The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

After giving Li Jinyu a few words of advice, Yue Buqun led everyone down the mountain.

Li Jinyu had already told Tianmen Daoist the location where he was ambushed.

"They ambushed us in Jiuhegou."

As Yue Buqun walked, he explained the situation to Jiang Ning.

Jiuhegou is not far from Mount Hua, about 150 li away, and is a necessary route from Mount Hua to Luoyang.

Tianmen Daoist originally planned to leave on horseback, but there were no horses near Mount Hua, and not all the people at the foot of the mountain had returned. Without a means of transportation, Tianmen Daoist planned to hire a horse to return to Mount Tai after arriving in Luoyang. Unexpectedly, he was ambushed just a few days after leaving.

"We don't know who ambushed the Taishan Sect, but there are quite a few of them, more than a hundred. We need to act quickly. When Junior Nephew Li arrives, the Taishan Sect will have already been ambushed. If we are late, it may be too late."

Yue Buqun walked with a brisk pace, his expression solemn.

"It's probably too late to make it by foot alone. Let's go down the mountain first and see if any of the returning villagers have donkeys or anything like that."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning said, "Master, I have a donkey, so I'll go first."

Yue Buqun was taken aback, then suddenly remembered that there was a donkey in Jiangning that was stronger than a horse, named Maodou.

"Alright."

Yue Buqun nodded.

"Your Uncle Feng, your senior brother, and I arrived later."

Besides Yue Buqun and Jiang Ning, who are going down the mountain to provide assistance, Feng Buping and Linghu Chong will also be going. Among the remaining Huashan disciples, Lu Dayou, Liang Fa, and other second-rate individuals will also be going, along with some third-rate Huashan disciples, bringing the total number of people to nearly thirty.

The situation is urgent, and it's better to save them sooner rather than later. With so many people, it will take time to find a means of transportation. Since Jiang Ning has a mount, let him go first.

Jiang Ning didn't waste any time and headed straight for his residence.

When Jiang Ning returned to his residence, he saw a donkey idly munching on the grass in the yard in front of the house, looking rather bored.

Jiang Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, it didn't run away.

Since Jiang Ning warned it not to steal food from Feng Qingyang's place, it really hasn't gone back, but it has started wreaking havoc on the lawn in Jiang Ning's yard again.

Maodou took a bite of the grass on the ground, chewing it along with the snow in his mouth, but spat it out after a few bites. His donkey-like face fell, and he sighed.

It doesn't taste good.

It missed the herbs that Feng Qingyang planted in front of his house.

Ever since I ate those herbs at Feng Qingyang's door, eating these other things tastes like chewing wax.

Maodou felt like he had lost all hope in his life.

"Edamame."

Jiang Ning walked into the courtyard.

"Come down the mountain with me."

"hold head high."

Maodou called out and then followed Jiang Ning.

The man and his donkey headed straight for the North Peak, and after reaching the foot of Thousand-Foot Cliff, they met Yue Buqun, Feng Buping, and others.

"Master, I'll be going now."

Jiang Ning said something to Yue Buqun.

"Well, let's go."

Yue Buqun nodded, glanced at Maodou behind him, and showed surprise in his eyes.

That donkey is really strong.

But he looks so listless.

Jiang Ning led Maodou to a flat area and planned to ride it on his way, but found that Maodou was listless, so he said...

"Edamame, you've been raising this donkey for a thousand days, now it's your time to prove yourself. If you do well this time, after I rescue Master Tianmen and the others, you can eat whatever you want when I get back, as much as you want."

Upon hearing this, Maodou immediately perked up, turned around and stared intently at Jiang Ning on his back, his donkey eyes wide open.

"hold head high?"

really?

Jiang Ning nodded solemnly.

Maodou turned its head, its donkey face tilted to the side, its eyes serious. Its hind hooves rubbed against the ground to warm up, and the next second it shot out with a whoosh, leaping a long distance like it was being launched into the air.

"This donkey is really exaggerated."

The Huashan disciples were dumbfounded as they watched Maodou dart out and disappear without a trace.

