How did I, a fake bodyguard, become a terrestrial immortal?

After leaving Hanlin City for more than half a day, the horses gradually slowed down.

To give the horses water and allow Bai Miyao to rest for a while, the group stopped at Huai'an Village, which they passed through on their journey.

There was no one in the village, but the fires in the stoves of a few households were still burning, as if all the villagers had disappeared at the same time.

Lu Yang leaped down: "This place is a bit eerie!"

Bai Yixin hugged Bai Miyao tightly and whispered a reminder: "Be careful."

The group had only walked halfway down the village road when a girl's shout came from ahead.

"Evil spirits are causing havoc and harming the people. Today, this heroine will act on behalf of Heaven to uphold justice!"

She spoke with great confidence, but when Lu Yang arrived, the female warrior was already surrounded by more than a dozen figures.

The girl was about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a light blue dress and holding a jade-inlaid longsword in her hand.

She was dressed elegantly, with an innate air of nobility in her eyes and brows, but at this moment her hair was disheveled and her hand holding the sword was trembling slightly.

Her name is Zhao Mingtang. She is the only daughter of the Prince of An, who guards Yong'an County, and is also the Princess of Yong'an, personally bestowed by the royal family of Dali.

Three days ago, she left a letter saying she wanted to "experience the world of martial arts" and secretly left the palace with her personal maid and two guards.

In Zhao Mingtang's view, the martial arts world should be about one person with a sword, upholding justice and chivalry.

If she's lucky, she might even meet a young swordsman with superb martial arts skills, and travel with him, becoming a pair of celestial lovers, flying side by side.

But once she actually arrived in the martial arts world, she got lost on the first day, encountered a shady inn on the second day, and stumbled into Huai'an Village on the third day.

The people surrounding her appeared to be villagers, but their faces were expressionless.

His eyes were tightly closed, his skin was bluish-gray, and his movements were stiff. Even when pierced by a sharp longsword, no blood flowed from his body.

Zhao Mingtang's strength was almost exhausted.

One of the dream puppets grabbed the sword blade, while two others approached from behind her.

She tried to back away, but her foot stepped on some loose stones, and she immediately lost her balance.

Just as the claws were about to fall, Lu Yang stepped in front of her.

The puppet's hand tore through his outer garment, but did not damage his skin.

Lu Yang looked down at the tear in his clothes and remained silent for a moment.

He has suffered the most losses since leaving Heiniu Town.

It's clothes...

How many times is this already?

Unfortunately, I forgot to ask the city lord's mansion for two more items.

Lu Yang turned around and punched the Dream Puppet to the ground. No flesh or blood splattered after it hit the ground; its body quickly turned into a cloud of black ash.

The remaining dream puppets continued to surround them.

They are numerous, but move exceptionally slowly.

Lu Yang hardly needed to dodge; he just had to wait for them to get close and then take them down one by one with a punch.

A dream puppet grabbed his arm, opened its mouth and bit down, but ended up breaking several of its teeth instead.

Lu Yang grabbed its collar and casually threw it away.

In no time, all of the dozen or so dream puppets turned to black ash.

Zhao Mingtang sat on the ground, staring blankly at Lu Yang.

Facing more than a dozen demons, he neither drew his sword nor used any fancy moves; he easily dealt with them with just his fists.

Isn't this exactly the kind of unparalleled master who returns to simplicity and authenticity from the stories?

Lu Yang walked up to her: "Can you get up?"

Zhao Mingtang snapped out of her daze, quickly straightened her skirt, stood up, and bowed, saying, "Thank you for saving my life, young hero."

"Just doing it on a whim."

Just as Lu Yang was about to examine the black ash on the ground, Zhao Mingtang suddenly stood up straight solemnly.

"Master, please accept my bow."

Lu Yang paused, "When did I agree to take you in?"

"My master is highly skilled in martial arts and saved my life; this must be what they call fate."

Lu Yang touched his nose: "I don't know any martial arts."

Zhao Mingtang's admiration deepened: "A true master doesn't flaunt their strength everywhere."

"I really can't."

"Master is indifferent to fame and fortune, your disciple understands."

Lu Yang suddenly understood what it meant to be unable to communicate.

He stopped dwelling on that question and instead inquired about the girl's background.

Zhao Mingtang quietly tucked the jade pendant engraved with the imperial dragon pattern into his clothes and replied naturally, "My name is Zhao Tang, and I live in Yong'an County. My father is just a small businessman. I came out this time to see the world."

Lu Yang glanced at her expensive longsword: "Small business?"

Zhao Mingtang nodded seriously; she wasn't lying entirely.

Prince An was in charge of the military and political affairs of Yong'an County and indeed handled a lot of salt and iron business.

Lu Yang knew nothing of this and simply assumed she was a runaway young lady from a wealthy family.

Seeing that he believed her, Zhao Mingtang immediately followed him: "Where are you going, Master? I can lead your horse and cover the expenses along the way."

As she spoke, she grabbed Lu Yang's sleeve.

Bai Yixin stood not far away, her gaze falling on that hand, and the smile on her face faltered.

She approached with Bai Miyao in her arms, subtly separating the two of them.

"Miss Zhao is injured; it would be best to have her checked first."

Zhao Mingtang didn't notice anything amiss: "This minor injury is nothing. We're all江湖儿女 (jianghu children, people of the martial world), there's no need to concern ourselves with such formalities."

"What you say makes sense, young lady," Bai Yixin said gently. "However, Young Master Lu has important matters to attend to and I'm afraid he won't have time to take on disciples."

Zhao Mingtang looked at her, then at Lu Yang, and suddenly a look of realization dawned on her face.

"Could this lady be my master's wife?"

Lu Yang nearly choked on his own saliva: "What are you saying! Don't talk nonsense!"

Bai Yixin lowered her head upon hearing this, her voice bitter: "Young Master Lu is right, I have no relationship with you."

Despite saying that, she turned and walked towards the carriage with Bai Miyao in her arms, without looking at Lu Yang again.

As Lu Yang watched her retreating figure, he felt that something was off about what she had said.

Zhao Mingtang leaned closer and whispered, "Master, did I say something wrong?"

"Don't call me master yet, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Lu Yang squatted down and picked up a thin black thread from the black ash.

The black lines twisted slowly, and as soon as the Xuanwu Qi and blood in Lu Yang's body surfaced, the black lines turned into smoke on their own.

As the smoke dissipated, Zhao Mingtang seemed to remember something, and the relaxation on his face vanished.

"My maid and guards went into that shrine and haven't come out since. Please help me, Master!"

Bai Yixin looked at the black ash on the ground and recognized the origin of these things: "These are Dream Puppets."

"Someone uses the Dream Gu to extract the villagers' dreams and then condenses the fears in the dreams into puppets. As long as the Dream Gu is not dead, the dream puppets will not truly disappear."

Bai Miyao suddenly snuggled into her arms.

"Mother, there are so many people inside."

She pointed to the tightly closed gate of the ancestral hall.

"They're all sleeping, and they're having the same dream."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of orderly footsteps echoed from inside the ancestral hall.

A moment later, a weak female voice rang out from behind the door: "Miss..."

Zhao Mingtang's expression changed; that was her personal maid, Qingluo.

Lu Yang slowly stood up and stood in front of the group.

The tightly closed ancestral hall door creaked open and opened inwards.

Dozens of villagers with their eyes closed stood neatly in the darkness behind the door.