Chapter 77: Chapter 74 Xia Qingshuang
When the City Defense Army was clearing the demon corpses outside the city, Song Yueyao also reported the situation at the Black Wind Mountain Range to Yue Shuhong.
Yue Shuhong immediately sent scouts to verify the information.
When the scouts saw the mountain top covered with demon corpses, they were utterly shocked.
The number of demon corpses here was no fewer than those piled up outside the city.
Especially that neatly arranged high platform of demon corpses, which contained all Great Demons, and roughly counted, there were more than twenty.
The scouts also saw the legendary Strength True God Bear Demon that had been well-known outside the city, but now, it too had become a lightly decaying, foul-smelling corpse, stacked at the bottom of the flesh platform.
The scouts’ legs trembled, and they hurried back to the city to report everything in detail to Yue Shuhong.
After listening, Yue Shuhong stood still for a long time before exhaling deeply.
Having been stationed in Cangyu City for so many years, he naturally knew that the Great Demons lurking around Cangyu City must have all been slain by Li Hao!
If it hadn’t been for the Tan Palace Academy coincidentally assigning a task that Li Hao happened to accept… Yue Shuhong dared not imagine what Cangyu City would have become at this moment.
He was both exhilarated and sighing, feeling as if a great rock that had been weighing on his heart for decades had finally fallen.
Two days later.
The demon corpses outside Cangyu City were mostly cleared away, and the academy task for Li Hao and the others was declared to be over.
Their arrival was hurried, but the return journey seemed leisurely and relaxed, as Yue Shuhong provided a carriage for the group.
He personally escorted them to the city gate to bid farewell.
“Young master, I have already reported the matters of Cangyu City to the provincial government.”
“Additionally, once everything here settles down and is handled properly, I will personally go to the Imperial Capital to request death as my punishment.”
Outside the carriage, Yue Shuhong bowed solemnly.
Li Hao looked at him, immediately understanding that he was prepared to take all the blame upon himself.
“Are you aware that shouldering such responsibility all on your own could implicate all nine of your clans?” Li Hao said.
Yue Shuhong’s expression remained calm, he calmly said, “I know, which is why I have already severed ties with my nine clans. Twelve years ago, I cut off all relations, and according to the laws of Dayu, after breaking off relations for more than ten years, one shall be deemed as unassociated, without any connection, and the crime will not implicate others!”
Li Hao looked at him intently, saying, “It seems you are also a good chess player.”
“You flatter me, young master.”
Li Hao did not say more. He withdrew his hand and let down the carriage curtain:
“It’s a pity, you won’t be able to taste the wine brewed in Tiger Robe Head tavern.”
Yue Shuhong’s body shook slightly, and after a moment of silence, he lifted his head with a faint smile on his face:
“If the young master doesn’t mind, someday when you pass by Cangyu City, pour a cup on this road, and consider it as sharing a drink with me.”
The breeze stirred the curtains, causing a gentle sway.
From inside came a single word:
“Agreed.”
Yue Shuhong’s smile grew even more radiant.
The carriage began to move slowly, as the coachman cracked his whip. In the morning sun, following the official road lined with green cypresses, it moved steadily onward.
The city and the figure at the city gate gradually shrank into the distance.
But it was still vaguely visible that the person was waving an arm towards the carriage, as if saying goodbye, then made a long, deep bow.
Until they could no longer see each other.
Inside the carriage were only Li Hao, Ren Qianqian, Li Yuanzhao, and others.
The coachman, a soldier from Cangyu City, would have to drive the carriage back to Cangyu City on his own after dropping Li Hao and the others off at Qingzhou.
Wei Feng had already bid them a hasty farewell the day before. With Li Hao present, there was no need for him to protect his young mistress from the shadows.
He was now more worried about his mistress actually agreeing to Li Hao’s proposal to become his follower.
Even though Li Hao was of high status, Ren Qianqian was, after all, the daughter of a Grandmaster, and being a follower was a label that would stick with her for life.
He had to hurry back and request reinforcements, as only his master could persuade his mistress.
As for Li Fu, his injuries had not yet healed, so he stayed in Cangyu City to recuperate.
At that moment, less than half a day’s journey from departing Cangyu City, on the imperial road, two swift horses suddenly approached from ahead of where Li Hao and his company were traveling.
The riders on the swift horses seemed to recognize the flag of Cangyu City on the carriage and, after passing by the carriage at a distance of several tens of meters, they suddenly pulled the reins, turning around to come back in front of the carriage, blocking the path of several individuals.
