Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 231 A freeloader
Seeing Long Qinghuang's almost succubus-like effect, Lu Xingzhou suddenly thought of a rumor that "dragons are inherently lewd."

Regardless of whether dragons are inherently promiscuous, from a medicinal perspective, many alchemical texts record that the blood of various dragon species has aphrodisiac effects. Therefore, their naturally emitted fragrance may naturally possess an aphrodisiac or seductive quality.

Therefore, Qinghuang.

The previous glittery clothes were perhaps too protective, which actually blocked out much of the effect. This time, with ordinary clothes, the effect is fully revealed.

Lu Xingzhou was the first to react, blocking Long Qinghuang's path before she could make a move, and coldly asked the newcomer, "Hanlan Sect?"

Long Qinghuang, who was about to make a move, paused for a moment, then crossed her arms with great interest to watch Lu Xingzhou's performance.

The middle-aged man in the brocade robe, who was leading the group, came to his senses and shouted, "That vixen killed my son without cause, and she's still flirting here! Seize her and take her back to be dealt with!"

Before he could finish speaking, a shoe sole loomed large in front of him. The middle-aged man in the brocade robe, who had just snapped out of his daze, was momentarily stunned and unable to dodge, getting kicked solidly.

With a "bang," he was kicked and sent flying out of the store, lying on the street vomiting blood, and losing his fighting ability.

A group of people immediately surrounded him: "You're just a fourth-rank official, why are you willing to make an enemy of the Hanlan Sect for this vixen?"

Lu Xingzhou sighed inwardly, "I'm saving you guys."

Beat her to the ground, and maybe that will stop this scoundrel from killing. If she really takes action herself, all of you will be reduced to ashes, and innocent bystanders might also be implicated.

Of course, all one can say is, "If I don't protect my partner, am I supposed to protect an outsider?"

Ah Nuo stole a glance at Long Qinghuang, who stood with her arms crossed and expressionless.

Outsiders couldn't discern Long Qinghuang's true strength, so they couldn't allow Lu Xingzhou, a mere fourth-rank cultivator, to show off. They immediately surrounded and attacked him.

Long Qinghuang tilted her head slightly, watching Lu Xingzhou weave through the crowd.

Despite the fact that the attackers were all mid-level third-rank individuals, including several fourth-rank individuals like Lu Xingzhou, this guy was able to fight against so many with ease, moving through the crowd as if strolling in a garden. His punches were always accurate, and his kicks never missed, making it a very pleasing sight to watch.

Long Qinghuang could tell that this was a very typical Taoist Tai Chi Bagua footwork, which should have originated from a very orthodox Taoist school. The Tianyao Holy Land had similar footwork, but it was different from this person's, so it should not be of the same origin.

Yuan Muyu taught Lu Xingzhou countless combat techniques, but not footwork... At that time, Lu Xingzhou was limping. This set of footwork was an inherent part of the Yin Yang Extreme Intent Technique, and its use was not limited to land combat; it would be even more versatile in aerial combat.

As for fist and foot techniques, they are all based on the Yin-Yang Ultimate Intent Technique. The kind of ambushes and surprise attacks that Yuan Muyu taught him are now used less and less by Lu Xingzhou.

It's becoming increasingly difficult for outsiders to discern his roots in the Yama Palace from his combat performance, and even more difficult for him to sense, as he did when he first encountered Little White Hair, that he shared a common origin with the Tianyao Holy Land.

Furthermore, his internal energy circulation method is very interesting... He absorbs the opponent's attacks and feeds them back entirely, which is practically invincible in group battles between equals and lower-level opponents.

“Undoubtedly a top-grade cultivation technique… Interesting.” Long Qinghuang found it amusing: “I never expected that someone I just bumped into would be so extraordinary.”

"Bang bang bang!" In just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, everyone was kicked out of the shop.

Lu Xingzhou stepped out of the shop. The street was littered with people lying haphazardly, and they all looked at Lu Xingzhou with fear: "Your Excellency...who are you? Do you dare to leave your name?"

"What, leaving your name so you can take revenge?" Lu Xingzhou said coldly, stepping on one person's chest. "Do you want to live or die?"

The person who was stepped on hurriedly said, "Of course I want to live, senior, please spare my life."

They actually mistook Lu Xingzhou for a young-looking senior...

