Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 111 Lu Liangzhou

Last row?

Jiang Mingzhe's eyes lit up. Mu Wanqing ran over and untied her black horse, pulling the horse with one hand and Jiang Mingzhe with the other, and squatted down in a dense bush.

The black horse was extremely intelligent. When Mu Wanqing patted its big head, it knelt down close to her and kept rubbing its head against hers. When it saw Jiang Mingzhe staring at it, it tilted its head and thought for a moment, then stretched its neck, pouted and gently touched Jiang Mingzhe's face.

Mu Wanqing said happily, "It's called 'Black Rose,' so it seems it likes you very much too."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed, "I like it too. Black Rose has delicate features and is much prettier than Zhong Ling's father."

Mu Wanqing laughed so hard she trembled, then playfully hit Jiang Mingzhe, saying coquettishly, "How can you compare Uncle Zhong to livestock?"

Jiang Mingzhe glanced at her sideways and said, "If you don't also think it looks like it, why are you laughing so hard?"

Mu Wanqing couldn't help but laugh even more, covering her mouth with both hands, her face turning red from holding it in. She nudged Jiang Mingzhe with her body, saying, "Don't make me laugh, the enemy, the enemy is coming..."

Jiang Mingzhe turned his head and saw a man holding two swords, cautiously approaching yesterday's battlefield. It was Liu Biao, the deputy chief镖头 (bodyguard/escort) of the Suzhou Tiger Might Escort Agency, known as the "Renyi Sword".

Tiger Might Escort Agency dispatched eight escorts this time, led by Liu Biao. Now, with most of the escorts dead or wounded, even the dignified deputy chief escort had to condescend to scout ahead.

Liu Biao glanced around hastily and shouted, "It's alright, it's alright, everyone come over here."

Before long, Granny Rui and Granny Ping, two old women, came over with gloomy faces, followed by two subordinates. Jiang Mingzhe recognized them both. One was named "Quick Sword Hua" Zhou Hua, a swordsman from Guangdong and Guangxi, and the other was a tall old man, an elder of the Suzhou Tiger Hill Sword Sect, named "Sword-wielding Scholar" Meng Yuanchen.

After looking around, Granny Ping exclaimed with delight, "The body of Young Master Jiang is not here! Excellent, excellent! If the old master's beloved disciple had died before our eyes, that would have been a terrible thing."

Granny Rui said, "Perhaps he was turned into pus and blood by that toad, or perhaps it swallowed him. Let's go back and not mention this person to avoid trouble."

Granny Ping said, "That makes sense! Did you three hear that?"

Meng Yuanchen laughed and said, "What Brother Jiang and Brother Garlic? I have no idea what you two sisters are talking about."

Zhou Hua then said, "I know, the girl was also eaten by the monster!"

Granny Ping scoffed, "You southern barbarians, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

Granny Rui whispered, "Go back and tell Madam that Kuai Jianhua saw that little slut being swallowed by a wild beast."

Grandma Ping understood her meaning and nodded repeatedly: "I say you're very insightful, sister!"

Mu Wanqing's equipment and horse were gone, and the two old women naturally guessed that she had escaped in the chaos. However, after chasing for so long, the original team of more than thirty people had been reduced to only five. The two old women had long lost their courage and did not want to stay here for even a second longer, so they were unwilling to look for anyone else.

They were too lazy to clean up the bodies. They found the personal belongings, took the money and medicine from the corpses, and then abandoned them. As for the extra horses, they used them for transportation.

Jiang Mingzhe said, "They've left, let's follow them."

Mu Wanqing shook her head and asked curiously, "Haven't you ever traveled the martial world? If you follow too closely, people will turn around and see you. We can just follow far behind. It's best to be about a day's journey apart, but two or three days won't hurt."

Jiang Mingzhe found it amazing, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was actually quite true.

Unlike later times, this era did not have extensive transportation networks. For example, there were only two ways to travel from Dali to Suzhou: either by land or by a combination of land and water. The specific routes were also extremely limited, and there were several points that one would inevitably pass through no matter what.

Besides, not many people travel long distances these days, so it's not hard to find out if the target has passed through by asking around, making it difficult to lose them. Having figured this out, Jiang Mingzhe suddenly came up with another plan: "Since that's the case, why should we follow them? Let's just go straight to Suzhou."

Mu Wanqing shook her head and said, "You don't know, that Mantuo Manor is very well hidden. My master and I wanted to kill the bad woman in that manor, but we kept going back and forth through small rivers and harbors. We searched for a long time but couldn't find the place. Later, my master said that we should split up and search separately. If we couldn't meet up, we should go to Dali separately because the other bad woman we wanted to kill lived in Dali. However, I was discovered by the bad woman's men from Mantuo Manor and they chased me all the way to Dali."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingzhe realized that the other bad woman was Duan Zhengchun's first wife, Dao Baifeng.

