Chapter Five: Ambush Mid-Journey

The steward lowered his hand in a slashing gesture across his throat.

Xiao Jue gave a faint wave.

“Something this small can be handled with a little silver and a few hired hands. If we send the Xiao family’s own men and attract the Mu family’s attention, that brute Mu Qingcheng will surely come at us with everything he has.”

When it came to Mu Qingcheng, Xiao Jue still held him in some dread.

“Yes, sir.”

The subordinate nodded and quietly withdrew.

At the same time, within Yuan Prefecture City, Mu Feng stopped at a roadside stall, had a box of osmanthus pastries wrapped up, and handed it to Xiao Yu in the carriage before leaping lightly onto his horse.

On this journey to Yellow Sand Town, besides Xiao Yutong, only Xiao Yu, the bridal maid, was accompanying them.

Driving the carriage naturally fell to Mu Feng.

Fortunately, the horse was an old one raised by the Mu family. Though it was not a spirit beast, it was intelligent enough and required little care from Mu Feng.

And so Mu Feng sat atop the horse, calmly cultivating.

Along the way, everyone who saw him had something to say.

“How pitiful. Not only did he marry a bride who is blind, he’s also been banished by his clan. I doubt that seat of young patriarch will last much longer.”

“A useless man paired with a blind woman. It really is a match made in heaven.”

“Mind your tongue. Even a starving camel is bigger than a horse. If you really provoke that pack of lunatics in the Mu family, you’ll suffer for it!”

Mockery and ridicule abounded, though quite a few also felt sorry for Mu Feng.

He took none of it to heart.

For the past year, ever since he lost his cultivation, this was how he had lived. He was long since used to it.

Once outside the city gates of Yuan Prefecture City, the road ahead opened into endless wilderness, with only a single dirt track winding through it.

Yellow Sand Town lay on the frontier of Yuan Prefecture City. By carriage alone, it would take at least four or five days to reach it. The journey was boring, so Mu Feng simply sat in meditation and continued condensing sword qi.

“Not bad. You managed to condense your second strand of sword qi so quickly.”

The fairy’s voice suddenly rang out, tinged with delight on his behalf.

Yet Mu Feng could not bring himself to feel happy.

“I’ve successfully condensed the second strand, but the third shows no sign of taking shape. What’s going on?”

“It’s because the spiritual energy in your area is too thin.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Use pills.”

Pills had always been an indispensable necessity for martial cultivators, though good ones did not come cheap.

Fortunately, the property Mu Feng’s father had left behind in Yellow Sand Town happened to be an alchemy hall that produced medicinal pills. Once he arrived there, his path of cultivation should go much more smoothly.

“You can’t rush what takes time.”

The fairy’s mellow voice sounded again.

“Of course you’re not in a hurry,” Mu Feng said grumpily, then turned to glance behind him at the carriage. “Fairy, do you think there’s any way to restore Yutong’s sight?”

“No.”

“Aren’t you a fairy? And you can’t even do this?”

“I’m a fairy, not a divine physician. It’s not my place to cure her. If she is meant to recover, she will. What you should do is care for her properly and nourish her body well.”

“And one more thing—don’t touch her.”

Resting her cheek on one hand, the fairy said with a grin.

Mu Feng blanched.

“Why can’t I touch her?”

Of course he understood what “don’t touch her” implied.

It was nothing more than the joys between husband and wife, but he was curious. Since they were already married, why could he not touch her?

“Why ask so many questions? I told you not to touch her, so don’t touch her. If you can’t hold back, use your hand. If you don’t know how, I can help you.”

With that, the fairy even extended her hand and made that utterly absurd motion.

Mu Feng could not help but shudder.

How was this a fairy? She was more like some ancient lecher who had not seen a man in tens of thousands of years.

“Forget it.”

“Someone’s coming again. You brat, why are you so hated? Even out in the middle of nowhere, someone wants to kill you.”

The fairy looked around in mild puzzlement.

Before Mu Feng could react, more than a dozen figures in black robes had already surrounded the carriage.

By their dress, they were clearly a band of brigands entrenched in these wildernesses.

The strongest among them had only reached the second level of Qi Gathering.

At the sight of this, Xiao Yu’s face turned deathly pale. She hurriedly covered Xiao Yutong’s ears, unwilling to let her worry.

Their young master could not cultivate—what were they supposed to do now that they had run into such people?

It was over.

They were going to die!

Out in this forsaken wilderness, even crying for help would be useless!

“Young Master, what do we do... Are we really going to die here...?”

