The blind girl is called a saint with a sword!

"He was clearly their savior, but in the end, I still don't know the names of those two girls."

Master Chen laughed and said, "There's no need for you to feel sorry. The world is vast, but with the two young ladies' abilities, one day we will hear their names and stories again by chance somewhere."

The others laughed upon hearing this.

That's true.

……

An Qingwan and Jin Xueyi's destination is the Ironclad Gang.

The Iron-Clad Gang stood on the banks of Dongting Lake in Yuezhou.

They headed north, their next stop being Nanlu County, which Master Chen's disciple had mentioned earlier.

On the way to Nanlu County, An Qingwan calculated the rewards for defeating the Evil Blade King Mu Bai.

[Successfully defeated the outlaw Wang Mubai and obtained a Martial Arts Treasure Chest*1]

【Open】

Congratulations on acquiring the sword technique: The Thirteen Forms of Hengshan Clouds and Mist (Ever-Changing and Ever-Illusory)

Having drawn a sword technique, An Qingwan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Jin Xueyi asked curiously.

An Qingwan smiled and said, "Didn't I say before that I wanted to train you properly? My sword technique might be very suitable for you."

"what?"

Jin Xueyi's eyes widened.

She didn't expect An Qingwan to be serious, and even to teach her martial arts.

With An Qingwan's skill level, her swordsmanship was far from ordinary; it likely far surpassed the sword techniques she usually learned.

"you……"

"What am I?"

"I'm afraid I'll owe you more and more, so much that I won't be able to pay it back."

Jin Xueyi was somewhat worried.

She was a rich family's daughter, and before her parents were murdered, she had never experienced the feeling of owing someone to outsiders.

If she really can't pay it back, what should she do then?

Promise yourself?

Both she and An Qingwan are women.

An Qingwan said, "I didn't ask you to pay me back. Just be my eyes and keep me company and talk to me to relieve my boredom."

Jin Xueyi responded with an "oh".

She was already planning how to cure An Qingwan's eyes.

An Qingwan's eyes were said to have gone blind from poisoning. If that's the case, surely those legendary doctors in the martial arts world have a solution?

"By the way, Miss An, what was the meaning of your earlier statement that Taiqing Dao is an evil cult with grand ambitions?"

Jin Xueyi changed the subject.

An Qingwan said, "Ordinary folk sects, if they only want to spread their teachings, offering talisman water and rice porridge, and holding regular ceremonies, that's already the limit. Why would they need to recruit martial arts practitioners to act as thugs?"

Jin Xueyi suddenly realized: "So that's why you said Taiqing Dao is a heretical cult? Of course, those Taiqing Daoists keep saying they want to capture us and offer us to the Dao Master. This Taiqing Dao is probably a huge den of iniquity!"

An Qingwan said, "Things are not that simple. Although Xie Dao's strength is not good, it is not bad either. However, he is so afraid that he dares not betray Taiqing Dao. Taiqing Dao must be up to something."

As she spoke, she shook her head.

"Hopefully things haven't gotten to the worst point yet."

"The worst possible outcome?"

"rebel."

Two simple words made Jin Xueyi's expression change drastically.

She wanted to say it was impossible.

Although imperial power has waned and chaos is rampant in various regions, rebellions are still a possibility...

Indeed, rebellions often occur at this time. Whenever there is a major disaster with far-reaching consequences, flames of war will immediately ignite across the land.

In recent years, the Jingxiang region has suffered from frequent floods, while the neighboring Jiangyou area has been plagued by droughts, making life difficult for the people.

Jin Xueyi sighed, "I hope nothing serious happens."

An Qingwan thought so too.

If war were to break out, even with her protection, Zhen'an County would find it difficult to remain unscathed.

We still need to find a way to get to know Taiqing Dao better.

Didn't Jin Xueyi say that the Ironclad Gang also had a good relationship with the Taiqing Dao?

Understanding the Taiqing Path will make it easier to deal with the Ironclad Gang in the future.

Before they knew it, the two had arrived in a village near Nanlu County.

Normally, by the time of Xu (7-9 PM), there would be few lights left in the village, let alone any human voices. But now, there was a brightly lit shed in the village, with many people gathered inside and outside, and the sound of crying could be heard from afar.

"What happened?"

Jin Xueyi curiously leaned closer.

As the two approached, Jin Xueyi finally saw that the person crying was a middle-aged woman dressed in coarse cloth, sitting on the ground, wailing loudly.

"My daughter, my poor daughter."

Those around tried to pull her away, but couldn't. They could only quickly call for the middle-aged woman's husband to take her home.

Her husband, who looked like an honest, simple farmer, stood outside the crowd, his face full of worry, without saying a word.

Jin Xueyi was full of questions. She patted the villager in front of her on the shoulder and asked, "What's wrong? Does this old lady's daughter have some serious illness?"

The villagers turned around and were surprised to see that it was a stranger, but they still answered truthfully.