I couldn't help but ask, "So, your master should be waiting for you in Dali. If you come with me to Suzhou, won't that delay your master's plans?"

Mu Wanqing said matter-of-factly, "There's nothing I can do about it. A woman follows her husband wherever he goes. If you're going to be a book thief, shouldn't I, your little thief wife, keep watch for you? Besides, after I've stolen the book, I'll kill that wicked woman on the side. My master will definitely be happy to know."

Jiang Mingzhe couldn't help but smile, thinking that if this girl were in later generations, people would fight tooth and nail to marry her, and pursuing her would be easy. He just ripped off her veil, and if she didn't die, he would have his wife.

Then he thought that Azi would bring Duan Zhengchun to Suzhou, so he decided to let the father and daughter recognize each other then. As for Qin Hongmian, that sickly old man, Duan Wangye could deal with her with ease, and he didn't need to worry about her at all.

He then said, "That makes things simple. We'll head to Suzhou first, disguise ourselves, and try to find the location of Mantuo Manor. If we can't find it, we'll wait on the main road for Granny Rui and the others to lead the way."

The two agreed and, too lazy to follow Granny Rui and the others along the mountain path, they rode back to the main road and headed east. Black Rose was extremely fast, and even with two people on her back, she still galloped like the wind. In three or four days, she covered nearly a thousand miles and arrived in Lu Liang Prefecture.

During the Five Dynasties period, the Tiannan regime was controlled by the Dayining Kingdom. Duan Siping, the military governor of Tonghai, united with the thirty-seven tribes of the Wuman in eastern Yunnan, overthrew the rule of the Dayining Kingdom, and established the Dali Kingdom.

After Duan Siping ascended the throne, he established eight prefectures, four counties, and four towns, and also enfeoffed thirty-seven tribes of Wuman in various places to commend their achievements. Among them, Luliang Prefecture was the fiefdom of the Luowen tribe.

The chieftain of this generation of Luowen tribe was quite wise and managed his territory to become prosperous and thriving. Most of the people seen on the way were neatly dressed, and many people were leading cattle and horses into the city to sell.

Jiang Mingzhe then had an idea and said to Mu Wanqing, "Although Black Rose is a fine horse, it's too tiring for it to carry both of us every day. We still have a long way to go, so we shouldn't wear it out. Why don't we go to the horse market and pick out a good horse for me to ride?"

Mu Wanqing was a little unhappy and said coquettishly, "Are you afraid of tiring the horse, or do you not want to carry me while riding?"

Jiang Mingzhe smiled wryly, "I'm just kidding, I'm really worried about tiring it out. Look at it, it was already thin enough, but it seems to have gotten even thinner these past few days."

This black horse has extremely long legs and a tall, proud body, but it is not exactly fat; its muscles are clearly visible when it runs.

Mu Wanqing stroked the horse and nodded, saying, "Alright, let's buy a white horse then. Your clothes are dirty, so I'll also buy you a white outfit. From now on, when we travel the world, we'll be known as the Black and White Duo."

Jiang Mingzhe said with a headache, "We're traveling a long way, what kind of people can't wear white clothes?"

Mu Wanqing, however, got excited and said in a spoiled manner, "I don't care. You're so handsome, you're perfect to be a young swordsman in flowing white robes. You don't have to worry about getting them dirty. Buy a couple more sets, and I'll wash them for you every morning when you get up early."

Jiang Mingzhe said, "Alright, alright, I'll listen to you. But do you have enough money to buy so many clothes? Buying Marco will cost a lot too."

Mu Wanqing was overjoyed when he agreed: "Don't worry about spending money, I have plenty of money."

After saying that, she took off a gold bracelet and waved it in front of him, saying, "Look, I stayed at Zhong Ling's house a few days ago, and I gave her some face powder. She gave me this in return!"

Jiang Mingzhe suddenly remembered that the five taels of gold he had given to the blacksmith boy were money that Azi had extorted from Zhong Ling, which was meant for him to carry around for spending. Later, when he stayed at an inn and ate and drank with Azi and Zhong Ling in the small town at the foot of Wuliang Mountain, Zhong Ling also paid for everything. Now, when Mu Wanqing wanted to use the bracelet to buy him a horse and clothes, it was also given to him by Zhong Ling. If you think about it this way...

Wan Jie Valley is quite wealthy!

(End of this chapter)