In the dense forest, Xiao Qingying suddenly dashed into Chen Wuyou's embrace.
"Brother Wuyou! Why did you come so late!? Many people came just now, they seem to be after us. Zhang Ke encountered them, I don't know what happened to him now?"
"It's okay, it's okay.... I'm here..." Chen Wuyou held Xiao Qingying, gently patting her back to comfort her.
His expression was gentle, but his eyes were cold.
"Why are you here? What happened to Zhang Rongfang who was with you?"
"Zhang Rongfang told me to hide in the tree hole, he ran back to get help. He also told me not to come out, even if it was you calling, I shouldn't come out." Xiao Qingying said hurriedly.
"But how could Brother Wuyou ever harm me? Just now I heard Dad's message tube, Dad and the others must have already set off, if we hurry back, we might even meet them!"
Chen Wuyou wasn't paying attention at first, but upon hearing Zhang Rongfang's advice to Xiao Qingying, his heart moved, suspecting that the young Daoist might have had suspicions about him.
After hearing the subsequent words, he suddenly felt a sense of urgency.
"Which direction did Zhang Rongfang go?" he suddenly asked.
"That way." Xiao Qingying pointed in the direction, which was exactly where the sound of fireworks message was heard just now.
Chen Wuyou's heart tightened, a flash of irritation in his eyes.
He finally knew who released the message tube.....
That damned young Daoist!
Chen Wuyou held Xiao Qingying, gestured in a direction within the dense forest, and then pointed in the direction where Zhang Rongfang left.
A shadow flickered in the dense forest, and immediately someone chased after him.
*
*
*
On the other side, watching the fireworks explode.
Zhang Rongfang withdrew his gaze, quickly scanning the surroundings, trying to find a place to hide.
The trees here were dense, the light dim, many places were suitable for hiding.
He quickly jumped down from a large rock, the increase in life attributes made his body much healthier, and his stamina was better than before.
If it were before, after running all this way, he would probably be out of breath.
Just after jumping down.
A masked man in black clothes suddenly appeared from the forest behind.
The man in black clothes looked up, meeting eyes with Zhang Rongfang.
"Hurry up, people from Qinghe Palace are coming!" Zhang Rongfang shouted sharply, looking tense.
The masked black-clothed man did not know Zhang Rongfang, still guessing, wanting to act, but upon hearing this, he was stunned.
"How many came?" he instinctively asked.
"I don't know, but I heard noise here just now, came to investigate, someone released a message tube! I was specifically arranged here to send messages!" Zhang Rongfang said in a deep voice.
"Trouble!" The man in black clasped his fists, turned and ran.
After running a few steps, he vaguely felt something was wrong, Chen Wuyou never mentioned arranging other people. This kid....
Wrong!
He was deceived!
The man in black turned to look at Zhang Rongfang, and sure enough, that kid had already run more than ten meters away, almost hidden by the forest shadows.
He immediately felt ashamed and angry, deceived by a young lad at his age, if this spread, how would he stand in the martial world!?
But the sound of the message tube was genuine, he stepped forward to chase a few steps, soon stopped, calculating the time.
The eyes behind the mask were indecisive.
"Damn, don't let me catch you again! Brat!"
The man in black no longer chased, turned and ran away from the direction of Qinghe Palace.
Soon, he disappeared into the vast sea of trees.
Zhang Rongfang ran a distance, looking back to see no one chasing, temporarily stopped to catch his breath.
The full-speed sprint just now had drained much of his stamina.
After waiting for a while, soon, from the direction of Qinghe Palace, footsteps of running were heard in the forest.
Two figures emerged from the forest, one was Sister Zhao Dacong, the other surprisingly Xiao Rong himself.
He actually came personally.
The two saw Zhang Rongfang and paused their steps.
"Rongfang, where's Xiaoying!?" Xiao Rong asked urgently.
"I hid her in a tree hole, I was afraid Sister would be found, so I came out to lure the enemy away!" Zhang Rongfang replied immediately.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Rong's face softened slightly, but still looked quite grave.
"Take me there!"
Immediately, Zhang Rongfang led the two quickly to where Xiao Qingying was hiding.
Soon, he returned to the front of the tree hole, only to find it empty, nobody inside.
"Where is she!?" Xiao Rong's expression instantly turned icy.
"I instructed Sister not to come out..." Zhang Rongfang replied instinctively. But seeing Xiao Rong's expression was wrong, he quickly stopped talking, his heart sinking.
If anything happened to Xiao Qingying, he would definitely not fare well.
Even with Xiao Rong's good temper, he might take out his anger on him.
"There are footprints on the ground, looks like they're feminine, likely to be Sister's!" Zhao Dacong quickly spoke.
"Let's go!"
Xiao Rong led the way.
The two followed the footsteps, quickly tracking them.
Their speed was extremely fast, disappearing in the dense forest within moments.
Zhang Rongfang thought about following, but then reconsidered; it would be futile as he couldn't keep up, so he stood still.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long.
Just a few minutes passed before a loud shout echoed from the distant forest.
Zhang Rongfang's heart skipped a beat. He crouched, slowly approaching the direction of the sound, peering toward the area while hiding behind the bushes.
Soon, in the darkened part of the forest, he saw Xiao Rong and Zhao Dachong engaged in a fierce duel with two black-clad figures.
A black-clad figure lay on the ground.
Xiao Qingying stood nearby, looking terrified, with tear stains still visible on her delicate face. She was evidently scared out of her wits.
