I'm here in the martial arts world just to find love.

After leaving the Zixu Taoist Temple, at Jiang Chao's suggestion, they took a detour to the location of the nameless Taoist temple from the previous day.

On the one hand, he wanted to verify whether the ancient temple that Ziyang Daoist had described as appearing and disappearing mysteriously for thousands of years was really as he said, existing today and not existing tomorrow.

On the other hand, yesterday, four horses, including Jiang Chao's chestnut horse Xiao Hong, were left at the entrance of that ancient temple with little ghosts, and there was no way to avoid them.

Those present all possessed extraordinary memories; they had not forgotten the route taken the previous night.

So, following the route they had taken the night before, the group found the location of the ancient temple from the previous night.

However, the original ancient temple has indeed disappeared!

What came into view was a clearing overgrown with weeds. Judging from the traces of the clearing, it seemed as if the ancient temple they had seen last night was an illusion.

However, the horses tied to the tree and the piles of dung they left behind proved that they hadn't come to the wrong place.

"This... truly is an ancient temple that appears and disappears without a trace!"

Jiang Chao sighed, then stopped thinking about it and took down Xiao Hong, the chestnut horse that had been waiting impatiently and whose big eyes were glued to Jiang Chao when he returned, and whose hooves were pawing the ground.

"laugh!"

Xiao Hong snorted, subtly expressing her dissatisfaction, then used the large horse head to rub against Jiang Chao's face in a show of affection.

Jiang Chao smiled and smoothed her hair, saying:

"Don't worry, I won't abandon you."

Xiao Hong is a young mare who is very intelligent. After their journey through mountains and rivers together, Jiang Chao discovered that she is also very clever and dependent on him, clearly having already recognized him as her master.

  

He certainly wouldn't abandon her without a reason.

After comforting her for a while, Jiang Chao went to a nearby place, picked some plump wild grass, and fed it to Xiao Hong. Xiao Hong rubbed against Jiang Chao affectionately before lowering her head to eat.

Su E and the female knight-errant Chu followed suit and also picked some to feed the horses.

They had breakfast and lunch at Zixu Temple, but the horses that were tied up there still hadn't eaten.

We'll be relying on them for our journeys from now on, so we can't afford to mistreat them.

However, compared to Jiang Chao's Xiao Hong, the other three horses, including the yellow horse "Chasing the Wind" that Chu Nvxia bought for two hundred taels, were not as intelligent as Jiang Chao's.

They just keep their heads down and eat grass, never showing any affection to their owners.

Su E was alright; the horse she had been riding all this way was a draft horse, used to pull carriages. It was strong, honest, and obedient, but not very smart.

On the contrary, the yellow horse of the Chu heroine would be the most popular horse among ordinary people in the martial arts world. It has good endurance, speed, and is also relatively intelligent.

The female knight-errant was quite disappointed to see that her horse was not close to her. She had never mistreated it along the way, so why couldn't it truly accept her as its master?

And that donkey, she had never mistreated it. Even when she was almost swindled out of all her money, she never let it go hungry. Yet, at the inn, it bit through its reins and ran away...

Thinking of this, Lady Chu pouted in grievance, feeling that her path as a chivalrous heroine was simply too difficult.

Jiang Chao couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's aggrieved expression, knowing that she must have been thinking of her little donkey.

The boy laughed and said, "Don't be sad. It's not your fault that this horse doesn't like to be close to you. I can lend you some more money later, and you can buy a better, more docile horse that will truly love you."

"No way!"

Upon hearing the young man's words, the Chu heroine's initial grievances instantly transformed into a surge of shame and anger, as if a wound had been reopened. Her eyes reddened as she angrily retorted:

"One day, I will win over the Wind Chaser, making it willingly become my mount, accompanying me on my adventures across the land, and making a name for myself throughout the world!"

"More like it's better to run away together..."

The boy muttered to himself, then wisely stopped provoking the girl and focused on feeding the horse.

After feeding the horses, the group continued their journey.

The road down the mountain is much more difficult than the road up, especially for the horses.

The stone steps don't look steep, but they are actually quite difficult to walk on, and you can easily break a horse's hoof if you're not careful.

