Zongwu: Eavesdropping on the inner voices, the female warriors have become strange

After receiving the signal from Zhong Ling, the fake bride Mu Wanqing, who was sitting in the sedan chair, tore off the veil on her head, jumped out of the sedan chair, snatched a knife from a bandit, and used the Lingbo Weibu technique to crazily kill the minions.

The changes in the mountain stronghold quickly alarmed the first and second in command. When they arrived at the battlefield, they found a girl in a red wedding dress with a black veil and a girl dressed as a maid constantly killing the bandits in their Lianyun stronghold.

The two girls' cultivation wasn't particularly strong, not even as strong as the three brothers, but their Qinggong skills were exceptional. Even when surrounded by bandits in the stronghold, they were still able to maneuver freely among them. Furthermore, their attacks were extremely ruthless, either slitting their throats or chopping off their heads or stabbing their hearts. Their blows were almost always fatal, and bandits would often fall to the ground, never to get up again. By the time the first and second in command arrived at the scene, the bandits in the stronghold had already been slaughtered, leaving a river of blood. Even their third brother had been killed by Zhong Ling, who had drained all his internal energy and had slit his throat. He lay dead on the ground for a long time.

The first and second in command were naturally furious upon seeing this, and immediately drew their swords to kill Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing.

Seeing that the final target had appeared, Zhong Ling immediately slapped the cloth bag on his waist and said, "Good Diao'er, go and kill all the men in the village."

After the lightning marten came out of the bag and rushed towards the minions in the mountain village, Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing each took one to meet the boss and the second in command.

The lightning marten was so fast, like a flash of lightning, that even the head of the Wuliang Sword Sect, Zuo Zimu, and his disciples couldn't dodge it, let alone the bandits in Lianyun Village who had only learned three or two external skills. Soon, the bandits in Lianyun Village were hunted down by the lightning marten, and all of them were bitten and poisoned and fell to the ground.

While the chief and second-in-command of Lianyun Village were both masters of the first-rate acquired realm, the chief even a peak one, just one step away from breaking through to the innate realm, Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing possessed the Beiming Divine Art, as well as top-tier light skills like Lingbo Weibu. Furthermore, they possessed true Qi, a level of superior quality compared to internal energy. After being caught off guard by Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing's physical contact, the chief and second-in-command felt their internal energy rapidly draining away, being absorbed by Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing. Their expressions suddenly changed, but they realized it too late; they could only watch helplessly as Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling drained their internal energy.

"Witch!" The headmaster cried out in despair before his throat was cut. He had toiled for decades, practicing to break through to the Xiantian realm. He had committed countless evil deeds and robbed countless fortunes to buy powerful elixirs. To think that just before he was about to break through, his internal energy would be drained away by a girl. He hated it!

"Tsk!" Zhong Ling curled her lips in disdain. You evil bandits have the right to call me a witch? Killing you is to eliminate harm for the people, and everyone will respectfully call us fairies.

After killing the first and second in command, Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing sent the poisoned bandits to the Buddha one by one amidst the cries of "demon witch". Whether it was to conceal their own martial arts that could absorb people's internal energy, or because the bandits in Lianyun Village had committed many evil deeds, Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling would not let any of them go.

In addition to the bandits, Lianyun Village also held over twenty young women who had been abducted. These women endured a horrific fate within the village. After being rescued by Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing, and learning of their vengeance, seven or eight, having lost all hope in life, burst into tears and committed suicide. Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling did not intervene; it was their choice. Abducted to the village, these women's reputations were already ruined. Even if they returned home, they would be subjected to the prejudices and gossip of others, a death preferable to a quick one.

As for the women who didn't commit suicide, Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing collected the village's valuables and took only the silver and gold. They divided the rest among the women and let them go on their own. As for where they wanted to go in the future, they didn't care.

Although Lianyun Village only had three masters with internal skills, their strength was not low. All of them were top-notch masters, and the leader was even a top-notch master. This was also the reason why the Xuzhou government was unable to do anything about Lianyun Village.

After Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing absorbed all the internal energy from the three men and converted it into true Qi, their Qi increased significantly. Zhong Ling, in particular, absorbed not only the Third Leader's but also the First Leader's. By the time she had converted all the internal energy she had absorbed into true Qi, her internal Qi had nearly surpassed the standard for fifteen years—a massive increase. If it weren't for the First and Third Leader's incompetent internal cultivation techniques, resulting in low-quality internal energy and a somewhat unsatisfactory conversion efficiency, the amount would have been even greater.

