Tianlong: Starting with Mantuo Manor as fertilizer

All three porcelain vases were covered with red paper.

One that reads "Lost Child".

One of them was labeled "Crane's Crest Red".

The last bottle was the only one with a red paper label, and there wasn't a single word on it.

"Turns out he's a penniless wretch too!"

It would be better to open them separately.

The bottle containing the poison was mostly unused, but the bottle containing arsenic was completely empty.

It's unclear whether the Starry Sky Sect disciples used it all up, or whether Mother Yan embezzled it.

Only the last unlabeled porcelain bottle remained.

Xie might as well uncork the bottle and peek inside by the moonlight.

The bottle was densely packed with tiny white dots, about the size of rice grains, dozens of which were stuck together in a string, resembling the egg cases of some kind of insect.

"What disgusting thing is this!"

He frowned, goosebumps rose on his skin, and he quickly tightened the bottle cap and tossed it aside.

He picked up the silk scroll again and unfolded it to take a look.

There are no records of martial arts or poison techniques in it; it's all about methods of attracting and raising insects.

The section on insect breeding is particularly detailed.

The selection of the site, feeding, soil compaction, and driving away of enemies are all described in a clear and organized manner.

Seeing that there was nothing else in the medicine compartment, Xie thought for a moment.

"I wonder what kind of insect eggs are in that bottle. Since a disciple of the Starry Constellation Sect is carrying it, it must be something extraordinary. Let's take it first."

At that moment, apart from the empty bottle of arsenic, he put everything else into his pocket.

He glanced at the remaining medicine compartments, still wanting more.

"How can you call yourself a hero if you don't search through chests!"

Then, he turned over the remaining medicine cabinets one by one.

When he saw something useful, he would put it in his pocket.

Before long, his arms were full.

Xie Bu Ru clicked his tongue, still looking dissatisfied.

"The good stuff must have all been embezzled by that Madam Yan; all that's left are the inferior goods."

Once they have the goods, they naturally won't bother digging up the corpse.

Xie put the shovel back in its original place and stepped out of the fertilizer room.

After taking only a few steps, a gust of wind swept by, dark clouds obscured the moon, and the sky instantly darkened.

An old woman's voice came from behind, chilling and sinister.

"Hehe, you actually found Mantuo Manor. Very good, very good indeed."

Before he could finish speaking...

A sharp gust of wind cleaved through the air and struck.

The newcomer attacked as soon as he spoke, his moves ruthless and aimed straight for vital points.

Xie Buruo reacted extremely quickly, ducking to the right as a single-edged sword grazed his left shoulder.

He swung his sword backhand and thrust it at the figure behind him.

The person behind him let out a soft "hmm," followed by a cold laugh.

"You little bitch, you think you can catch me off guard by switching to a different sword style?"

The man swung his knife to parry the longsword, then stepped closer, rushed into the center of the palace, and struck with a palm.

Xie Buruo immediately realized the other party had mistaken him for someone else. Dodging the incoming palm strike, he unleashed a move called "Raising Fire to the Sky," slicing off a piece of the other woman's clothing as he did so, cursing, "Old woman, you've attacked the wrong person!"

The figure paused, then exclaimed in even greater surprise, "A man?"

Then came another sinister laugh.

"No man is ever allowed to set foot on Mantuo Manor except for Young Master Murong. What kind of petty thief are you, daring to sneak onto the island?"

As he spoke, his swordplay continued unabated.

One slash to the east, one slash to the west, each slash faster than the last, like a torrential downpour.

However, the more she chopped, the more terrified she became.

He clearly sensed that the opponent's swordplay was not particularly exquisite or extraordinary.

Yet he always managed to deflect the attacks with his sword or dodge them with his body, thus neutralizing all his deadly moves.

So much so that after she used all sixteen moves of the Eight Directions in the Night Battle, not a single strike of hers was successful.

Instead, the sound of tearing fabric could be heard from time to time, and a sharp pain came from my arms, legs, and waist.

After a rapid attack, she herself suffered three sword wounds first.

The man's heart skipped a beat: "This brat's swordsmanship is probably no less than that little bitch's; I alone cannot defeat him!"

He immediately pursed his lips and whistled, the sound carrying far and wide, startling the maids patrolling nearby.

Before long, a burst of firelight rushed over, illuminating the surroundings.

The voices of the maids rose and fell.

"Who has trespassed on Mantuo Manor?"

"Oh, it's Grandma Ping back."

"Isn't that Young Master Xie?"

"stop!"

A large, gleaming silver sword pierced through the air.

Two sharp clangs rang out, striking the weapons of Granny Ping and Xie Buruo, forcibly separating the two.

Granny Ping leaped back two steps, sheathed her knife, and angrily said, "Granny Yan, why are you blocking my way instead of joining forces with me?"

Mother Yan grinned, revealing her missing teeth, and chuckled.

"Granny Ping, I'm doing this to help you. This young master Xie is a distinguished guest of Madam. If something were to happen to him, could you bear the responsibility? Hmm?"

Under the torchlight, she was taken aback to discover that Granny Ping had three sword wounds on her body.