"There's no illness at all. Her daughter was chosen by the altar master of the Taiqing Dao to be the female priestess who opens the altar. This is a wonderful thing, but she doesn't know how lucky she is. She insists on saying that her daughter has been kidnapped and wants to report it to the authorities. She is so ungrateful."

Another villager chimed in with a complaint: "Yes, the Taoist priests of Taiqing are all celestial beings. A while ago, our village was struck by illness, and we only managed to pull through thanks to the talismanic water from Taiqing. The altar master of Taiqing was kind enough to only ask us to pay 10% of the donation fee because we were just seriously ill. This woman is ungrateful and stingy, refusing to pay. I don't know how she managed to get her daughter chosen as a female priestess. My daughter is no less capable than hers."

As soon as they started talking, everyone else around them rushed towards An Qingwan and Jin Xueyi.

Each of them offered a comment, as if they wanted the two outsiders to judge the matter.

An Qingwan also discovered that one of them was the daughter of the villager from earlier.

She kept sighing, saying that she was clearly no worse than Sister Xiaohong.

An Qingwan remained silent.

In broad daylight, they forcibly abducted a young woman. When the woman's mother tried to report it to the authorities, she was instead surrounded and berated by the villagers, who called her an ungrateful wretch...

What is Taiqing Dao if not a cult?

Damn it, she hates cults the most!

P.S.: Thanks to Ryuko Matoi for the razor blade.

Thirteen uses magic to defeat magic!

It took Jin Xueyi a lot of effort to carry An Qingwan out of the crowd.

Reaching the edge of the field, she breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Scared me."

An Qingwan said, "They're just a group of villagers who don't know martial arts. What's so scary about them?"

Jin Xueyi wiped the sweat from her forehead: "Miss An, I'm not afraid of those villagers, I'm afraid of you."

"fear me?"

An Qingwan was stunned.

She rarely showed this expression in front of Jin Xueyi.

"What do I have to be afraid of? I'm not going to eat you."

Jin Xueyi glanced at An Qingwan with annoyance: "I'm afraid you'll kill all those villagers in a fit of anger."

An Qingwan said, "Why would I kill them for no reason? Although they were greatly deceived by Taiqing Dao, they are not considered to be extremely wicked people."

Jin Xueyi snorted: "You still have to talk. Just now, your face was so gloomy, it looked like it was about to rain. It was even more terrifying than the day you went to find the Poison Taoist."

"Is there such a thing?"

An Qingwan was stunned.

"Hey, Miss An, are you feeling unwell?"

Jin Xueyi called out to An Qingwan repeatedly.

An Qingwan came to her senses: "It's nothing. You said I looked pale just now, but I was just thinking about some unpleasant things."

"Oh?" Jin Xueyi stared at An Qingwan with interest. "What is it?"

The longer she spent with An Qingwan, the more she felt that An Qingwan was like a "black hole," making her want to touch it, delve into it, and ponder it over and over again.

Jin Xueyi didn't think it was her problem.

An Qingwan is just too alluring and too mysterious.

Who wouldn't want to test An Qingwan's abilities after meeting her?

An Qingwan said, "I have a friend whose mother believed in a cult. In just a few years, she turned a family that had never lacked food or clothing into a mess. Not only did she squander all the family's wealth, but in the end, her father hanged himself in anger. Only then did her mother realize her mistake, but it was too late to undo the damage, and she ended up drowning herself in the river."

Jin Xueyi parted her cherry lips slightly.

After a long silence, she asked softly, "So, that's why you looked so upset when you saw those villagers earlier? That friend you mentioned wouldn't be...?"

"not me."

An Qingwan's expression remained calm.

It must be you!

"No."

"You can't fool me... Ouch."

Jin Xueyi screamed as her buttocks were slapped. It was unclear whether An Qingwan had slapped her with her hand or with her sword.

An Qingwan snorted, "Today I'll teach you a lesson. In the world of martial arts, excessive curiosity can be deadly."

Jin Xueyi gritted her teeth.

Actually, she didn't feel humiliated at all by being spanked.

On the contrary, I felt quite refreshed.

Of course, she wasn't the kind of pervert who would be happy even if she was beaten; she just suddenly realized that An Qingwan also had the same "spoiled young lady" tendencies as her.

He looks more like a human now.

Jin Xueyi asked, "What should we do down there now?"

An Qingwan said, "Go see that couple from earlier and ask them what happened."

"it is good."

Jin Xueyi had long harbored this intention.

The two men moved through the night, avoiding the villagers, and soon found their way to the couple's house.

Even at the end of the Xu hour (7-9 PM), the lights in the courtyard were still on.

The woman who had been surrounded must have been exhausted from crying and shouting. Now she sat under the tree, silent, like a walking corpse.

Her husband didn't say anything either, he just kept sharpening the knife.

Sharpen the blade until it is smooth before removing it.