Xiao Yu’s trembling voice emerged timidly, clearly terrified beyond measure.

Mu Feng put on a stern expression and instructed her.

“Keep an eye on the young lady and close your eyes. What happens next is not fit for a young girl to see.”

Inside the carriage, Xiao Yu heard this and began shaking uncontrollably, her eyes clenched shut.

“Mu Young Master, we’ve been waiting here for you for quite some time.”

A voice thick with killing intent rang out, and Mu Feng could not help but grin.

“Who sent you? The Grand Elder? Or Xiao Jue?”

“Why worry about who? Just obediently leave your life behind.”

“As for the two in the carriage, if they serve the grandfathers well, sparing the two of you with whole corpses is not impossible!”

As the words fell, several gleaming blades were drawn and came straight for Mu Feng.

Bang.

The weapons crashed down together, all striking the sturdy carriage and leaving only shallow cuts.

Looking up, Mu Feng had already leaped into the air at some unknown point, a confident smile spreading across his face.

His fighting spirit surged.

Since beginning his cultivation, he had never truly tested the power of his sword art.

This time, he could finally fight without restraint.

Even the fairy was especially excited.

“Not fit for a young girl to see? It’s fit for me! Beat the living daylights out of them!”

Whoosh—

The blades swept toward Mu Feng in unison.

“At the second level of Qi Gathering? So you’re not quite as worthless as the rumors say. But today, this is as far as you go!”

“There’s more than just you in the Qi Gathering realm here!”

The leader bared his teeth in a grin and gave a signal with his eyes.

The people behind him struck again.

So what if Mu Feng had reached the second level of Qi Gathering? In terms of numbers, the advantage was theirs.

But in the very next instant—

Mu Feng raised a hand and flicked it, and two strands of sword qi shot forth from his fingertips.

These men were nothing more than brigands. Apart from their leader, the rest had not even stepped onto the path of martial cultivation.

Killing them was as easy as slaughtering chickens.

The fierce sword qi raged through them. In mere moments, all but the leader were left headless and dead.

“Damn it! Weren’t they saying Mu Feng was a useless cripple? That bastard Xiao Jue lied to me!”

The leader’s expression changed abruptly. They had been cut down and routed in a single exchange; what the hell was there left to fight?

He had never seen such an uncanny technique.

Just as he was about to flee, a blade of sword qi was already pressed against his throat.

Any further movement would mean decapitation.

“Mu Young Master, let’s talk this over. We’re just trying to make a living...”

“Who sent you?”

“The Xiao family sent me. The family head ordered that you be taken out on the road at all costs.”

The leader forced a smile, terrified that Mu Feng would kill him the next instant.

“He wants me dead that badly?”

Mu Feng frowned.

It wasn’t enough to steal his wife; they had to exterminate him completely? The Xiao family’s methods were truly too overbearing.

“It was Lord Jiang’s order. Three months from now will be the examination for the Grand Prime Martial Academy. He and Miss Xiao will serve as examiners, and they said they do not want you appearing at the assessment. After all, the matter between you and the Xiao family’s young lady...”

Hearing this, Mu Feng finally understood.

The Grand Prime Martial Academy was the institution established by the Snowmoon Empire to nurture martial talent.

In years past, the examiners had always been disciples of the Sword Sect. Those with talent cultivated there would have the chance to pass through the Grand Prime Martial Academy and enter the Sword Sect.

The forced marriage had always been a stain on the Xiao family, and also on Jiang Wuying, that genius of the Sword Sect. That was why Mu Feng had to be eliminated.

“In three months, then. I’ll prepare a grand gift for Xiao Ruoxin.”

Mu Feng grinned, his eyes cold beyond measure.

Seeing this, the leader began to step backward, panic spreading across his face.

“Mu Young Master, I’ve told you everything you wanted to know. Can you let me go...”

Pfft.

Blood sprayed. A head fell.

Mu Feng swung himself back onto the horse and rode off without looking back, leaving the desert wind to bury the brigands’ corpses.

“Mu Feng, did something happen just now?”

From within the carriage, Xiao Yutong’s voice softly sounded.

“Nothing much. A group of people wanted a ride in the carriage. I refused, and they were a little unhappy, so they said they wanted to beat me up.”

Mu Feng answered with a smile.

At once, Xiao Yutong grew excited.

“Oh! And then what happened?”

“Later? I saw how pitiful they were, with nowhere to sit, so I gave each of them a straw mat. Moved by my kindness, they accepted it with tears in their eyes...”