Yue Buqun stared into thought as Jiang Ning's figure receded into the distance.

It's about time he got himself a mount.

In the past, when the Huashan Sect was poor, they couldn't afford to raise horses. Now that the economy is a little better, it's more convenient to raise a horse for travel.

"Alright, let's go to the nearby villages first."

Yue Buqun said something and then went to the village closest to Mount Hua. He quickly borrowed a donkey from a family and planned to go ahead first, so that Feng Ping and the others could find other means of transportation and catch up from behind.

……

call out.

The biting wind lashed at Jiang Ning's face, the trees on both sides rushed past in his eyes, and the whistling wind filled his ears.

"Faster."

Jiang Ning urged Maodou on, and Maodou was running at full speed.

Maodou is incredibly fast; its stamina and running speed far surpass those of ordinary horses. Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, it clenched its teeth, its limbs bulged with muscles, and its speed increased even further.

After speeding for several hours, Jiang Ning finally arrived at Jiuhegou, the place where the Taishan Police Station had run into trouble.

This is a forest, and a river flows not far away. It is winter, and the ground is covered with a layer of white snow.

Jiang Ning hadn't gone far when he saw large patches of blood splattered on the snow, turning it a deep crimson red.

Upon seeing so much blood, Jiang Ning frowned and quickened his pace. Before long, he discovered a series of corpses lying under a tree not far to his left.

Jiang Ning stepped forward and his pupils contracted when he saw the corpses clearly.

There were dozens of corpses, mostly those of martial arts practitioners, but also quite a few belonging to disciples of the Mount Tai sect.

Jiang Ning looked at the corpses of the Taishan disciples on the ground, his face extremely grim.

These Taishan disciples lying on the ground had greeted him at Mount Hua not long ago, but now they were dead here.

"Ho...ho..."

Suddenly, Jiang Ning heard a faint breathing sound coming from not far away. He followed the sound and found that a disciple of the Taishan Sect was still alive.

At this moment, the Taishan disciple lay on the cold snow, covered in blood, his face ashen, only his chest rising and falling slightly.

"Senior brother."

Upon seeing that the Taishan disciple was still alive, Jiang Ning went over and helped him up, calling out to him while channeling his internal energy to heal his injuries.

"Senior brother, wake up."

Not long after, the Taishan disciple opened his eyes.

Hearing the voice calling his ear, he looked in the direction of the sound.

"Is he...is he a junior brother from the Huashan Sect?"

At this moment, his vision was somewhat blurry, and he could not make out Jiang Ning's appearance.

"It's me, Jiang Ning."

Seeing that he had woken up, Jiang Ning immediately spoke, while simultaneously increasing the speed at which he transmitted his internal energy.

"Go...go save my master."

"This is what the Taishan disciple said."

Jiang Ning said, "Senior brother, your injuries are severe. Let me heal you first."

But the next second, the Taishan disciple pushed him away.

"No...no...don't treat me anymore."

He breathed weakly and said intermittently, "I...I won't live much longer, don't waste...my inner strength to save me, go...go save my master."

Where is Senior Uncle Tianmen?

Jiang Ning asked.

“Over there… my master… he… he went over there.”

The Taishan disciple pointed in a direction with difficulty and then looked towards Jiangning.

"Junior brother, you...you must save my master."

After saying this, the Taishan disciple breathed his last.

Jiang Ning silently stared at his corpse, then stood up, climbed onto Maodou's back, and said, "Go that way."

Jiang Ning pointed in the direction that the Taishan disciple had pointed earlier.

The edamame ran wildly.

Jiang Ning followed the direction and searched, but found no trace of blood along the way. It must have been covered by heavy snow. He only occasionally saw a corpse on the road, some of whom were martial artists and some of whom were disciples of Mount Tai.

Looking at the corpses along the way, Jiang Ning's expression remained unchanged, only his eyes grew colder.

Jiang Ning followed the corpses in search of Tianmen Daoist's whereabouts, as darkness fell.

Night falls.

After searching for an unknown amount of time, Jiang Ning finally heard a commotion ahead.

"Chase!"

"Chase them! They can't have gone far."