“Stop there!”
The riders on the swift horses were a man and a woman, the man in his twenties wearing purple armor, a sword at his waist, and a flying-feather cap on his head, full of valiance.
The woman was dressed in purple fine armor and wore a bow on her back and a sword at her waist. She had no helmet but a head full of black hair that trailed behind her with the cloak of her armor.
“Are you a soldier from Cangyu City?”
After bringing the carriage to a halt, the young man immediately gripped the whip, pointing at the coachman somewhat angrily.
The coachman, startled at first, quickly saw the armor of the two individuals and, shocked, hurriedly rose and knelt: “Commander Yue Ming of the Cangyu City Defense Army, at your service.”
“Why are you here? And who are the occupants within the carriage?”
The young man shouted angrily, “We heard that Cangyu City was attacked by demons. Are you deserters who have abandoned the city?!”
By saying this, a chilling killing intent already appeared in his eyes.
Carriage driver Yue Ming hastily explained, “Your Excellencies have misunderstood, the demonic calamity in the city has already been quelled. I am following the orders of the city’s lord, escorting these Tan Palace Academy students back to Qingzhou.”
“Tan Palace Academy students?”
Upon hearing this, both individuals’ eyes flickered slightly, and the young man’s expression softened a bit, saying, “Call them out, I want to take a look.”
The Tan Palace Academy in Qingzhou is world-famous, and they too were aware of it. However, it held no necessity for them to go there to study.
Inside the carriage, Li Hao and the others heard the commotion outside. Yu Wei, who was sitting at the carriage door, immediately lifted the curtain to look out, wondering which fool was causing trouble.
It was one thing to stop him, but inside the carriage were both Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao of the Li Family.
“They’re wearing the military armor of the Xia Family.”
Li Yuanzhao immediately recognized the identities of the two through the carriage curtain.
Belonging to the same Divine General Mansion, although Li Yuanzhao had not traveled far, he had learned about these noble families of the highest stream.
The two individuals on the swift horses saw the youthful faces of Li Hao and the others, along with their Tan Palace uniforms, and immediately knew that the carriage driver hadn’t been lying.
“I asked you, what do you mean by saying the demonic disaster is resolved?” the valiant woman asked coldly, turning her eyes toward the coachman.
The coachman nervously replied, “To report to Your Excellencies, the demon caused chaos, but fortunately, Master Li of the Li Family stepped in and quelled the disturbance.”
“Master Li of the Li Family?”
The young man frowned, “Which Master Li of the Li Family?”
“The one from the Li Family of the Divine General Mansion in Qingzhou,” the coachman replied respectfully.
“Hmm?”
Xia Yong and Xia Qingshuang glanced at each other, could it really be them?
Wait, Master Li?
To be referred to as such, it must be someone from the third generation of the Li family.
After all, the second generation of the Li family had already reached middle age, and only three members were left, all well-known throughout the land.
Yet it was rumored that during this demonic calamity, a Great Demon from the Fifteen Li Realm was leading the siege, along with tens of thousands of other demons. Such a force, at the very least required two prodigies from the Fifteen Li Realm of the Xia Family to suppress.
But from the third generation of the Li family, no famous individuals had been heard of yet.
More than a decade ago, however, a few caused a small ripple in the world.
One entered Mount Wuliang as a disciple of the Buddha Master at the age of six, another became a Direct Disciple of a Daoist from Qianji Mountain.
It was also said that another was born with a fortune that matched the heavens and was personally named by Emperor Yu. Everyone thus deduced that his talents were extremely high, but later on, no news was heard, and rumors even circulated that he was a cultivation failure, though the truth behind those rumors was unclear.
“Could it be that the one from Mount Wuliang has entered the world?”
The two exchanged a look, knowing that the one addressed as Master Li couldn’t be the Li family’s young lady who had made her name known just a year ago on the Qian List.
“The third generation Li from Mount Wuliang should be eighteen this year. Eighteen and already in the Fifteen Li Realm…” Xia Yong narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of battle spirit emerging.
On the side, Xia Qingshuang appeared calm as she said, “Since that’s the case, we can be at ease.”
She looked towards the coachman, asking, “How are the casualties within the city?”
“To report to Your Excellencies, only over two hundred of the city’s defending soldiers were injured, and about a dozen have perished.”
Coachman Yue Ming was extremely respectful.