Chapter 53 It turns out to be insufficient energy

While Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing were killing the bandits and absorbing their internal energy, Chen Liu, who was taking another route, was also practicing while walking along Luzhou, Gongzhou, and Xianzhou towards Xiangyang.

Chen Liu wasn't in a rush to head to Leigu Mountain. Su Xinghe was still years away from setting up the Zhenlong chess game, and his current cultivation was too weak to even consider the Six Meridians Divine Sword. Without the Six Meridians Divine Sword, Chen Liu needed to acquire some martial arts skills. With only his gong techniques and Qinggong skills, he couldn't even fight without them. Zhong Ling did teach him some hand techniques, but since she wasn't very good at them herself, there was no way he could learn advanced martial arts from her.

Chen Liu wanted to learn some swordsmanship, otherwise he would be embarrassed to carry a sword that Zhong Ling brought from the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion but not know how to use it.

The most renowned swordsmanship in the martial arts world is undoubtedly Dugu Qiubai's Dugu Nine Swords, Fengyun Sword Saint's Sword Twenty-Three, and the techniques of Tianjian Wuming, Ye Gucheng, Ximen Chuixue, Xie Xiaofeng, Yan Shisan, and Yan Nantian. However, these swordsmanships are difficult to learn, and Chen Liu's most likely to learn Dugu Qiubai's Dugu Nine Swords. Therefore, he wanted to try his luck at Dugu Qiubai's Sword Tomb in Xiangyang. While it's highly likely that Dugu Qiubai is still alive in this world of martial arts, it's hard to say whether there's a sword tomb there, but what if? Even if there isn't a sword tomb, he could still check for the Bosuqu Snake. If Dugu's Sword Tomb in Xiangyang yields nothing, it wouldn't be too late to head to Leigu Mountain.

In reality, the best swordsmanship should be the one that best suits you, and the best swordsmanship is the one you create based on your own circumstances. But Chen Liu is still a long way from creating his own swordsmanship. He doesn't even know how to use a sword yet, he can't even crawl, and you want to run? Even if he wants to create his own swordsmanship, he must first improve his swordsmanship and experience enough swordsmanship before he can do it.

During this time, whenever he had free time, Chen Liu would study the system, looking for any features he hadn't discovered. However, after studying it for a long time, the system remained the same, with only a new row of skills, the Beiming Divine Art and the Lingbo Weibu martial arts, as well as the weapon, the Fine Steel Sword. Otherwise, there were no changes, which made Chen Liu feel a little depressed.

Probably that's it.

Name: Chen Liu

Race: Terran

Skill: Beiming Divine Art

Martial Arts: Light Footsteps

Auxiliary skills: Primary Disguise

Weapon: Fine steel sword

Even if there's no system mall, at least give me a system space. Even if it's small, it's still important. These days, who wears a suit without a system space? Is a system still a system without a system space? Chen Liu couldn't help but complain.

system:……

Perhaps after hearing Chen Liu's complaints, the system finally responded and displayed a line of words: Insufficient energy, unable to open the system space.

Chen Liu was stunned. This was the first time the system had responded to him. He was immediately overjoyed, thinking to himself, "I told you, if this system only had one system panel, it would be too special. This kind of panel has basically been eliminated from all major online novels." Just like the ring-shaped grandfather is no longer popular in novels nowadays, the system panel is also on the verge of being eliminated.

"System, system, how can I replenish my energy? Tell me quickly." Chen Liu asked hurriedly.

Chen Liu inquired repeatedly, but the system remained silent, leaving him deeply disappointed. "If you don't tell me how to replenish your energy, how can I find it to help you?" Fortunately, he now knew the system wasn't incapable of other functions, but simply out of energy. Perhaps it had fallen into a dormant state, Chen Liu speculated.

After knowing the reason, Chen Liu was motivated and could plan to find something that could replenish the system's energy. Even though he didn't know what could replenish the system's energy yet, he could try them one by one. As long as he tried enough, he would find it out sooner or later.