Seeing that she was unharmed, Zhang Rongfang let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Only then did he have the leisure to watch Xiao Rong and Zhao Dachong's fight.
Upon closer inspection, he found that when these people fought, hitting a tree nearby left a pit, striking a chunk of bark.
A few seconds later, a black-clad figure was dealt a blow to the nose, dizzy, and then hit with a palm strike to the chest, falling to the ground unable to rise.
The other black-clad figure, seeing the situation was dire, turned to flee, disappearing into the forest within moments.
Only now did Zhang Rongfang realize that the black-clad figures on the ground were all spewing blood, their eyes unfocused, clearly nearing death.
Such ruthless tactics, his heart skipped a beat, his breath slightly hurried.
In his past life, he was merely an ordinary person, never having seen someone beaten to death.
Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, Zhang Rongfang forcibly shifted his gaze to his master and the other.
Xiao Rong and Zhao Dachong were already resting after their exertions.
Sweat beads faintly appeared on Xiao Rong's forehead, his whole body steaming, clearly heavily consumed.
Zhao Dachong, on the other hand, seemed unaffected, appearing relaxed.
"Where's Chen Wuyou?" Xiao Rong asked in a deep voice.
"He's passed out, over in those bushes." Zhao Dachong gestured toward another set of shrubs.
"He and Xiaoying were attacked, but thankfully we arrived in time; otherwise, things might have been terrible."
"Investigate and check what's the background of these people?" Xiao Rong appeared fatigued.
"Yes."
Zhang Rongfang then stepped forward, bowed in salute to the two.
"Master, Senior Sister."
"Did you discover any clues when you went out with Xiaoying this time?" Xiao Rong inquired gravely.
He had long noticed Zhang Rongfang hiding in the bushes and was unsurprised.
"Reporting to Master, when we reached a forest area, Senior Brother Chen Wuyou left to catch squirrels midway, leaving only the three of us.
Also, the voice of Senior Brother Chen, I found quite familiar. Moreover, this outing was initiated by Senior Brother Chen."
Zhang Rongfang approached, speaking softly.
"Do you suspect him?" Xiao Rong's gaze was steady.
Zhang Rongfang didn't respond, only nodded.
Need that even be said?
This excursion was orchestrated by Chen Wuyou. He was the first to run when they started out, plus the voice heard earlier was very similar to Chen Wuyou's.
These several reasons, combined, are enough.
"I understand this matter." Xiao Rong nodded heavily, "It's fortunate Xiaoying wasn't harmed." A flash of anger crossed his eyes.
"Let's wait for now; wait for reinforcements from the sect to thoroughly inspect this vicinity. I want to see who's so bold as to commit misdeeds near Qinghe Palace!?"
Afterwards, it was no longer Zhang Rongfang's concern, soon, another messaging tube shot up into the sky.
Subsequently, a group of about ten martial cultivators from Qinghe Palace arrived, under the leadership of a middle-aged Daoist, beginning a search in all directions.
Zhang Rongfang then returned to Qinghe Palace alongside Xiao Qingying and Chen Wuyou.
Upon returning to the palace, Zhang Rongfang was utterly exhausted, collapsing onto the bed and falling into a deep sleep.
Not until the bell chimed the next morning did he awaken from his slumber.
In his past life, he was just an ordinary person, no matter how prepared, once truly encountering those black-clad individuals, he feared he wouldn't last a round, one punch and he'd be downed.
Observing Xiao Rong and Zhao Dachong battling the black-clad figures earlier, their fists struck chunks of bark.
If they struck him, it'd likely resemble a rasp and hammer, each blow a chunk of flesh.
'But, even though Master Xiao Rong is supposed to be a third-grade expert, why did fighting these casually appearing black-clad figures seem so difficult? Even letting one escape?'
Zhang Rongfang's heart was puzzled.
Thump, thump, thump.
At this moment, the door was lightly knocked.
"Senior Brother Zhang, are you awake?" Yuan Feng's voice came from outside.
Sun Yuanfeng was Xiao Rong's close attending disciple, although a servant disciple, his visit indicated Xiao Rong had something for him.
"Coming!" Zhang Rongfang quickly got up, knowing this attack incident likely had results by now.
After dressing, he hurriedly fetched water from a tub, washed his hands, wiped his face, and then opened the door to follow Sun Yuanfeng, heading toward Xiao Rong's small pavilion.
Midway, Zhang Rongfang couldn't help but ask.
"Junior Brother Sun, I have a doubt I'd like to ask for your insight."
Sun Yuanfeng chuckled. "Speak freely, Senior Brother Zhang, anything I can say, I'll certainly share."
"Alright." Zhang Rongfang didn't hold back, directly voicing his confusion about the disparity between martial ranks.
"The strengths between martial cultivators' grades?" Sun Yuanfeng smiled, "This I do know."
Serving closely alongside Xiao Rong frequently, Sun Yuanfeng's understanding of martial cultivation far surpassed that of Zhang Rongfang at this moment.
"Grades only represent your past peak strength, past glory, but people can weaken, grow old, fall ill. So varied performance is normal."
"Moreover, those graded often signify rich combat experience, but two fists are no match for four hands, fists fear robust youth, many graded masters in the Jianghu face waning powers due to age.
I once heard a Master mention an eight-grade powerhouse assigned by the court, due to a solitary, eccentric personality, lack of companions, eventually grew feeble in later years, and at seventy, was beaten to death by a five-grade challenger."