I would like to call him dad, but is he willing to take me in or not is still a question?"

"Who will take you in? You're two years older than him."

"I am younger than him, so it is not impossible for me to be his son. Look at this son. He has a master father, and he has already achieved three changes in Qi and blood at a young age. Who knows, he may become a little master Lu in the future."

"It's okay. If he doesn't accept you, I will. You can call me daddy now."

"Get out of my way, you bastard!"

Several bandits laughed and cursed for a while, and someone shouted outside:
"Is the lamb ready? Serve it to me!"

"okay."

Xie Yuan responded. A delicious lamb was roasting on a bonfire not far away. Drinking alcohol or having sex with women was not allowed in this place, but eating meat was fine.

It turned out that these people didn’t know very well what was inside… but he still gained a lot of information.

Is this related to Lu Laosan's rise to fame?

So what ruins are inside?
Lu Laosan didn't care before, but now he is guarding this place. Is it going to start again?
Xie Yuan's eyes flickered.

He had heard from Mu Chaoyun and Situ Qin that there were many ancient relics in this world, like immortal caves, which were very strange.

Some are in places that are rarely visited by people. They seem ordinary and are locked by barriers. They will not be opened unless there is a specific opportunity or a specific time.
Some entrances may be in the downtown area, but after entering in a unique way, it is another small world, just like the legendary paradise!
No matter which one it is, these places have their own unique features, with both unpredictable dangers and huge opportunities.

Because in such places, there are often elixirs, magical weapons, and even ancient heritage, all of which are extinct in the world. Even if ordinary people obtain them, they may become top warriors in one fell swoop!
Therefore, every time an ancient relic comes out of the world, it will cause a bloody battle. The entrance alone can turn into a sea of ​​blood, not to mention the mechanisms and miasma inside, which often kill people invisibly.

So the ruins that Lu Laosan found were right here. He strictly prohibited anyone from approaching because he was afraid that others would discover them.

But if it is so ostentatious, it will be discovered sooner or later... Is it because it will only be opened in a few days? Will he not be afraid after he enters?

Xie Yuan's mind was racing, planning his next move, when he saw the curtain of the tent suddenly opened and the leader came out, staring at him with wide eyes.

Xie Yuan remained calm and looked bewildered:
"Boss, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Why are you here? Didn't I ask you to watch over that hot potato? What are you doing here?"

The leader scolded.

Xie Yuan said casually:

"Oh, I switched with Li Gou'er. I was too lazy to serve that guy."

"you!"

The leader pointed at him, snorted coldly, rushed to the door of the small tent where Xie Yuan was imprisoned, and pulled open the curtain.

A man huddled in a corner of the tent, facing the wall, seemingly sleeping soundly.

He took a quick look and let go of the curtains. He didn't feel anything was wrong and asked Li Gou'er at the door:
"Is there anything unusual?"

"No leader. This guy must have been frightened. He is sleeping very quietly now."

"Okay, keep an eye on him. Don't provoke him without my order. Wait for the order from the higher-ups."

"okay."

The chief glared at Xie Yuan, then went to the nearby campfire, took the roasted lamb, and went into the tent.

Seeing that the leader hadn't noticed anything, Xie Yuan loosened his hands in his sleeves a little and thought to himself:
"Then let you live for another hour and a quarter."

He looked at the ruins of the ancient city in the distance. It was already dark, and the ruins lay across the center of the basin like the skeleton of a giant beast.

Xie Yuan's eyes flashed, he made up his mind, and walked over there.

Now that you are here, go and take a look!

"Jia Lao Er, where are you going?"

Li Gou'er saw his actions and asked casually.

"Going to the bathroom... oh, shit. What, do you want to go together?"

Xie Yuan imitated Jia Lao Er and smiled lazily.

Li Gou'er covered his nose with a look of disgust:
"Climb quickly! Climb farther away, or you'll suffocate me!"

"Hey, I'll pull up to the door of your tent now."

"roll!"

Xie Yuan walked away with a smile.

Li Gou'er watched him walk towards the ruins in the distance, blend into the night, and gradually disappear. He felt an inexplicable sense of panic.

It felt as if Jia Laoer was slowly being swallowed up by the ruins of the city and disappeared.

He paused and muttered:
"This place is really weird. I hope we can leave as soon as possible... Jia Lao Er is really something. How dare you go in that direction? Weren't you forbidden to go there..."

Xie Yuan's figure had already blended into the twilight. Unless one was a Grandmaster, the naked eye would definitely not be able to detect him. Even a Grandmaster might not be able to find any clues with just a glance.

He used the Cloud Dragon Step and ran silently in the night. In just a short while, he reached the outskirts of the ruins.

Looking at the elite horse bandits patrolling and on duty, the leaders all had long breaths and vigorous blood. Xie Yuan narrowed his eyes:
"Lu Lao San has thousands of horse bandits under his command, but there aren't many who have practiced Qi and Blood Level 2. There are probably no more than a few dozen. I'm afraid they are all here?"

He slightly avoided the dense patrols and walked deeper into the ruins.

