Inside the Niu Shenjun Temple.
The air suddenly quieted down again.
Zhong Shenxiu looked at the corpse of Gu Qingying lying on the ground and the ice-sculpture-like red-dressed girl, sighing, "Such an accident..."
This level of turmoil was not something that Xun Liuyi, a novice in the Jianghu, should have been involved in.
Getting involuntarily swept up in it only led to being shattered to pieces.
"Indeed, dragging this young man into this was my mistake."
Gu Qingying struggled to his feet, looking at the enormous wound on his shoulder, his face twitched, and he grabbed the Lonely Goose Saber, cutting off strips of his flesh.
Zhong Shenxiu saw that among the pieces of flesh that fell to the ground, there seemed to be tiny white worms drilling in and out, which made him shudder.
Being wounded by the Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Puppet Hands was like having maggots that burrowed into bones—not treating the poison by scraping the bone, or the hero cutting off his arm, was simply a dead end.
This Gu Qingying, casually cutting his own flesh to laugh it away, was also quite a formidable figure.
His forehead was covered in sweat beads the size of soybeans, he tore off pieces of his clothing to bandage himself, then sighed, "That widow of the Jianghu may not be well-known, but able to contend with an Earth List Master, it shows that in this world of Jianghu, there are countless unknown Martial Arts experts like carps crossing the river. Thankfully Elder Du Tong was there, or else that woman would not have been driven away... Alas, I must seek revenge against her in the future."
Zhong Shenxiu saw this and curling his lips.
The gap between the Human List and the Earth List had already been clearly displayed just now.
Gu Qingying’s dream might be quite challenging.
"Although I don’t understand much about these Jianghu matters, that widow from before practiced the Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Puppet Hands, and she must usually amass a group of Martial Arts experts as her puppets, right?"
Zhong Shenxiu spoke up.
Once he said this, Gu Qingying’s expression changed immediately.
He thought of the entire Wang Family that he had killed and suddenly realized.
The widow’s strongest aspect was never her own abilities, but the group of living dead puppets under her command, those ruthless characters capable of employing their martial skills from when they were alive!
"This is bad, it’s a diversion!"
Gu Qingying, saber in hand, looked towards the little red-dressed girl: "Take care of yourself later, I must protect you thoroughly today since Elder Du saved me."
The red-dressed little girl looked at him blankly, not speaking, as if she were a completely emotionless puppet.
Outside the temple, footsteps suddenly arose.
Within the curtain of rain, there were figures draped in sedge cloaks, standing still, as imposing as towers.
The puppets controlled by the widow!
They were like a well-trained army that suddenly received orders; most of them charged into the rain to be cannon fodder for the assault on Heavenly Mechanism Star Du Tong.
A small portion, however, brazenly charged towards the temple.
The leader, over two meters tall, roared, and his hand, as large as a fan, smacked down ferociously, shattering the already crumbling doors of the Niu Shenjun Temple in an instant.
"With my Lonely Goose Saber here!"
Gu Qingying roared, wielding the saber single-handedly, moving with the blade to the side of the Great Han, effortlessly piercing the cloak with the tip of his saber but then failing to penetrate even an inch further.
’His body protection skills are not inferior to Iron Arhat’s, who is in the top ten of the Human List.’
Just as this thought crossed Gu Qingying’s mind, he was slapped away by the Great Han, fresh blood spraying from his mouth and nose.
He crashed heavily against a wall, then slowly tumbled down, gesturing urgently towards the red-dressed girl, "Little miss, run!"
The towering Great Han arrived in the temple and, upon seeing the statue-like red-dressed girl, emotionlessly reached out to grab her.
His large hand was broken in mid-air, and Zhong Shenxiu saw it clearly: the red-dressed girl had burst forth with incomparable speed, grabbing and snapping the Great Han’s hand.
Even the emotionless eyes finally flickered with a hint of spirit as she effortlessly lifted the great warrior and slammed him into the ground!
A large crater appeared on the floor of the temple, and the fate of the tower-like man within it was unknown.
Gu Qingying watched this scene, completely stunned.
So this little girl was so powerful. In that case, who should be protecting whom?
"Little girl, you..."
"Who are you calling ’little girl’? I am your Red Granny!" the girl retorted, her voice sounding eerily old, a stark and terrifying contrast to her delicate, doll-like face.
She looked towards the puppets outside the temple and suddenly with a delicate step, she rose into the air like a rising red cloud.
Wherever she passed, the rain naturally parted, and those puppets were continually struck down, their tendons snapping and bones breaking, collapsing onto the ground without a sound, motionless.
’So it is,’ Zhong Shenxiu nodded to himself. ’The Black Widow lures the tiger away from the mountain, and the Heavenly Mechanism Star can likewise draw the snake from its hole... after all, that old man never admitted she was his granddaughter...’
He suspected that based on her voice, she was very likely an elder martial artist of the same generation as Du Tong, and moreover, one of little renown, for even the Black Widow had been deceived.
Du Tong, an Earth List Master, was indeed... very cunning! Looking at the situation, to be a good person in Jianghu, one must be ten times more cunning than the bad ones...
Elsewhere, Gu Qingying’s expression had become vacant.
But soon, he seemed to remember something, picked up his Lonely Goose Saber, and watched Zhong Shenxiu with a wary eye.
The young girl before had concealed her identity, but what about this fellow?
"Young hero, I am truly a local, from the Shanyao Gang..." Zhong Shenxiu earnestly said, his eyes fixed on Gu Qingying.
’I don’t believe you at all!’
That answer was clear in Gu Qingying’s eyes, and Zhong Shenxiu saw the young man grit his teeth, pick up his severed hand, run out of the ruined temple, and disappear into the curtain of rain.
The Niu Shenjun Temple was suddenly peaceful again.
Apart from the howling wind and the torrential rain, and the damaged wooden doors and the gaping hole in the wall, everything was as it had been when Zhong Shenxiu had just awakened.
Zhong Shenxiu decided not to sleep anymore and sat cross-legged, quietly circulating the inner strength from the fifth level of Medicine Sand Palm to nurture his entire body.
He was very clear that right now, the outside was dangerous, but this small dilapidated temple no longer contained anything of interest to them, and was actually relatively safe.
The storm had subsided, the sky after the rain was clear, and the sound of birds and insects filled the vibrant woods.
The appearance of those several masters last night seemed almost like a dream.
While meditating, Zhong Shenxiu suddenly opened his eyes.
Just a short distance away, a group of San Shan Sect disciples, dressed in blue vests and trousers with three small mountains embroidered on their chests, were escorting prisoners from the Shanyao Gang back to Little Mountain City.
Seeing the miserable state of the Niu Shenjun Temple and the limbs scattered outside, they all paused in shock before looking through the completely doorless entrance, spotting Zhong Shenxiu inside.
A surprised voice came from among the prisoners: "How come you haven’t run yet?"
"He’s a Shanyao Gang disciple, I recognize him!"
One of the San Shan Sect disciples, seeing Zhong Shenxiu, revealed a joyful expression on his face, roared, and rushed forward, wielding an iron ruler.
Zhong Shenxiu dodged and counter-struck with his hand, slapping the man to the ground, rendering him unconscious.
"I knew it, this is more in line with my status..." he muttered to himself, "Otherwise, after yesterday’s events, it would’ve become the difficulty level of hell..."
He looked at the other San Shan Sect disciples with a mischievous smile forming on his face.