Yang Guo: I'm invincible in the opening battle against Aunt Guo!

The mountain road became increasingly rugged, and the forest grew deeper.

Lu Wushuang was not a skilled rider to begin with, and with her left leg injured, the horse jolted, and she cried out softly, her body swaying, almost falling off.

Hong Lingbo quickly helped him up.

Li Mochou frowned and said coldly, "Useless thing! All you do is drag me down!" Her tone was quite impatient.

Lu Wushuang bit her lower lip, her face pale, and dared not utter a sound, only gripping the reins tightly.

Yang Guo observed everything, then suddenly reined in his horse and pointed to a relatively flat clearing in the woods ahead, saying:

"Master, the sun is rising high, and the horses are tired. Why don't we rest here for a while? I see the sound of a stream over there; it would be perfect for the horses to water."

Li Mochou glanced at Lu Wushuang, who was panting heavily, and then at Yang Guo, whose expression remained unchanged, and nodded.

Everyone dismounted.

Hong Lingbo was busy leading the horse to the stream, while Li Mochou found a clean rock to sit on and meditate.

Lu Wushuang silently walked to a tree, rubbing her sore left ankle, where an old injury had clearly not healed and was even more swollen and painful from running around.

Yang Guo took the water bag hanging on the horse's back and went to the stream to fill it up.

On his return, as he passed Lu Wushuang, he paused slightly, took out an inconspicuous small celadon bottle from his robes, gently placed it on the tree root beside her, and whispered:

"Miss Lu, this is 'Jade Dew Powder,' a secret recipe from Peach Blossom Island. It has remarkable effects in relaxing muscles and promoting blood circulation. You might be able to apply it to your old ankle injury."

Lu Wushuang looked up in surprise and met Yang Guo's clear and calm eyes.

His eyes were clear and devoid of pity, as if he were simply doing a routine good deed.

A warmth filled her heart, and her nose tingled with emotion. She whispered, "...Thank you, Young Hero Yang," and quickly hid the small bottle in her sleeve.

All of this did not escape Li Mochou's notice out of the corner of her eye.

She closed her eyes to regulate her breathing, but a thought suddenly occurred to her: This Yang Guo seems to be taking special care of Wushuang? Is it out of kindness, or is he up to something?

Or do you still want to seduce Musou?

After resting for about a quarter of an hour, just as everyone was about to get up, they suddenly heard a rapid "rustling" sound coming from the woods to the side, accompanied by several rough shouts!

"Halt! Leave your money and horses!"

Five or six men with fierce-looking faces and steel knives rushed out and blocked the way. They were clearly bandits who had taken up residence in the area.

The leader, a one-eyed giant, greedily swept his gaze over Li Mochou and her two female disciples.

Especially Li Mochou's huge bulge.

The way the Taoist robe was pushed up high attracted the big man's attention even more.

After swallowing hard a few times, he shifted his gaze with difficulty, finally fixing it on the magnificent black horse and the group's luggage.

Hong Lingbo immediately drew her sword and stood in front of Li Mochou to protect her, while Lu Wushuang also stood up nervously.

Li Mochou sat motionless, not even opening her eyes, and coldly uttered two words: "Noisy."

The one-eyed giant grinned maliciously, "Leave these women and the good horse if you want!"

As he spoke, he swung his sword at Yang Guo, who was standing to the side!

The blade whistled through the air, possessing a certain brute force; it seemed to be the bandit leader.

The blade was about to reach Yang Guo.

Yang Guo raised his hand and lightly flicked the side of the blade.

"Ding!"

With a clear, crisp sound, the steel knife broke off right at the handle!

The blade spun and flew up, embedding itself deeply into the nearby tree trunk with a soft "thud".

The one-eyed giant gripped the bare hilt of the knife, dumbfounded.

He didn't even see how Yang Guo made his move.

"Since you don't want to live," Yang Guo said coldly, "then die."

Before he finished speaking, his figure moved forward like a ghost, his right hand pointing like a sword, and with lightning speed, he struck the big man's heart!

"puff!"

The force penetrated through the chest.

The one-eyed man's eyes bulged out, and his face froze in terror.

He looked down at his chest, where his clothes were intact, but it felt as if a raging fire was exploding inside him!

"Hah..." He squeezed out a strange sound from his throat, and his huge body crashed to the ground, never to be heard again.

One fatal blow!

The remaining bandits turned pale with fright and turned to flee.

"You want to leave now?" Yang Guo's eyes flashed with a cold light.

His figure swept past like the wind, and amidst the flickering palm shadows, the image of falling petals appeared—Falling Petal Divine Sword Palm!

But each of these fallen petals is a death warrant!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The force of the palm strikes their bodies, and the bandits don't even have time to scream before they are sent flying like kites with broken strings, crashing into tree trunks and rocks, their bones shattered, and they die instantly!

From the start to the end, it took no more than three breaths.

The forest clearing returned to deathly silence, with only a few corpses lying there, and the stench of blood slowly permeating the air.

Yang Guo withdrew his palm, his sleeves fluttering lightly, leaving them spotless.

He turned to look at Li Mochou, his face regaining its faint smile: "Now it's peaceful."

Li Mochou slowly opened her eyes.

She could see it clearly—that single finger strike was a manifestation of true qi condensed to its extreme.

The palm technique appeared to be a martial art from Peach Blossom Island, but its power far exceeded that of the ordinary "Falling Blossom Divine Sword Palm".

What horrified her even more was that the boy's eyes were icy cold as he killed, and his movements were clean and swift, without the slightest hesitation.

Ruthless, decisive, and with unfathomable strength.

This is no ordinary disciple!

"Young Master Yang, you have quite the skill." Li Mochou's voice remained cold, but her eyes held a genuine seriousness. "Your decisiveness in killing is truly impressive."

Yang Guo humbly replied, "You flatter me, Daoist. We are just a few petty thieves who have no sense of right or wrong."

Hong Lingbo's face turned pale, and he gripped the sword hilt tightly.

Lu Wushuang covered her mouth, her gaze towards Yang Guo complex and unfathomable—that gentle and refined young hero had become a killing god in the blink of an eye.

Li Mochou stood up, her gaze sweeping over the corpses scattered on the ground before finally settling on Yang Guo's face: "It seems I have been overthinking things along the way. Young Hero Yang, you know how to act with discretion."

She emphasized the word "measure".

Yang Guo smiled but remained silent.

His fingers trembled slightly.

This was, after all, his first time killing someone.

I'm still finding it a little difficult to get used to.

But that's all there is to it; he had already thought all of this through in his heart.

Since you want to kill me, then you'd better be prepared to be killed by me!

He was simply giving him a taste of his own medicine.

The four men remounted their horses.

As it passed the corpse, the black horse snorted, trampling over the pool of blood and splattering a few dark red spots.

Li Mochou took the lead, her heart filled with turbulent emotions.

Yang Guo's martial arts style does indeed bear traces of Peach Blossom Island, but his killing aura and his hidden, imposing presence...

What kind of monster did Huang Rong raise?

She recalled how she had inexplicably walked to his door last night, and now a chill ran down her spine.

Lu Wushuang glanced back at the red-stained open space, then looked at the figure in green robes ahead, bit her lip, and finally followed in silence.