Gold and silver probably wouldn't work, but Chen Liu also had some. This gold and silver was a gift from Duan Zhengchun. While not much, there were still 100 taels of gold, 200 taels of silver, and a horse that Zhong Ling had brought from the Zhennan Palace. If the gold and silver were useful, the system would have already absorbed them. Of course, it's also possible that the quantity was too small. Regardless, after visiting Leigushan, Chen Liu planned to travel to Jiangling in the Daming Dynasty to view the treasures of Emperor Yuan of Liang. Perhaps there was something there that could replenish the system's energy? If that didn't work, he could go to the Great Sui Dynasty to see the Yanggong Treasury. If that didn't work, he could try to rob the Heshi Bi.

Of course, before doing these things, he must first improve his martial arts skills as quickly as possible. At least he must break through to the innate realm first, right?

It took Chen Liu two months to reach Xiangyang from Dali. The reason for this slow journey was that Chen Liu only had half a day to travel, and the remaining half day and the evenings were mostly spent cultivating. In just two months, Chen Liu had opened up five of the twelve meridians. Adding the hand Taiyin lung meridian he had opened up with Zhong Ling's inner energy in Langhuan Blessed Land, he now had six of the twelve meridians open. With just one more meridian opened, he would be able to break through to the top of the post-natal realm. This made Chen Liu secretly proud, as he felt that his martial arts aptitude was quite good.

Of course, Chen Liu knew this was definitely due to the fact that he was energizing Beiming Qi, not internal energy. Using Qi to open the twelve meridians was undoubtedly easier than using internal energy. He also suspected the system had a role to play. After all, according to the world of martial arts, after adulthood, one's innate strength is already set, making it difficult to achieve success by learning martial arts at this point. Most people would ultimately remain second-rate or even third-rate warriors. Yet, Chen Liu had opened six of the twelve meridians in just two months. He didn't believe there wasn't a system behind this, but he simply didn't know the reason.

After paying the entrance fee, which covered one man and one horse, Chen Liu led his horse into the city. Xiangyang, named for its location on the south bank of the Xiang River, has long been a key economic and military hub throughout various dynasties. Xiangyang was also a major city during the Song Dynasty, boasting not only high walls but also a garrison of tens of thousands of troops. Furthermore, Xiangyang was a significant city, the fourth largest in the Song Dynasty after Kaifeng, Luoyang, and Chang'an. It was several times larger than Dali City, the capital of Dali, and its walls were more than twice as high.

Chen Liu led his horse, curiously observing the streets of Xiangyang while looking for an inn to stay in. However, when Chen Liu found an inn, he touched the sachet of money given by Zhong Ling and found that it was missing.

Chen Liu was speechless. He hadn't expected to be robbed the moment he entered Xiangyang City. Losing money wasn't a big deal. Chen Liu had a habit of storing his money in several places, so even if one portion was stolen, it wouldn't end up on the streets. However, the sachet was a gift from Zhong Ling. If she knew he had lost hers, she'd probably nag him the next time they met.

Chapter 54 Huang Rong (Part )

"Money lost?" When the innkeeper saw Chen Liu's appearance, he knew that his money must have been stolen.

"Lost." Chen Liu sighed.

"Sir, do you still want this guest room?" asked the boss.

"Yes." Chen Liu pulled out a small silver ingot weighing five taels from his pocket and handed it to the boss. He suspected that his money had been stolen by a skinny little beggar who had just bumped into him. It seemed that little beggar was no ordinary person. Could it be Huang Rong? After all, he was now a second-rate master. To be able to steal money from him without him noticing, he must have some martial arts skills, and they were not low at all.

As he thought about it, Chen Liu couldn't help laughing in his heart. He thought that he must be overthinking it. He couldn't think of Huang Rong just because she was a beggar. Maybe she was still in Peach Blossom Island.

When Chen Liu thought he was just imagining things and thinking the little beggar who stole his money was Huang Rong, Huang Rong, who was squatting in a corner outside the inn and secretly eavesdropping on Chen Liu's thoughts, was stunned.

Chen Liu never thought that he would guess right at once, that it was Huang Rong who stole his money. Huang Rong also never thought that the strange man whose thoughts she could hear could actually guess that it was her who stole his money.

