The blind girl is called a saint with a sword!

An Qingwan said, "Although Miss Lan is young, she is already a first-rate martial arts expert. Her teacher is also a renowned master who has laid a very solid foundation for her. What she lacks now is 'comprehension'. As for Miss Jin, you have learned too many things. What you need to do now is forget those unnecessary things and practice what I teach you. This step is to build a foundation, and you can't be lazy when it comes to building a foundation. Only when you practice until you only see the sword in your eyes can you be considered to have taken the first step."

Jin Xueyi hummed in agreement.

This principle is easy to understand.

An Qingwan has become increasingly "ruthless" lately. She used to train her for only one hour a day, but now she trains her for two or three hours at a time.

Several times she thought she was going to break down.

Fortunately, An Qingwan always managed to pull her back from the brink of fainting.

Through this back-and-forth struggle, she did feel that she had become more capable and was gradually able to keep up with An Qingwan's pace.

An Qingwan leaned against the window, gently lifting a strand of hair behind her ear to reveal her half-covered porcelain-white ear. Her delicate earlobes shone like solidified cream in the afternoon sunlight.

"But no matter how much I say, it won't be decisive. What kind of person you want to become and what kind of person you can become ultimately depends on yourselves."

Jin Xueyi and Lan Xiaogu nodded in succession, behaving as obediently as children in a school.

After another fifteen minutes of travel, An Qingwan suddenly sighed.

Jin Xueyi asked in confusion, "Miss An, what happened?"

An Qingwan said, "There was a sound of crying."

Jin Xueyi was stunned: "From the lake? Could it be a water ghost...?"

An Qingwan said, "It's the sound of a person crying."

As the carriage continued its journey, Jin Xueyi finally heard the crying that An Qingwan had mentioned.

It was a series of cries.

The cries of men, women, young and old, all kinds of cries.

After the carriage turned a corner, Jin Xueyi finally understood why An Qingwan had said it was scary.

Paper money, white paper money, white paper money scattered on the ground, white paper money hanging on the tree, white paper money fluttering in the wind...

What appeared before them was a village where almost every household was dressed in white.

"What on earth is going on? Has this place been struck by a plague?"

Lan Xiaogu shook her head and said, "It's not a plague. If it were, this place would have been under guard long ago."

Jin Xueyi asked, "What is that?"

Lan Xiaogu said, "Judging from their words, they were probably killed, but I don't know the specifics. Let's go ask them."

The carriage stopped at the village entrance, and the cries grew louder and louder.

"My son——"

"Father, mother!"

"She's only two years old, what did she do wrong? What exactly did she do wrong!"

Jin Xueyi walked up to an old man burning paper money at the intersection, squatted down and asked, "Uncle, what's going on here?"

The old man raised his head, revealing his gray eyes, but quickly lowered his head again, remaining silent.

After contacting several people, Jin Xueyi finally received a response.

"Who are you?"

The young man, dressed in hemp clothing, looked at An Qingwan and the other two with a wary expression.

Jin Xueyi explained, "We were on our way to the Ironclad Gang when we passed by here and found you..."

Before she could finish speaking, the young man in hemp clothing had completely changed his expression.

"Iron-Clad Gang? You're also江湖人士 (jianghu figures)? Get out, get out of here now, the farther the better!"

He reached out to push Jin Xueyi.

Jin Xueyi quickly took a few steps back and explained, "We meant no harm, we just wanted to..."

The young man in hemp clothing laughed bitterly, "I don't care if you have any ill intentions or not, I just want you to get lost. Why is our place in this state? Isn't it all because of you martial arts practitioners?"

As he roared, people gradually approached.

Lan Xiaogu quickly drew her whip.

The young man in hemp clothing was completely unafraid: "What, are you going to kill us too? Then go ahead and kill us, I don't want to live anyway!"

Seeing that things were not going well, An Qingwan quickly pulled the two away.

But she didn't go very far.

They encountered a man carrying a long knife at the village entrance.

"Don't take what happened earlier to heart. They didn't target you guys on purpose. That man, his parents, his brother, and his brother's wife who just got married a month ago were all killed. It's already a miracle that he hasn't gone crazy yet."

Jin Xueyi asked in astonishment, "What exactly is going on?"

The man sighed and began to explain, "Isn't it all because of those recent rumors?"

According to him, this matter was originally related to the Iron-Clad Gang and the "Eight Directions of the Mysterious Blade".

Because it was widely rumored in the martial arts world that the "Qimen Bafang Dao" might be in the hands of the Iron-Clad Ancestor, many people flocked to try and seize it.

Among this group, one group was particularly eccentric.

They knew they couldn't defeat the Iron-Clad Ancestor, but they coveted the "Eight Directions of the Mysterious Blade," so they used this village, not far from the Iron-Clad Gang, as their bargaining chip.

If the Ironclad Gang doesn't hand over the "Eight Directions of Qimen Blade," they will kill everyone in this village.

Since the Iron-Clad Ancestor couldn't produce the "Eight Directions of Qimen Blade," he devised a plan to hand over a fake one to appease the traveler. However, the trick was exposed, and the traveler, enraged, committed atrocities in the village, ultimately killing a total of forty-eight people.

The village was ravaged by bloodshed.

The killings left every household in the village in mourning.

"Who are those people?"

An Qingwan said coldly.

The man shook his head and said, "I don't know. Only the Iron-Clad Ancestor went to contact those people at the time, but even he couldn't see their faces clearly. How could the others know? It's pitiful. The Iron-Clad Ancestor held this self-proof meeting not only to prove himself, but also to gather heroes from all over the country to deal with these madmen."

"Didn't you see clearly? Those people are even stronger than the Iron-Clad Ancestor?"