Turning back sharply to look at Xie Buruo, she was even more surprised to see that he was completely unharmed and holding the long sword firmly in his hand.

When Xie Buruo first arrived at Mantuo Manor, she was the one who captured him.

Mother Yan knew perfectly well how skilled he was.

Although he hadn't used his full strength in those two strikes, he believed they were enough to send Xie Ruo flying with his longsword.

The result was completely unexpected, which inevitably surprised her.

Upon closer inspection of Xie Buruo's sword-wielding technique, Madam Yan couldn't help but nod in approval.

"This kid has made great progress."

It was at this moment.

Xie Buruo suddenly made a sword gesture with his left hand, pushed it out horizontally, with the fingers pointing upwards, while his right hand held the sword pointing upwards without moving.

This move is the starting stance of the "Immortal Points the Way" sword move, which is common in the martial arts world.

Mother Yan had seen countless people use it, but she never took it seriously.

But upon seeing him today, I felt a sudden tightness in my heart for no reason, as if there was an invisible pressure emanating from him, surging in from all directions.

She unconsciously gripped the knife handle tighter, her expression turning serious.

The maids nearby were too inexperienced to notice anything amiss.

Granny Ping, however, was used to fighting on the battlefield. When she saw that her old friend looked strange, she immediately sensed something was wrong.

Upon seeing Xie Buruo's swordplay again, he still couldn't detect anything special about it.

At this moment, a figure emerged from the crowd and shouted loudly.

"Young Master Xie, you're here. Miss needs your help."

Xie Bu Ruo looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was You Cao who was speaking.

Disturbed by the grass, Xie Buruo was unable to test his skills on Mother Yan, but he wasn't annoyed.

He had originally intended to find Wang Yuyan today to ask her about the difficulties in the Immortal's Guiding Sword Technique.

Without further delay, he followed Youcao away from the scene. After taking a few steps, he turned back and gave instructions to Mother Yan.

"Mother Yan, Madam wants you to dig out the corpse of that Xingxiu Sect disciple, so as not to defile the camellia."

"I know."

Mother Yan nodded in response.

She was very good at reading people's expressions. Since she knew that Xie Bu Ruo was a distinguished guest of the lady and she did not want to offend him any further, it was the best thing that he had given up.

Seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, the patrolling maids also dispersed, leaving only Granny Ping and Granny Yan behind.

Mother Yan chuckled and pulled Grandma Ping aside.

"Grandma Ping, don't be angry. He's a distinguished guest of the Madam; we can't afford to offend him. By the way, didn't you take men to capture those two wretches? Why are you back?"

Grandma Ping sighed.

"Those two bitches are quite capable, and the horse they rode was fast. Not only did our group fail to catch them, but we also lost many of our men. Arui was hit by one of the bitches' poisoned arrows. If we hadn't run into Abi on the way and introduced her to Doctor Xue, she would have been dead long ago."

Mother Yan raised an eyebrow.

"The Asura Blade is troublesome enough, but even her disciple is so difficult to deal with? Hehe, this old woman would like to have a go at her. Young women are the most suitable for making fertilizer."

Granny Ping sighed, "That little wretch has mastered superb swordsmanship at such a young age, probably even surpassing that Xie boy from before. Moreover, she's skilled with poisoned arrows. Even you, Mama Yan, might not be able to defeat her easily."

Mother Yan smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Ping Pozi, it's been a long time since we sisters have seen each other. Why don't you come to my flower fertilizer room and sit down for a while, and catch up?"

Granny Ping nodded: "I just came back from Madam's place. I was ordered to escort someone to Dali with Arui, and also to deal with the Asura Blade master and his apprentice."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Yan laughed and said, "Then you're in trouble. You just got back today and you've already hit your boss."

Granny Ping raised an eyebrow, surprised, "Is he escorting that young man surnamed Xie? Madam trusts him so much? What's his background?"

The two walked and talked until they arrived at the door of the fertilizer room.

When Mother Yan saw the door open, she felt a little strange and quickly walked ahead.

"He's a disciple of the Wuliang Sword Sect, and I don't know how he managed to win Madam's trust so much. However, he's petty and narrow-minded. I captured him before and almost used him as fertilizer. Didn't you see just now? He wanted to have a match with me to get revenge."

Granny Ping had been to Dali and asked in disbelief, "Could the Wuliang Sword Sect really have such an excellent disciple?"

She then thought of what her mother-in-law had said about being petty and narrow-minded, and couldn't help but worry that she might not have a good time during her trip to Dali. She sighed heavily.

But then, a heart-wrenching roar came from Mother Yan as she entered the fertilizer room.

"You damn beast, you beast!"

Grandma Ping hurriedly followed, only to see Mama Yan frantically searching through the medicine cabinet, cursing loudly.

"That damned thief stole my old lady's collection!"

Mother Yan, dragging her two swords, was about to rush out of the fertilizer room to confront Xie Bu Ruo when Granny Ping immediately stopped her.

"My dear sister, don't be impulsive! He's a very important guest of the lady of the house!"

Inside the fertilizer room, a series of wailing and lamentations erupted.

Amidst the camellias, a slender figure flashed by.