Just like the original novel, Huang Rong was scolded by her father for sending food to Zhou Botong and chatting with him, and she ran away from home in anger. After arriving in the Song Dynasty, Huang Rong disguised herself as a beggar and wandered around. One day, when she wandered to Xiangyang, she met a very strange man. As for why it was strange, of course, she could hear his thoughts. At first, Huang Rong thought she might be hallucinating, but after following the man for a while, she was sure that she could indeed hear his thoughts. Huang Rong immediately found it very interesting, especially after the man said a lot of words in his mind that she didn't quite understand, which made her feel even more amused.

Of course, fun can't be eaten. Huang Rong happened to be out of money, and Chen Liu looked quite wealthy, so she slipped past him and stole his purse. After that, she quietly continued to follow Chen Liu, eavesdropping on his thoughts. What Huang Rong didn't expect was that the man actually guessed that she was the one who stole his money. Although he quickly denied it and said that he was probably still on Peach Blossom Island, he did guess correctly, which made Huang Rong feel even more amused. Why did this man know her? And why did he know that she was dressed as a beggar?

"Hey, young man, is this your sachet?" Chen Liu left five taels of silver at the counter, to be paid back when he checked out. He also asked the boss to send a table of food to his room and a bucket of hot water to wash off the dust on his body. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to follow the waiter to his room, a little beggar jumped out, a sly smile in his eyes, and held up a shrunken sachet in his hand to show him.

Chen Liu was speechless. This sachet was indeed the one Zhong Ling had given him, with the word "Ling" embroidered on it. And this little beggar also looked like the beggar who had bumped into him. Chen Liu glanced at the little beggar's neck and thought to himself, "Okay, even if we're not sure if it's Huang Rong, this little beggar is definitely a woman. She doesn't have an Adam's apple, and her clothes may look shabby, but you washed them so clean, and your neck is so clean and white. Who wouldn't be able to tell you're pretending to be a beggar? Look at the beggars out there. Which one isn't covered in grime, and when you rub it, it's like a big ball of black healing medicine."

Huang Rong:......

What the hell is this black healing medicine!

"Where did you get this sachet?"

"Just now I saw a beggar steal your sachet. After he took the money inside, he threw the sachet away. I thought this sachet must be very important to you, so I wanted to pick it up and return it to you to see if I can get some reward." Huang Rong lied seriously.

Chen Liu was even more speechless. Although he was not sure yet, he was 80% sure that this person was Huang Rong. He just didn't know why Huang Rong targeted him, stole the money in his sachet, and wanted to use his sachet to cheat him out of more money.

"Okay, thank you very much." Chen Liu reached into the pocket of his sleeve and took out a small silver ingot weighing five taels and handed it to the little beggar.

If it really was Huang Rong, giving her a few taels of silver wouldn't matter; it would just be a good relationship. If there was a chance in the future, I could go to her Peach Blossom Island and borrow some of the books there. Huang Yaoshi was well-versed in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, formations, divination, and so on. Those books might be of use to me.

Huang Rong glanced at the five taels of silver ingot that Chen Liu handed over and said with some disdain, "Only five taels of silver? This sachet must be very important to you. Was it given to you by a girl? Is that girl only worth five taels of silver in your heart?"

The innkeeper and the waiter were stunned. Even they could see that the beggar had stolen the guest's money and was trying to cheat him out of his sachet. They thought that even if they didn't report it to the police, at least they wouldn't give him the money. They didn't expect that there would be such a fool in the world who would actually use five taels of silver to buy back his sachet. What surprised them even more was that the beggar was not satisfied after getting five taels of silver and wanted more, treating him as a sucker. They thought that the guest must be unable to bear it anymore.

"Then how much do you want?" Chen Liu asked after thinking for a while.

"At least fifty taels." Huang Rong opened her small palm which was deliberately made black.

Chen Liu pondered for a moment, then reached into his clothes and pulled out a small gold ingot weighing five taels, handing it to Huang Rong. The exchange rate for gold and silver was ten to one, meaning five taels of gold was equivalent to fifty taels of silver.

The innkeeper and the waiter were stunned. Could anyone really be that stupid? This was fifty taels, not five. Fifty taels of silver was enough to support a family of three or five for several years.

Huang Rong reached out and quickly took the gold from Chen Liu's hand, even taking the five taels of silver that he hadn't yet taken back. Huang Rong tossed the two small ingots, one gold and one silver, between her hands, but didn't return the sachet to Chen Liu. She said, "I'm talking about the gold."

