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Qin Qi shook his head at Dao Zhi, who insisted on jumping off a cliff instead of taking the proper path. He then jumped onto the back of the Qilin horse and slowly walked away along the mountain path.

............................................................

Meanwhile, Xue Nu and Jing Ni had already left the tavern and continued their journey towards the State of Zhao according to their original plan.

"Shouldn't we wait for Mr. Qin Qi? What if he comes back and can't find us?"

Jing Ni was slightly worried. To avoid being tracked down, she erased all traces.

She worried that if Qin Qi returned, he wouldn't be able to find them, but if she didn't erase their tracks, she feared the assassins would catch up with them.

"No need, that guy will definitely find us if he wants to."

The Snow Maiden didn't know how Qin Qi managed to do it, but no matter where they were, whether in the mountains or in the forests, Qin Qi always managed to find the right direction.

As the two women walked forward, they suddenly noticed a little girl who had fainted by the roadside. They looked at each other.

Jingni then dismounted and checked the situation.

"He's still breathing. He must have fainted from hunger. Judging from his clothes and shoes, he must be from the Zhao state."

"Yes, they were probably abandoned during the escape and then starved to death because they couldn't find them."

Jingni immediately grasped the general situation. Looking at the little girl, she felt a pang of pity and turned to look at Xue Nu.

"Since you've seen it, let's help out."

The snow woman came over with some water and food. They first fed the little girl some water, and then waited until the girl woke up.

"Who are you? I'm looking for the Empress (meaning mother)."

The little girl was frightened when she saw the Snow Woman and Jingni, and curled up, looking like a frightened little white rabbit.

"It's okay, we're not bad people. Look, we have food. Here, have some."

5.5 The Snow Woman easily gained the little girl's trust with food, and then asked her where she was from and where she was going.

"I don't know, but Her Majesty told me we were going there."

The little girl knew nothing when asked, but she knew where she wanted to go. She pointed into the distance and said, "Kind sisters, can you take me there?!"

The Snow Maiden and Jingni exchanged a glance, hesitating slightly, as their identities might drag the little girl into danger.

However, looking at the little girl's pitiful appearance and expectant eyes, the two of them were a little reluctant to refuse her.

“It’s not far from there, and it’s on the way to Zhao, so let’s give her a ride.”

"Ah."

After discussing it, Xue Nu and Jing Ni decided to take the little girl there on their way. Qin Qi returned shortly after they set off.

"Hmm? I haven't seen her for a few days, how come there's another little girl?"

"We found her on the road. She had gotten separated from her family, and we were going to take her there to see if we could find her family."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Qin Qi, if you find it troublesome, I can take her there myself without delaying your journey."

Jing Ni spoke up at this moment.

"I don't really care. Hmm, whatever, whatever you want."

Qin Qi looked at the little girl and then at Jing Ni, shook his head, and sighed, "Troublesome things always seem to come one after another."

The little girl lowered her head, not daring to look at Qin Qi. Qin Qi didn't say anything to the little girl either, and the group continued forward side by side.

After about half a day, the group arrived at a peach blossom grove.

"What a beautiful place!"

Looking at the pink peach blossoms filling the sky, the Snow Woman felt that this place was truly beautiful, and it would be wonderful to dance here.

"It is quite beautiful. This killing formation is indeed quite beautiful. It is hidden invisibly, yet it contains absolute killing intent!"

Qin Qi looked at the peach blossom grove, smiled, and said, "I've found him! Li Mu, the Martial Lord of Zhao, also known as the God of Military Formations!"

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Lord Wu'an, martial prowess can bring peace to the world, but it cannot protect one's own body.

Qin Qi, Xue Nu, Jing Ni, and the little girl dismounted and walked on foot through the peach blossom forest.

"Ding Cheng, Wu Xing, Zhao... these names?"

The Snow Woman looked at the names engraved on the peach trees, each one specifying age, origin, and name; almost every peach tree had one.

"Beneath each of these peach trees lies the soul of a tragically deceased person."

Qin Qi's gaze swept forward, passing over one peach tree after another, finally settling on one of them.

The tree reads: 'Li Village, Bairen County, Li Mu, forty-nine!'

"Li Mu is dead!"

The Snow Maiden looked at the words engraved on the tree and showed a surprised expression. Wasn't this trip to find Li Mu?

I didn't expect the other person to be dead.

"Don't rush, just wait for me to go up and kick him a couple of times and he'll come out."

Qin Qi walked up and kicked the tree with Li Mu's name on it twice, then quietly began to wait.

A long time passed, and there was still no movement.

"Hmm, how about we find a place to eat first, and then inquire about Li Mu's whereabouts?"

Xue Nu looked at Qin Qi, and she felt embarrassed for him. She took the initiative to step forward and find an excuse.

"This old guy really doesn't care about his reputation anymore, but you definitely can't let go of these people, right?"

"Wait until I go up and kick those trees a couple more times, he definitely won't be able to hold back."

Qin Qi walked to the tree with the two characters "Ding Cheng" engraved on it. Just as he lifted his foot, an old man with white hair suddenly appeared.

"Tell me what's wrong, but don't touch the trees or disturb their rest."

Li Mu spoke up.

"Ok!"

Jing Ni was surprised again. She felt incredibly incompetent once more, as she hadn't even noticed the old man's appearance.

This is something an assassin absolutely cannot allow. She began to wonder if she had been living a peaceful life for too long, and if her dangerous instincts as an assassin were starting to disappear.