Lu Xingzhou said, "I have some questions I want to ask. Whoever knows the most complete inside story will live."

"Please give your orders, senior. I will answer to the best of my knowledge!"

"Did the news about the dragon bone fragments of Frozen Moon River originate from Cold Mist City?"

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Long Qinghuang's lips.

This person actually remembered that everyone went to Hanlan City not just to change clothes, but to find out something.

The person being stepped on paused for a moment, but another person next to him quickly interjected, "I know this better than anyone else; I've been following this whole thing closely!"

Lu Xingzhou grabbed the man and shouted to Long Qinghuang and A Nuo, "Let's go."

They vanished in a flash.

Looking at the groaning members of the Hanlan Sect on the ground, Long Qinghuang finally burst out laughing: "A smooth and effortless performance, trying to make me just follow along and forget about killing. Little sister, your brother is quite interesting. I heard that Chunshan Pavilion is a well-known righteous sect, and it's true."

Master probably never imagined half a year ago that he would one day be regarded as a righteous person... Ah Nuo put his hands together, hoping that Chunshan Pavilion would be alright in the future.

However, this was the first time someone had treated their master like an older brother, which felt quite novel, and A'nuo didn't object. After all, having a little apprentice had become Lu Xingzhou's trademark; saying he was an apprentice would easily expose Lu Xingzhou's true identity...

Long Qinghuang smiled and picked up Anuo: "Forget it, since he's putting on such a good show, let's give him some face and spare these people's lives for now. Let's go."

The voice lingered, but the person was gone. No one on the entire street saw how the woman disappeared. Only the lingering fragrance proved her existence, as if it were a dream.

The small hills more than ten miles outside the city were covered with frost.

Lu Xingzhou put the person down and sighed: "When my companion asks you something, just answer her. Don't try to evade the question. If you upset her, not even a god can save you."

The man smiled obsequiously, "I know, I know, I will definitely make sure your wife is satisfied."

Lu Xingzhou: "?" Before he could say anything, Long Qinghuang appeared with A Nuo.

Lu Xingzhou was covered in sweat, and he didn't know if Long Qinghuang had heard what he said.

I told you before that a lone man and woman with a child would damage their reputation, don't blame me for this...

Long Qinghuang had actually heard it, but didn't care. Looking around, there was nowhere to sit, so Long Qinghuang casually waved her hand, slicing off the top of a nearby rock as easily as cutting tofu, and sat down leisurely on it: "Speak, what do you know?"

The man stared at the cut in the rock as if he'd seen a ghost. Cutting rock was easy; many people could do it. But to do it as effortlessly as smearing tofu—he'd never seen anything like it in his life.

I initially thought Lu Xingzhou was powerful and that the man was the head of the household, but now it seems he's just a kept man.

"The dragon bone fragment was found by a foreign cultivator who was exploring the Frozen Moon River. He took it to a medicine shop in the city for identification, where alchemists identified it as dragon bone. Dragon bone is a rare thing; even ordinary dragon bone is worth auctioning off, so the man took it to the auction house. As a result, some knowledgeable people bid more and more outrageously during the auction, attracting attention. Only then did they realize that the dragon bone was actually still active. With this exposure to the public, the news spread like wildfire, and there was no way to hide it."

"And then? Who took the dragon bones?"

"To be honest, the auction house originally belonged to our Hanlan Sect. The winner was an outsider whom no one had ever seen before. When we learned that this dragon bone was special, we originally wanted to keep it for ourselves and not give it to that outsider. But who knew that the outsider was so strong that he just snatched it and left, injuring several people in the process."

Lu Xingzhou: "...Have you found out who that foreign guest is?"

"No... In the end, we only found the original owner and asked him to lead us to the place where we found the dragon bone. But when we got there, we couldn't find anything. The sect leader suspected that the owner was lying, so he decided to perform a soul search... It turned out that the owner really wasn't lying; he just got lucky and didn't even know where it came from. This soul search actually made him stupid, and we couldn't find any other clues. The sect leader led people to search for several days, but to no avail, and in the end, they could only return dejectedly."

Lu Xingzhou turned to look at Long Qinghuang.

If the process is that simple, then there's really nothing to ask; we can only go and see for ourselves.

Long Qinghuang frowned and pondered for a long time before saying, "He wasn't lying; the process should have been just like that."