Chen Liu said angrily, "That's enough. You really treat me like a sucker."

Huang Rong chuckled, knowing she had gone too far, and returned the sachet to Chen Liu. Chen Liu took the sachet, looked at the five black fingerprints on it, and sighed. He would have to wash it off later.

"Waiter, come on, take me to the room." Chen Liu turned to the waiter and said.

"Sir." The innkeeper called Chen Liu.

"What's the matter?" Chen Liu turned around and asked.

"The money you just gave me is not enough." The innkeeper's eyes flickered. This fool was so stupid and so rich, he would feel uncomfortable if he didn't cheat him out of it.

"Huh?" Chen Liu reached out and slapped the counter, and the entire counter shattered into pieces of wood. All the money in the counter fell out, and silver, silver ingots, and copper coins were scattered everywhere.

"not enough?"

"Enough, enough." The boss fell to the ground, his face pale with fear.

Huang Rong couldn't help but burst out laughing at this, thinking to herself, "Do you think you're me? You're trying to learn how to cheat people out of money?"

Chapter 55 Huang Rong (Part )

"Boss, please get me a room, and send a table of wine and food, and a bucket of hot water to my room. The wine must be the best Shaoxing Longshan Huadiao. The dishes I want are four dried fruits, four fresh fruits, two salty and sour dishes, four candied fruits, and eight stir-fried dishes. For the eight stir-fried dishes, I'd like quail cooked with flowers, stir-fried duck feet, chicken tongue soup, venison stuffed with Jiangyao, fried mandarin duck tendon, shredded rabbit with chrysanthemums, stir-fried deer legs, and ginger vinegar and silver trotters. And twelve side dishes..." Huang Rong was so quick-witted that she chattered non-stop, leaving even the innkeeper and waiter stunned. After naming the dishes, Huang Rong pointed at Chen Liu and said, "Put it on his bill."

Chen Liu:......

"It's confirmed, it's definitely Huang Rong. In the original novel, she also tricked that idiot Guo Jing in the same way."

Huang Rong:......

Original? Idiot?

The boss turned to look at Chen Liu with a dazed look, wanting to see what he would say. Now the boss knew Chen Liu was no fool, but a martial artist with martial arts skills. He had smashed his counter with a single slap. If that slap had landed on him, the boss couldn't help but tremble at the mere thought of it. He didn't dare ask for compensation. Who had told him to try to rip him off? It was just that for some reason, Chen Liu had fallen in love with the little beggar and was willing to be ripped off by him.

"Remember it." Chen Liu nodded, then took out a five-liang gold ingot and threw it to the boss, saying, "Deduct it from here first. If it's not enough, come back and ask me for it."

After saying that, Chen Liu said to the waiter, "Take me to my room."

"Yes, yes!" The waiter looked back at the little beggar with a strange expression on his face. He was extremely envious. He didn't know what the old man saw in the little beggar that he was willing to pay for him without even asking. He had already taken out ten taels of gold. He only earned six cents of silver a month. To earn this much money, he would need to work for more than ten years without eating or drinking.

Huang Rong was also a little surprised. Chen Liu had paid for her without even asking, and hadn't made any demands on her. Was he trying to win her favor first, then ask for anything? Hehe! Huang Rong thought she had seen through Chen Liu's tricks. She chuckled inwardly and thought to herself, "If I didn't know what you were thinking, I might have let you succeed, but who can hear your thoughts? Since you're trying to scheme against me, I'll make sure you end up losing more than you gain."

"Waiter, is there any strange snake near Xiangyang that has a faint golden glow all over its body, fleshy horns on its head, moves like the wind, and is extremely difficult to catch?" After the waiter brought Chen Liu to the guest room and was about to leave, Chen Liu stopped him and asked.

"A strange snake with a faint golden glow all over its body and fleshy horns on its head?" The waiter was stunned for a moment and said, "Sir, I'm not sure about this. If you want to know if there is such a snake, you need to ask the nearby hunters and mountain dwellers."

"Go ask for me." Chen Liu took out a small silver ingot weighing five taels and said, "If you can help me find this strange snake, this silver ingot will be yours."

When the waiter heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up with eagerness. Five taels of silver was his salary for most of half a year. How could he not be greedy?