When did he arrive?

The Snow Woman was also puzzled, but after her initial confusion, she directly asked Qin Qi. She didn't know what had happened, but Qin Qi certainly did.

"As I said before, this peach blossom forest may seem ordinary, but it actually hides deadly dangers. It contains the principles of military formations, the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams."

"It combines trapping, killing, bewilderment, and illusion into one. Once you enter, everything you see and everything you know will be affected."

"You think you see a lot of things, but in reality, the area around you has become your blind spot."

“He has been following us ever since we came in, you just haven’t noticed him.”

"General Li Mu, am I right?"

Qin Qi looked at the old man and smiled.

"You've got the wrong person. Li Mu is long dead. I'm just an old man keeping vigil here."

Li Mu's gaze remained unchanged as he spoke calmly.

"Don't be silly. Although I often get people's names wrong, I would never confuse an ordinary old man with a god of military formations."

"Besides, the Zhenyue Sword in your hand is Li Mu's personal sword. You can't exactly say that you dug up the grave and took it out yourself, can you?"

Qin Qi remained unmoved. Even though Li Mu did not acknowledge it, he was still certain of the other party's identity, which could be concealed.

However, after years of fighting, the smell of blood on his body could not be hidden.

"I dug it out. That guy didn't deserve such a good sword. I couldn't stand it, so I dug it out."

"You were just about to kick its tree, right? Go ahead and kick it. You can even dig up its grave if you want."

"As long as you don't touch anyone else's trees, you can do whatever you want with that guy."

Li Mu said this without blushing or skipping a beat; he truly lived up to his reputation as an old general, even his lies were so skillful.

"Fine, say whatever you want, whoever you are, I've come to you today. How about we discuss the Dao?"

Li Mu is a scoundrel, and Qin Qi is even more of a scoundrel. Anyway, I don't care who you are today, I'm going after you, so let's get started!

Li Mu glanced at Qin Qi, gripped the Zhenyue Sword tightly, and just as he was about to make a move, he turned and ran away.

"Old Deng, don't run!"

"You stay here and don't move around. This place is full of traps. If you're not careful, you could easily get trapped and die here."

"I'll come back to you guys after I've dealt with that old man. Just wait for me here obediently!"

Qin Qi gave Xue Nu and Jing Ni a few instructions, then quickly chased after them, observing the arrangement of the peach trees as he went.

A military formation immediately came to mind, and using the art of Qimen Dunjia, he began to calculate where Li Mu would go next.

Qin Qi chased after it according to the calculations in his mind, but as soon as he got there, he realized something was wrong; the Qimen had turned.

"The formation has changed. The peach trees are dead, but people are alive. One person can influence the formation of the peach trees."

"If you replaced the peach trees with real soldiers, the formation would become even more complex. This old guy is really skilled!"

Qin Qi had never personally experienced a military formation before, after all, the world of Under One Person was already a modern society.

Battles involving tens or hundreds of thousands of people are practically unheard of in Yanhuang, and he didn't have time to learn military formations.

He found it somewhat novel at first, and as he wandered through the peach grove, he tried to decipher the formation.

Li Mu deliberately deployed many traps and mechanisms along the way to block Qin Qi's trail, but the traps had no effect on Qin Qi.

Instead, it helped Qin Qi understand the formation better, and he quickly grasped the entire formation.

"This formation is not only divided into eight directions and four symbols, but also into yin and yang aspects, and the transformations between them are even more numerous."

Qin Qi deduced in his mind where Li Mu would probably go next, and he went to that spot in advance to wait for Li Mu.

This is the weakness of the peach tree formation: the peach trees are dead, but people are alive. In the end, whoever can control the formation depends on their ability.

At this moment, Qin Qi saw through the formation. He was no longer trapped inside, but began to use the peach blossom formation to turn the tables and surround Li Mu.

The situation between the two has reversed. Now Qin Qi is using the formation to surround Li Mu, while Li Mu is trying to break free from the formation's constraints.

However, both of them had thoroughly studied the peach blossom formation, and for a time neither could defeat the other.

In the end, the two did meet face to face.

"I've got Old Deng now."

Qin Qi spoke.

"Kid, I admit you do have some skill; you figured out the formation I set up in such a short time."

"But have you thought about the three girls you left behind? How do you think they are now?"

Li Mu spoke. His eyes, expression, and tone remained unchanged; you couldn't possibly deduce what he was thinking from these details.

"You can still go back and save them."

"Don't try to trick me with your words. First of all, you're not the kind of person who would do such a thing."

"All warfare is based on deception, and no means are too much."

"You might do that if it were just two women, but you wouldn't do it with that little girl around."

Qin Qi pointed to the names engraved on the tree. Those people were all very young, only in their teens, and had already died in battle.

"Phew, what if I were in your shoes? Could you really be so heartless as to send those girls to their deaths?"

Li Mu shook his head. He really couldn't do that kind of thing, not even now, not even in the past.

"That's the second one. Although I think they're not very good, they're actually quite skilled. They can usually handle most situations."

"Besides, we still have the Qilin Horse. Even if they can't win, they can still escape."

Qin Qi believed in the strength of Xue Nu and Jing Ni, and even more so in the speed of the Qilin Horse. He was confident that no one could stop him if he wanted to run.

"Okay, you're really good."

Li Mu nodded. This kid is indeed formidable. It seems that ordinary methods won't work, and avoiding battle probably won't work either.