"That's what the Iron-Clad Ancestor said, and that's all I can say."

As the man was speaking, Lan Xiaogu suddenly popped up like a gopher.

“I secretly examined the corpses. There were many wounds on the corpses, but the fatal wounds were all the same, which means they were all killed by the same person. That person was definitely a master swordsman. Every fatal blow was exactly one inch deep.”

"A murderer who has made killing a 'habit'?"

An Qingwan's voice had turned completely cold, and frost had formed on her hands.

Her murderous intent surged once again beyond her control.

She thought of Chen Xu and his grandson, who had been killed by the Poison Taoist.

She thought of those "believers" who remained foolish even after the collapse of the Taiqing Dao.

She thought of many, many things.

This is perhaps the true nature of the martial world—a cruel, lawless, and indifferent world where human life is treated as worthless as grass.

"you……"

The man's body trembled involuntarily, a chill piercing his back like needles.

He looked at An Qingwan, and what he saw was not a person, but a sword.

"who are you?"

"An Qingwan, a swordsman."

An Qingwan placed her hand on the sword.

Her sword thirsts for blood.

PS: Thank you delayger for the donation, and thank you Xianyu Aige Jiang, Leyi Kan Dian Er Tie Tie, Qing Jiao Wo Xue Shu, Ren Ren Guan Cha Ji Shu Shu Hao, Ye Feng Ling Yu, Bei Chuan Chuan Cheng Gu Shi Mei Zi, Zhong Yan Zhi Guang, and Xi Qing Yu De Dao Fa.

I've spoken with the editor, and it'll be available this week. During the new book launch period, it only received two recommendations, not the full amount, but there's nothing I can do about it. The word count is already exceeding the limit; each chapter is generally over 2500 words, often exceeding 2900. In many places, forcibly ending a chapter around 2000 words makes the entire chapter feel very different. So, I just kept going over the word count.

Actually, adding another recommendation wouldn't make much difference, because this book's genre is indeed too niche. Clicks and favorites aren't increasing at all, and it's consistently ranked in the lower half of the recommendation list. Out of 25 popular new books, only mine has maintained a click-to-favorite ratio of less than 100 so far (the others with less than 100 are those that have been acquired through treasure chests and a lot of dead favorites). It's quite exaggerated. With this ratio, it's impossible to climb the charts. I guess many people just skip it when they see it's a martial arts book; they don't even bother to click and add any more clicks. I should just release it as soon as possible so I can update more frequently. Thank you all for reading.

44. Whoever tries to stop her from speaking, I'll make sure they can't speak.

"An Qingwan?"

The man stared at An Qingwan in a daze.

After a while, he shouted.

"I remember now, you are the Goddess of Xiaoxiang who wiped out the Taiqing Daoist temple, I've heard your name before!"

At this point, he laughed.

"I've heard so much about you! You truly are a chivalrous and righteous person. I am Hu Bugui from the Thirty-Six Islands!"

An Qingwan was completely unfamiliar with the Thirty-Six Islands.

But Lan Xiaogu is different.

She is not old, but she has traveled all over the south over the years and has gained considerable experience.

"Thirty-six islands?" Lan Xiaogu was taken aback. "The thirty-six islands that are known as the holy land of martial arts in the East China Sea?"

Hu Bugui said, "I dare not claim to be a holy land of martial arts. I wonder who this young lady is? Your clothes look very familiar to me. I think you must have a great reputation in the martial arts world, but I can't quite remember you right now. My apologies."

Lan Xiaogu chuckled and said, "Your judgment is not bad. I am Lan Xiaogu, the number one assassin in the world, the Crimson Snow Yama!"

Hu Bugui was stunned for a moment: "The number one assassin in the world?"

Lan Xiaogu said, "Yan Hui and Lu Er are already dead."

Hu Bugui's expression remained unchanged. He didn't press the matter but changed the subject.

"I left the Thirty-Six Islands this time to challenge the best martial artists in the Eastern Lands. That's why I made a special trip to the Ironclad Gang when I passed through Yuezhou. I never expected to encounter such a thing. It's pitiful and lamentable. May I ask what brings Miss An and Miss Lan here?"

An Qingwan bluntly stated: "Murder."

Hu Bugui was slightly taken aback.

Suddenly, he laughed again.

"Miss An is truly a wonderful person."

An Qingwan laughed along with her: "Don't you want to know who I want to kill?"

Hu Bugui said, "I don't need to ask, because I know that Miss An must have killed a villain."

An Qingwan said, "Why are you so sure? My reputation in the martial arts world is indeed quite good, but maybe I'm just a hypocrite?"

Hu Bugui said, "Miss An, you are wrong!"

An Qingwan asked, "Where did I go wrong?"

Hu Bugui said, "I never use the reputation of the martial arts world to judge a stranger."

An Qingwan asked, "Then how do you judge strangers?"

Hu Bugui said, "Based on the evaluation of ordinary people."

An Qingwan remained silent.

Hu Bugui said, "People from the lake flatter each other, and it's hard to tell what's true and what's false. How can that compare to the evaluations that ordinary people have formed over the years? Also, I bet Miss An has no idea who I met in Ningzhou."

An Qingwan asked, "Who?"

Hu Bugui said, "Martial Arts Master Chen, when I was chatting with him, he told me that you saved him."

An Qingwan said, "So it was him. This world is really small. Since Master Chen was willing to talk to you about these things, it seems that Young Hero Hu is also a chivalrous person."

Hu Bugui said, "I dare not accept such praise, but if Miss An needs help when she is killing someone, I will certainly not refuse."

An Qingwan smiled and said, "Young Master Hu is also a rare and wonderful person."