The bandits who were practicing Qi and Blood were completely unaware. Xie Yuan walked slowly on the sand between the ruins, scanning the broken walls beside him one by one. Apart from the heavy feeling of time, he didn't find anything else.

"Perhaps this place was once a big city in the Western Regions many years ago, but it looks like it has been buried under the sand. If it weren't for the fact that this place has sunken down, it would never see the light of day again."

Xie Yuan went deeper and deeper, avoiding all the guards without attracting anyone's attention.

With his agility, he soon reached the temple in the center of the ruins.

Looking at the relatively intact building, the dome that towered over the entire city was still magnificent. Xie Yuan admired it quietly for a while, and then looked at the small tent at the door.

"The third transformation of Qi and blood..."

Xie Yuan said secretly.

He could feel that there was a figure sitting quietly inside, and the aura from his body was radiating outwards uncontrollably. He could feel it even from a distance.

Xie Yuan had met many masters, seen the top masters on the Flying Dragon List compete with each other, and had fought with masters himself, so his vision was naturally quite high.

But he also understood that in the real world of martial arts, masters are like dragons with no head or tail. Those at the Qi and Blood Transformation Realm are the mainstream, the backbone, and the masters that the general public can truly reach.

At this level, the third level of Qi and Blood, which has reached the limit of human life and is one step away from the Grandmaster, is undoubtedly the ceiling. Even if you look at the world, the third level of Qi and Blood can be said to be a great master, and no matter where you are, you will be treated with courtesy and have a respected status.

Xie Yuan would not think that he had reached that level just because he had come into contact with many masters.

He thought that he was pretty good at the first level of Qi and Blood Transformation, but he was no match for the enemies at the second level or the third level in front of him. After all, it had only been two months since he broke through, and cultivation was not something that could be achieved overnight.

Especially the man in front of him, who was full of vigor and vitality. Even though they were at such a distance, Xie Yuan could still feel the huge gap between them.

"Lu Laosan's son? It seems that he has been carefully nurtured by him."

Xie Yuan knew that a big bandit like Lu Lao San must have sons everywhere. But it was obvious that the one in front of him was his real son and true heir.

However, even such a master was unaware of Xie Yuan who was standing quietly watching him not far away.

Xie Yuan glanced around for a while, then turned his eyes to the temple which no longer had a gate, and looked into the dark hall.

With his eyesight, even if the sky was dim, as long as there was a little light from the stars and the moon, he should be able to see some outlines.

However, the strange thing was that when Xie Yuan looked here, he could not see anything but darkness. After looking for a long time, he even felt like he was staring at a whirlpool and felt a little dizzy.

He shook his head, looked away, and said sternly:

“It’s really a bit strange!”

Maybe this is the real entrance to the ruins, but it has not been opened yet, so there is no clue.

Xie Yuan hesitated for a moment. Now that he saw Lu Lao San's true goal, then...

He carefully assessed the situation and had no intention of taking the risk.

Although he knew that there might be benefits hidden inside that could help him advance to the Grandmaster level, he didn't know what would happen if he went in blindly.

Xie Yuan is not standing still. With his talent, it is enough for him to practice step by step. He will soon become a master, so there is no need to take the risk.

But if I don’t want it, then Lu Lao San doesn’t want it either!

Xie Yuan's eyes flashed and he reached into his chest.

When he escaped earlier, he had already taken back all his sword, luggage and other belongings.

He stretched out his hand, and inside lay a large black ball, which was the top-grade thunderbolt produced by Jiangnan Leizhentang that Pei Yu had given him.

I don’t know if this thing will be useful here, but it doesn’t matter, just throw it in and see what happens.

Xie Yuan slowly approached the temple gate and frowned again.

Lu Xiaosan's tent was right at the entrance of the temple. Even if he could sneak close to it, once the object left his hand, it would no longer be covered by his Heavenly Hidden Technique. The sound of the wind would definitely alert a master of Qi and Blood Transformation III. With the reaction of a warrior at this level, most of them could just reach out and intercept it. Xie Yuan would not have the mentality of taking chances and underestimate them.

If he dribbled the ball into the goal... nevermind, his intuition told him that he shouldn't enter that temple.

He thought about it and found that he had no good ideas at the moment. Lu Xiaosan was blocking the door, looking a little stupid, but in fact it was the best way, blocking all the ideas.

We can only lure the tiger away from the mountain... This is a real tiger.

Xie Yuan walked to a broken pillar on the left side of the temple, looked at it, put his hand on it, and then poked it twice silently with his sword.

He quickly returned to the right side of the temple gate, not far from the tent. An old man holding a thunderbolt in one hand, like a walnut, with a slightly raised mouth, silently counted:

"Three, two, one——"

With a click, the broken column that had withstood the wind and sand for who knows how many years broke in the middle and slowly fell down at an angle. With a bang, it exploded into a cloud of dust.

The tent moved slightly, like a breeze, and a faint shadow rushed towards the stone pillar in the dust.

Xie Yuan's eyes flashed, now is the time!

He threw the thunderbolt into the temple, and almost as soon as he made the move, he felt a force of energy locking onto him.

Xie Yuan retreated rapidly, escaping quickly in the direction away from the temple.

