The Return of the Condor Heroes: Starting with a Suicide Note and Conquering All Realms

At the foot of Zhongnan Mountain.

The mountain path was shrouded in thick night fog. Dewdrops bent the pine needles on both sides. A cold wind blew across the cliff, carrying the damp, earthy smell.

Lin Yuan walked at the front. His gray Taoist robe blended into the night.

Yang Guo lagged behind by two steps. His steps were extremely unnatural, and his gaze frequently went past his shoulder to look at Xiaolongnu beside him.

Half an hour ago, in front of hundreds of Quanzhen Taoist priests on the back mountain of Chongyang Palace, he roared, "I want to marry her!" At that time, his blood rushed to his head, and he was filled with reckless courage. Now, with the mountain wind blowing, his mind has calmed down, and he only feels his throat is dry.

Lin Yuan suddenly stopped.

He stood under an ancient pine tree halfway up the mountain and turned to look at Yang Guo.

"You dared to point your finger at hundreds of Quanzhen Sect members and yell at them just now, but now you don't dare to say anything to her?" Lin Yuan's voice was cold and hard, directly tearing away Yang Guo's pretense.

Yang Guo's ears burned.

He gripped the sword hilt, took a deep breath, and strode up to Xiaolongnu.

Beneath the ancient pine, moonlight slanted down. Little Dragon Girl's white robes were stained with grass juice. Yang Guo's coarse cloth robes were soaked with Zhao Zhijing's blood. The two stood side by side, a stark contrast.

Yang Guo stared into those clear eyes.

"Aunt," Yang Guo's voice trembled at first, but then he steadied himself completely, "every word I said in the back mountain is true. I don't care if the world calls me a traitor to my master. I'm only afraid that you'll think I'm being absurd."

Little Dragon Girl did not avoid his gaze.

She raised her hand. Her fair fingertips extended and grasped Yang Guo's sleeve directly.

"I don't understand the rules outside." Xiaolongnu's voice was cold and flat, yet it conveyed absolute seriousness. "I only know that I will be sad if you leave the Ancient Tomb."

Yang Guo's eyes reddened. He grabbed Xiaolongnu's wrist with great force.

Lin Yuan stood aside, watching coldly.

"Social customs and etiquette are always shackles written by the strong for the weak," Lin Yuan said, interrupting their conversation.

He looked at Yang Guo, his tone stern: "You're afraid of gossip, so you train until no one dares to utter a sound. Six years in the Ancient Tomb, and this is all you've accomplished? If someone insults you, you won't draw your sword?"

Yang Guo was deeply shaken.

The resentment that had been suppressed in the ancient tomb for six years was forcibly directed towards a sharper goal by Lin Yuan's words.

Brother Lin could trample even the Tang Dynasty emperor underfoot, and wipe out the Quanzhen Sect at will. What are rules anyway?

"I understand." Yang Guo nodded emphatically.

"Good son! Get married! Good!" Ouyang Feng jumped out from behind the ancient pine tree, clapping his hands and laughing, "Dad will teach your wife Toad Kung Fu! The best in the world!"

A faint smile appeared between Xiaolongnu's cool and aloof brows.

She turned to look at Lin Yuan.

"Six years ago, after you left the Ancient Tomb, I did something," Little Dragon Girl said.

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, signaling her to continue.

"I'm releasing Li Mochou," Xiaolongnu said calmly.

Yang Guo's expression changed drastically. Li Mochou was ruthless and cruel. Six years ago, Lin Yuan crippled her martial arts and imprisoned her in a side chamber of the Ancient Tomb.

"I thought of my fellow disciple. Her dantian was destroyed and her meridians were withered. I thought she could no longer practice martial arts and do evil, so I released her chains." Little Dragon Girl lowered her eyes.

Lin Yuan's expression remained unchanged.

"You released a fellow disciple. What she remembers may not be a favor," Lin Yuan said calmly.

Little Dragon Girl remained silent.

Just as Lin Yuan was about to turn around, his gaze suddenly swept towards the waist-high weeds beside the mountain path.

He stepped over and reached out to part the weeds.

A male corpse lay on the ground.

Judging from his clothing, he was a hunter from the neighborhood. He had been dead for no more than two hours.

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu followed.

Lin Yuan crouched down. A handprint was imprinted on the hunter's chest. The edges of the handprint were charred black, and the flesh was torn and rolled back.

This is the characteristic of the poisonous fire of the Red Serpent Palm.

However, there was no bleeding from the center of the wound. The blood inside the wound was a cold, bluish-purple color.

Lin Yuan extended his right hand and placed his index finger on the center of the palm print.

A chilling, extremely yin energy traveled from his fingertips. Within Lin Yuan's dantian, the true essence crystal that had transcended dimensions slightly rotated. A burst of intense heat instantly burned the chilling poison into white smoke.

Lin Yuan stood up and brushed the grass clippings off his fingertips.

"With her dantian destroyed, she certainly can't walk the righteous path." Lin Yuan's lips curled into a cold smile. "But she chose an even more poisonous path."

Yang Guo frowned: "She's regained her powers?"

Lin Yuan looked at the corpse on the ground. "Crimson Flame Poison combined with Extreme Yin Cold Poison. She must have had someone guiding her, or perhaps she acquired some kind of evil artifact."

Lin Yuan quickly calculated in his mind. Extreme Yin Cold Poison—the Tang Dynasty world had the Ice Profound Force, so where would this Divine Condor World get such an extreme Yin Cold Poison?

Mongolian Tantric Buddhism? Or a heretical sect from the Western Regions? Has the Golden Wheel Monk entered the game ahead of time?

Little Dragon Girl's face turned pale.

"It was a moment of weakness on my part that harmed the innocent," Xiaolongnu said softly.

Lin Yuan raised his foot and kicked the broken bow next to the hunter's corpse into the bushes.

"Don't blame yourself," Lin Yuan said coldly. "She'll most likely be at the Heroes' Gathering at Dasheng Pass. We can just kill her then."

Yuwen Huaji of the Tang Dynasty was already crushed, so what is Li Mochou, who went astray?

The four continued down the mountain.

Dawn broke. Morning mist hung in the air.

At the end of the mountain path, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came.

A skinny horse, foaming at the mouth, galloped wildly from the south.

A man in tattered clothes was lying on the horse's back. He was a member of the Beggars' Sect.

The man was covered in blood, with three black-feathered arrows stuck in his back.

The skinny horse ran close, its front hooves went weak, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The Beggar Clan disciple fell heavily into the mud. He rolled half a circle on the ground, desperately protecting a blood-soaked oil paper package in his arms.

The oil paper package unfolded, revealing a tattered invitation card.

The man looked up. His vision was blurry, but he could make out Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu's attire.

A woman in white, a boy carrying a sword.

The man mustered his last breath and forced out a hoarse roar.

"Master Guo has given orders... If Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü reach Dasheng Pass..."

The man spat out a mouthful of black blood.

"Bring him to the court for questioning!"

After shouting those words, the man's head lolled to the side, and he died.

The morning mist rolled along the mountain road.

Yang Guo stood rooted to the spot. He stared at the Beggars' Sect disciples on the ground, his eyes flashing with a fierce rage.

They were brought before the court for questioning.

The humiliating memories of Peach Blossom Island six years ago, along with this sentence, rushed straight to my mind.

Lin Yuan's eyes turned completely cold as he looked at the invitation on the ground.

This game of chess is getting more and more interesting.