With a sword drawn, he laughs proudly, his martial prowess dominating the heavens!

Chapter 57 Strike First

Before dawn, Li Che descended the mountain.

Mount Hua is three or four thousand miles away from Fuzhou. This trip is quite long. Even at a fast horse, it would take at least until we reach the moon.

This time, I traveled light on my way down the mountain, but I still had a lot of money with me. Now, I can say that I'm not short of money.

After cycling fifty miles, I arrived at Weilin Town again.

The town gates were open, and street vendors were setting up pots to boil water, frying cakes and cooking porridge, filling the streets with delicious aromas.

Li Che chose a stall and enjoyed his sesame flatbread and mutton soup.

Once the bowls were empty, the shop had already opened its doors and was ready to open for business.

He visited several shops and finally found two decent brown robes.

At the same inn, Li Che spread his cassock on the table, pondered for a long time, and finally began to write.

The opening line reads: "To master this skill, all eight meridians must be opened!"

......

The Great Dao of Qian Yuan conceals and nourishes the body;

......

All things grow and flourish, and nature and humanity give birth to each other.

Of all things under heaven, only I, Bixie, am the most powerful!

With nearly a thousand words, Li Che searched through all the sword techniques and mental cultivation methods stored in his mind, taking out obscure and difficult words and combining them. It seemed profound and unfathomable, but in reality, it was obscure and difficult to understand.

Even with his exceptional memory, memorizing it still took him some effort.

On the other side of his robe, he copied two or three-tenths of the "Evil-Repelling Sword Manual" using his left hand.

He pondered all night. Since the blame for the "Evil-Repelling Sword Manual" could be pinned on the Fuwei Escort Agency, it was possible that it belonged to someone else.

For example, Abbot Yu of the Qingcheng School!

Whether others believe it or not depends on how it's arranged.

Li Che alone could not accomplish this, and after much thought, only Ren Yingying's subordinates were most suitable for the role of "mouthpieces of the martial arts world".

Peerless Sword Manual!

A quick way to succeed!

With such temptations, how many people could resist?!

However, even if they have the thought, they may not dare to take action. The Qingcheng Sect is not a pushover like the Fuwei Escort Agency.

Rumors stop with the wise, but they also originate with the greedy.

After a moment's thought, Li Che estimated that there were many bystanders who would remain passive, while the Demonic Sect would likely be among the contenders. Perhaps Zuo Lengchan would also send people to Fuzhou.

I reckon there are still some greedy and unorthodox individuals among them.

Having grasped the profound truth, Dongfang Bubai should not stop his flower and bird paintings because of some rumors.

The Qingcheng Sect's trip to Fuzhou is unlikely to be peaceful.

But the person surnamed Yu had to go; he had no choice but to go.

If the turmoil gets too big, Li Che has a backup plan that can solve the Lin family's "evil-repelling curse" once and for all.

As for who gets this fake sword manual, whether they practice it or not, and whether they will suffer from qi deviation, all I can say is... they lack comprehension and need to practice more!

Greed and malice always come at a price!

If this plan succeeds, it will need one more helper—Miss Ren.

"She got off easy this time!"

Li Che secretly pondered that, given Ren Yingying's personality, she would definitely use this matter to lure the experts of the Demonic Sect's Dongfang Bubai faction into a trap.

Cooperating with this woman is tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin; we must carefully consider whether she is telling us the truth or not.

Li Che picked up the second cassock, thinking to himself, "I wonder where that Yu fellow is right now. I need to hurry to Fuzhou; the informants at the Fuwei Escort Agency might come in handy."

After pondering for a long time and filling in the gaps, he finally left the town near noon.

He then turned his horse eastward, heading straight for Luoyang, thinking to himself, "If I had known things would happen so quickly, I wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble."

Traveling by day and staying overnight in mountain inns, after five days of rapid travel, the gates of Luoyang were already in sight.

This time, however, he did not go to the Golden Knife King's house. He only inquired briefly and found out the location of Green Bamboo Lane. He then mounted his horse and headed straight for the East City.

