This is the true immortal of the Taoist sect.

Qinghe Town is a small town in the west of Anyi County. Less than ten miles further west lies the largest mountain range in the southern part of the Great Zhao Kingdom.

Because of the dense forests and sparse human presence, this place is often inhabited by bandits.

Qinghe Town, under the jurisdiction of Anyi County, and several other towns in surrounding counties are frequently harassed.

The people are suffering terribly.

After Zhao Chun'an, the previous magistrate of Anyi County, left, the newly appointed magistrate, in order to demonstrate some achievements, made the suppression of bandits his first task.

In addition to the dozen or so constables from the county government and more than fifty local soldiers, he also invited two experts from the Lijiang Prefecture government, one of whom had even entered the fourth realm.

In addition, there were more than a dozen skilled martial artists who had been gathered, making them a formidable force.

A large group of nearly a hundred people arrived at Qinghe Town.

The local people of Qinghe Town also recruited some militia to work with the people from the county government to suppress the bandits.

They are familiar with the local terrain, and having these people working together will undoubtedly reduce a lot of pressure.

Wang Jingshu naturally joined the team led by the newly appointed county magistrate.

In fact, at first, County Magistrate Ye Tongzhou did not agree to Wang Jingshu joining.

After all, Wang Jingshu was just a teenage girl. Although everyone knew that she was a disciple of Mr. Li of Taiyi Medical Hall, how high could a teenage girl's martial arts skills be?

However, after Wang Jingshu single-handedly defeated more than a dozen constables in the county government office, Ye Tongzhou completely changed his mind.

They even regarded Wang Jingshu as being on the same level as the two experts sent by the government.

After entering the mountains, guided by locals, we traversed more than ten miles of mountain roads and finally found the bandits' stronghold before dark.

However, in order not to alert the enemy, Ye Tongzhou did not lead his men to charge directly. Instead, he first asked many skilled martial artists to clear out the bandits who were on lookout outside the stronghold.

Wang Jingshu is also among them.

The sword manual she cultivated was completely different from worldly martial arts. What she cultivated within her body was magical power, and her five senses were far more acute than those of ordinary martial artists.

Even a fourth-level Grand Martial Master is far inferior.

"Young lady, I know you're quite strong, but real combat is far more brutal than sparring, so don't let your guard down. Stay close to me and don't fall behind..."

The speaker was a wandering swordsman recruited by Ye Tongzhou, and also the only woman among all the martial arts masters present.

He was about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, with a lithe build and ordinary appearance, and he wielded two swords.

Although she had never seen her make a move, Wang Jingshu could still sense the strength of her qi and blood, which was roughly the same as that of Master Luo, the guard of the Wang family.

Therefore, he should be considered a second-level martial artist.

Wang Jingshu nodded and smiled:

"Thank you for reminding me, sister. By the way, what's your name? My name is Wang Jingshu."

The female knight-errant had a cold and aloof expression, and her unadorned face bore a hint of vicissitude, making her look completely different from the fair and clean-cut Wang Jingshu.

"I forgot, but those who know me in the martial arts world call me Ye San Niang."

Wang Jingshu looked curious upon hearing this.

"Ye San Niang? Sister, is your surname Ye?"

Ye San Niang shook her head, twirled her sword, and said:

"I used a lancet."

Wang Jingshu found it quite interesting. She had met some people in the martial arts world before, but not many of them had real names; most were just called by nicknames.

Like things like Grasshopper, Water Skimmer, Earth Drill, Iron Hand Invincible, and Ghost-Slayer...

Their nicknames are all impressive, but they don't actually have much ability.

Ye San Niang is already considered a very skilled expert.

Most ordinary martial arts practitioners only possess some basic martial arts skills, such as fist fighting and weaponry, and cannot even reach the level of entering the realm of martial arts.

Unless one has a legitimate lineage or lineage.

Wang Jingshu enjoys interacting with these江湖人 (jianghu people, people from all walks of life) and listening to their boasting.

One purpose of her trip was to suppress bandits, and another was to make contact with these江湖人士 (jianghu figures, people from the martial arts world).

So he kept talking to Ye San Niang along the way.

Ye San Niang was clearly a seasoned veteran; the moment she saw Wang Jing Shu, she knew that Wang Jing Shu was definitely of extraordinary background and had been guided by a renowned master.

Such a person's future achievements will surely far surpass those of these wandering martial arts practitioners.

With this in mind, Ye San Niang showed no impatience whatsoever with Wang Jing Shu's incessant questioning.

The two chatted idly as they searched through the mountains.

Suddenly, Wang Jingshu stopped and made a gesture.

Ye San Niang immediately drew her knife and stood guard, her eyes sharply scanning her surroundings.

"What's wrong?"

Wang Jingshu's gaze also darkened, and she pointed to a spot not far to the left, saying:

"There's some noise over there..."

Ye San Niang turned her head to look, but could not see anything except for the dense thickets of miscellaneous trees.

"A hidden sentry?"

Wang Jingshu shook her head.

"I don't know, but... it shouldn't be a wild animal."

Ye San Niang had no doubts and nodded, saying:

"Be careful, stay behind me and keep an eye on our surroundings. Let's go take a look."

Although Ye San Niang's cultivation level was not high and her strength was not strong, she was obviously much more experienced than Wang Jing Shu in dealing with this situation.

With each step she took, she tried her best to avoid anything that might make a sound, her whole being like a wildcat, silently exuding a pure killing intent.

After walking a short distance, Ye San Niang still hadn't found any hidden sentries.

Just as she was feeling tense, Wang Jingshu suddenly grabbed her arm.

Having made a living on the edge of a knife for many years, Ye San Niang reacted almost instinctively, retaliating with a swift strike.

However, she realized what was happening the moment she drew her sword, and the attack came to an abrupt halt.

The blade stopped at the side of Wang Jingshu's neck, only a palm's width away.

Wang Jingshu reacted quickly; the hilt of her sword had already sprang up, blocking her neck. In other words, even if Ye Sanniang's knife came down, it wouldn't hurt her.

Seeing this, Ye San Niang breathed a sigh of relief, but her face already showed some anger. She lowered her voice and said:

"What are you doing? Don't you have any sense of propriety? Disturbing your comrades from behind during a mission can easily cause friendly fire..."

Wang Jingshu felt somewhat wronged, but she also knew that Ye Sanniang was right and that she had made a mistake.

"I'm sorry, I... I'll be more careful next time."

Ye San Niang sighed and asked:

"Fine, ignorance is bliss. Why did you pull me here?"

Wang Jingshu quickly pointed to a large tree not far ahead and lowered her voice, saying:

"There... I heard... snoring."

Ye San Niang was startled and turned her head to look. Sure enough, there was a deliberately surrounded clump of branches and leaves on a large tree not far away. If you looked closely, you could see a person lying inside.

Ye San Niang was somewhat surprised. She turned around and glanced at Wang Jing Shu, thinking to herself:

"Just what is this girl's cultivation level?"

Wang Jingshu didn't know what to do, so she asked:

"What's next? Arrest him?"

Ye San Niang smiled, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

He reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a three-inch sword.

"Arrest them? No need for that."

Having said that, Ye San Niang circulated her qi and blood, and suddenly flicked her hand.

With a whooshing sound, the small sword accurately struck the body of the person in the tree.

"Ouch..."

A scream rang out, and then the person in the tree broke through the disguise and fell straight down.

He fell to the ground, feeling suffocated and unable to get up.

After struggling for a moment, it breathed its last...