The process was ordinary and didn't matter. There was no lying, and at least it proves that the active keel bones do exist and it's not a smokescreen.

Long Qinghuang thought for a moment, then asked again, "So what makes you so sure that it's an ancient dragon bone, and not something that's been frozen over the last few thousand years?"

The man stared in disbelief: "Huh? Aren't there no dragons anymore? So it can only be from ancient times."

Long Qinghuang: "..."

Lu Xingzhou found it amusing. Most people wouldn't know what the Demon Emperor's true form was; the difference in their levels was simply too great. He himself had only recently heard Mr. Ye mention it. When he saw the dragon and tiger bones in the Danxia Secret Realm, he had assumed they didn't exist anymore. The Tian Shuang Kingdom had even less interaction with the demon race than the Great Qian Kingdom, and their knowledge of them was far less complete than his own.

But now that we know the Demon Emperor is a dragon, there are probably other dragons still existing, and there might even be dragons that the Demon Emperor himself is unaware of. It would not be surprising if dragons died here within the last few thousand years.

Therefore, although the dragon bones exist, whether they are "ancient" is questionable, and this is merely the opinion of the ignorant.

It just so happens that Long Qinghuang grabbed him precisely to determine the age of the item. In other words, returning to Hanlan City to change clothes and ask for information was a series of actions that seemed impressive but were actually useless; they would simply continue doing what they originally planned.

This would actually buy us time, allowing us to wait for Mr. Ye to come and save us.

Long Qinghuang pondered for a while, then asked, "Since the matter of the dragon bone has spread far and wide, why hasn't the number of people coming here increased significantly recently?"

The man shook his head: "Actually, there are some, but everyone knows their own limitations. Those who are interested in this are all top-tier experts. Those without much ability shouldn't bother sending it. So most of those who come are first-grade experts or even super-grade experts. How many can there be? Frozen Moon Cold River is so big. A small number of experts entering is like a drop in the ocean. You can't see any increase."

After saying that, he looked at "a family of three," implying that you should give up on having a family like that, especially since the man is only a fourth-rank official and lives off a woman.

Lu Xingzhou remained expressionless, while Long Qinghuang chuckled silently.

Lu Xingzhou tried to save face: "You've never seen it, how would you know it exists?"

The man said, "Just half a day before you came to ask, a masked man came by. His ghostly aura was extremely terrifying. I thought I was going to die... But he thought my answer was very complete and rewarded me with a spirit stone."

Lu Xingzhou's heart moved slightly.

It exudes a deep, powerful, yet unrestrained aura of ghostly energy.

Could it be Ji Wenchuan?
Long Qinghuang clearly didn't care about the ghostly masked man. She casually tossed out a jade slip: "This is a map of Frozen Moon Cold River. Mark the place where the owner picked up the dragon bone for me, and then you can get lost."

The man hurriedly marked a circle, bowed and scraped as he backed away, saying, "I wish you all the best."

Watching the man run away like the wind, Lu Xingzhou waited for a long time before slowly saying, "I thought you would silence me."

Long Qinghuang said indifferently, "It's meaningless. Even if this person tells others that a couple with a child came to ask him, who could know from such a huge difference in information that it was me? On the other hand, the information about the masked man with the ghost aura is very clear. He sounds like one of the five ghost emperors of the Yama's Palace. It's a woman's kindness not to kill him."

It wasn't that Lu Xingzhou was being overly sentimental; it was just that Lu Xingzhou was easygoing and didn't dwell on things too much. Lu Xingzhou had cleaned up his messes countless times.

These words, however, changed Lu Xingzhou's opinion of Long Qinghuang considerably.

I thought all demons were cruel, let alone the Demon Queen... but after getting to know her, I found that as long as you don't provoke her, she really won't kill people indiscriminately, and she even cares about whether it's meaningful or not.

But if you offend her, even for the slightest offense, you'll likely pay with your life. The Dragon Emperor's majesty cannot be challenged.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard Long Qinghuang say, "Now it's time to talk about our problems."

Lu Xingzhou subconsciously took a half step back: "What's the problem?"

Long Qinghuang said leisurely, "Originally, there wouldn't be any issue with your so-called reputation... but what do you mean by fighting for your woman like that?"

(End of this chapter)