The faint shadow suddenly turned back and chased after Xie Yuan, quickly closing the distance between them!
Xie Yuan's expression changed slightly. The speed of the three changes of Qi and blood was faster than he expected!

Considering what Lu Laosan was good at, he was not surprised. He just accelerated again, using his internal energy as if it were free, and pushed the Yunlong Step to its extreme.

A soft "hmm" sound was heard in the wind. The shadow seemed a little surprised and followed Xie Yuan closely.

But the next moment, a loud thunder-like sound came from behind the two of them, accompanied by the sound of breaking stones, which was extremely harsh.

The shadow suddenly stopped, revealing a young man with a rough face like sand, probably in his early thirties.

His face changed drastically and he turned around suddenly, seeing the stones at the entrance of the temple falling down, a big hole in the wall, the wall was already tilted, and the only intact dome was gradually collapsing and was about to fall down completely.

Although the temple was intact, it had already decayed after thousands of years of wind and sand. It would be completely destroyed by just a fire bomb.

The man was shocked and angry. He wanted to go back and make amends, but also wanted to catch Xie Yuan, the culprit. He hesitated for a moment, turned around and shouted:

"Who! Who are you? Do you dare to tell me your name?"

Xie Yuan had already run far away, and seeing Lu Xiaosan behind him getting furious, he turned around, revealing his true face for the first time in a long time, and laughed:
"Xie Yuan from Longteng Escort Agency, I'm here to visit you!
"It's just a small gift, not a sign of respect. It's a pity that I didn't get to meet Master Lu. Remember to give him my regards! Hahaha!"

The man's face changed again, and he tried to catch up with them. However, he heard the sound of collapse from behind. He gritted his teeth, turned around and ran back, shouting loudly throughout the depression:

"Xie Yuan! Just wait for me!"

The top of the dune in the distance.

Four young men were lurking here, listening slightly with strange expressions.

Lin Zhen hesitated and said:
"Why do I hear someone calling out to me, Captain Xie?"

Her eyes suddenly lit up, and Lin Cheng nodded. Just as she was about to agree, Huang Zifeng said coldly:
"I must have heard it wrong. Why is that thief here?"

In fact, he also heard it, but looking at Lin Zhen's expression, he couldn't help but refute it.

Lin Zhen looked serious and said carefully:
"Thank you, Escort Captain, you are not a thief."

"good."

Lin Cheng nodded heavily.

"The government wants him, so what else could he be but a thief?"

Huang Zifeng said indignantly, but seeing the expressions of the Lin brothers and sisters, he said nothing more, but whispered:
"No matter what, let's save Junior Brother Zhang first."

The other three also nodded.

It turned out that after much discussion, they finally decided to come together as they couldn't bear to leave their fellow disciples behind.

The four men looked at a circle of tents on the sand dune and approached one of them secretly. Huang Zifeng sneaked in while the other three spread the word, hoping to capture a person alive and torture him for Xie Yuan's whereabouts.

But how could these outer guards know? They asked several tents in a row, but to no avail.

The four men frowned and were about to go to the next tent when they suddenly heard a whistle.

Everyone in the tent came out and walked to the next tent in turn to start the shift change.

Several people were stunned, and then they saw a sentry running towards the door of the tent they had dealt with before, and then whistled, and a loud roar resounded through the night sky:

"Enemy attack!!!"

With a bang, butter torches were raised in every tent to illuminate the night sky, and the row of dark areas on this side was particularly conspicuous. The sentries nearby approached quickly and shone their torches, clearly illuminating the four pale-faced people.

Under the sand dunes, at the first level of the guard circle.

The leader ran out of the tent and looked at the torches flickering on the nearby hills. The sound of ping-pong was heard and his eyes narrowed:
"It seems... another disciple of the Sword Sect!"

"Brothers! Follow me! Now that they are here, we can't let them get away!"

Several horse bandits who had reached a state of transformation in their Qi and Blood immediately gathered together and prepared to rush onto the sand dunes. They were the closest.

If these people were allowed to join the battle, Huang Zifeng's two fists would be no match for four hands. If he were surrounded by thousands of horse bandits, he would be helpless.

The leader was about to charge forward when he suddenly remembered something. He went to the nearby tent and found that "Xie Yuan" was still sleeping there. He was slightly relieved when he was suddenly startled:
"No, why does he stay in the same posture for so long?"

He pulled open the curtain again and took a closer look, only to find that the rope on the man was broken!

The leader rushed into the tent, tried to pull the man aside, and found that he was already cold and stiff.

When he turned around, he saw Jia Laoer with a pale face!

The leader suddenly raised his head, his eyes fixed, and ran to the door to ask Li Gou'er:

"Where's the guy! Jia Lao Er, no, where's that guy?"

Li Gou'er lowered his head and said nothing. The leader became very anxious and was about to slap him, but was grabbed by Li Gou'er.

"Li Gou'er" raised his head and smiled. The leader only felt a flash before his eyes, the face of the person in front of him changed, and then he heard a chuckle that made his hair stand on end:
"I'm here, Boss, you looking for me?"

(End of this chapter)