After walking only a few miles, we entered a narrow alley.

The alley was already secluded, and the noise outside seemed to be blocked at the entrance, giving it a sense of tranquility amidst the bustling city of Luoyang.

Li Che led his horse slowly, walking until they reached the end of the alley, where they saw a large patch of green bamboo.

A gentle afternoon breeze blows through the bamboo grove, where the bamboo leaves sway gracefully in the wind, creating an elegant and natural scene.

Li Che slowly stopped in his tracks, and he could hear the melodious sound of a zither coming from the small house in the bamboo forest, adding a touch of elegance and beauty to this quiet place.

The warm summer breeze seemed to carry a touch of coolness.

Separated by an alley, the outside is bustling, while the inside is quiet, as if they were two different worlds.

Thinking back to that night's confrontation, Li Che thought to himself, "Although this Miss Ren has a bit of a temper, she is quite a refined person when she calms down."

However, just as this thought arose, the person in the house seemed to have thought of something, and the melody of the zither suddenly changed, from gentle and slow to a chilling and urgent sound.

Although Li Che didn't understand music, he could tell that the person playing the instrument was filled with resentment and anger, and that their temper was hard to quell.

He immediately felt a surge of amusement: "Who has offended her this time? She's revealed her true nature in such a short time; she really is a short-tempered woman!"

"Young man, don't block the way."

Upon hearing this, Li Che looked behind him. The newcomer was slightly hunched over, with sparse hair on his head, and looked to be about seventy or eighty years old.

The man was large and extravagant, carrying a large cloth bag in his arms that looked quite heavy, and also holding a wine jar in his right hand.

Li Che smiled and gestured for him to step aside. The old man glanced at him indifferently, then strode towards the bamboo hut in the distance.

This person must be the Green Bamboo Elder.

After a short while, Li Che led his horse away. When he arrived at the courtyard, he saw the old man sitting with his back to him on a bamboo stool. There were many bamboo strips in front of him, and he was busy weaving bamboo utensils.

Almost all the utensils in the courtyard were made of bamboo. On the bamboo table beside him was a pot of wine. The wine jar had been opened and then sealed with a bamboo lid.

"I've sold out of bamboo ware for today. If you want to buy more, go to the East Gate early tomorrow morning. Outsiders are not welcome here."

Li Che smiled without saying a word, tied his horse at the gate, and went directly into the courtyard.

"Whose young master is this, so rude and disrespectful? Hurry up, hurry up, don't make this old man do it himself!"

"If I leave, Miss Ren will probably regret it!"

"Click—!"

The old man with the green bamboo trembled, and the bamboo strip in his hand broke off an inch in an instant. The old man, who had been trembling just moments before, quickly got up and moved to block the door of the bamboo house, his eyes full of vigilance.

"Who are you? Who sent you?!"

Li Che ignored her and instead raised his voice, saying, "An old friend has come to visit, Miss Ren, why don't you come out and greet him?"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud "humming" sound was heard from inside the house.

"Kid!"

"Let him in!"

"Yes, Auntie."

As the bamboo door opened and closed, Li Che had already entered the bamboo hut. A light gauze curtain divided the small bamboo hut into two sections, where Ren Yingying sat cross-legged behind the zither, her delicate hands pressing down on it.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, and Li Che could see that one of the strings on the zither was curled up in a ball, trembling incessantly.

"What are you doing here? And how did you find your way here?!" The voice remained crisp and cold, as if it contained ice.

"I'm just passing through and visiting an 'old friend,' and I'd like to ask you to do something for me."

"Hey Li, don't push your luck!"

Li Che casually sat on the bamboo mat and laughed, "I'll return those words to you. Let's forget about what happened last time, but if your men dare to cause trouble again, they'll face the consequences!"

Li Che appeared relaxed, but in reality, he secretly exerted his strength as soon as he entered the room. As soon as he finished speaking, he clearly heard the woman behind the veil pant a few times before calming down.

After a moment, Ren Yingying said again, "Speak quickly if you have something to say!"

"This time, I, Li, have come to deliver a gift to Miss Ren!"

......