Seeing that the chestnut horse Xiaohong was walking very cautiously by instinct, Jiang Chao felt guilty. He simply wrapped the reins around the saddle, bent down, and lifted it up in one swift motion.

Then, under the astonished gazes of Su E, Chu the heroine, and Lu Jing, the boy carrying a horse weighing a thousand catties disappeared in a few leaps down the winding stone steps leading down the mountain.

……

Jiang Chao found a stream at the foot of the mountain and gave the chestnut horse a drink. He also helped the woman in red, who was following closely behind him down the mountain, catch more than a dozen poisonous snakes. After waiting for about an hour and a half, Su E and the female knight-errant Chu and the others finally came down the mountain.

"Now that you've watered the horses, let's go to the scene together and see how many more martial arts practitioners have arrived since last night. We can also look for my friend while we're at it."

Jiang Chao said to the three of them.

The female knight looked at Jiang Chao, then at the motionless chestnut horse behind him, and then glanced at the red-clad woman whose lips still had a trace of blood.

The girl pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

Su E asked curiously, "Does Young Hero Jiang know any other people in the martial arts world?"

Jiang Chao nodded and said without hiding anything:

"I met him in Qingzhou City. He was about my age, a young master of spear fighting, surnamed Qin, named Shaoling."

"He caused some trouble in Qingzhou City and came to Qingzhou before me."

Upon hearing Qin Shaoling's name, only Lu Jing's expression changed slightly among the three.

Su E and the female knight-errant Chu had never heard of this name.

"Is the one Young Master Jiang is referring to Qin Shaoling, the gun-wielding devil who slaughtered his entire family for the sake of righteousness?"

Jiang Chao smiled and said, "You've heard of his name?"

Lu Jing's face lit up with surprise, "It really is him!"

Seeing that Su E and the female knight Chu were both looking at him with curiosity, Lu Jing blushed slightly and looked at Jiang Chao for his opinion.

Seeing Jiang Chao nod, Lu Jingcai told him the rumors he had heard about Qin Shaoling.

After listening, the heroine Chu clapped her hands loudly.

"That young hero Qin did a good job! That shameless scoundrel, let alone his father and brothers, even his husband, should have been killed without hesitation!"

As he spoke, he glanced at Jiang Chao, seemingly unintentionally.

Jiang Chao: "..."

No, Miss Chu, you can say whatever you want, and we can share a common hatred against the enemy, but why are you looking at me like this?

I am not a heinous criminal, nor am I your husband.

Jiang Chao coughed, looked at Lu Jing who had finished speaking and showed a look of admiration, and asked:

"My brother Qin is indeed righteous and admirable, but surely not to the point that you, Brother Lu Jing, admire him so much?"

Lu Jing shook his head, his expression slightly complicated, and said:

"Young Master Jiang, you may not know this, but what I admire is not the righteousness of that young hero Qin, but his decisiveness and courage. If it were me, even if I had such abilities, I would not be able to break the shackles of human ethics and morality in my heart and put righteousness before family."

If his father hadn't hesitated back then, and had hardened his heart to attack those beasts in the family, he wouldn't have needed any high-level martial arts skills; a single packet of poison would have been enough to kill them.

However, his father hesitated.

Because of this, the father and son had no choice but to hide their identities and live a life of hardship in Qingxi Town.

In the end, however, he was secretly pursued by a group of family soldiers all the way from the north to Qingzhou, where he disguised himself as a bandit and carried out a ruthless act of eliminating them all.

Fortunately, he survived. He will avenge his mother in the future!

As for his cowardly father, who had clearly broken through to the Bone Refining Realm and entered the sixth rank of martial arts, yet was helpless and afraid of death, he didn't care if he died.

"I see."

Jiang Chao looked at Lu Jing and nodded thoughtfully.

Through the incident with Qin Shaoling, he suddenly realized that this seemingly thin and weak medical apprentice was probably not as simple as he appeared.

It seems he's hiding something from them.

After staring at Lu Jing for a while, Jiang Chao slowly withdrew his gaze, noticing Lu Jing's shyness and seemingly guilty reaction.