Qin Yaotiao had no choice but to let Lu Chen carry her on his back, but at that moment, a frivolous voice came from behind.
"Little sister, it must be uncomfortable to be carried like this. Why don’t you ride in our carriage?"
Lu Chen turned his head to look and saw at the corner of the mountain, a few small sedans made of bamboo, with two young martial artists winking and making faces in their direction.
They didn’t look like the decent kind of sedan carriers.
Of course, even if they were, Lu Chen wouldn’t feel secure handing Qin Yaotiao over to someone else.
His brows furrowed coldly as he snapped, "Scram!"
The two men were startled by Lu Chen’s imposing manner, but upon closer inspection, seeing that there was no spiritual power emanating from Lu Chen’s body, they stood up, rubbing their hands eagerly, "Boy, are you looking for death?"
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes. Thinking that starting a fight at the mountain entrance would surely attract others’ attention, he decided to carry Qin Yaotiao on his back and turned to step onto the mountain path.
Seeing the two fading into the distance as they went up the path, a fierce light shone in the eyes of the two martial artists.
"This one is a fat sheep. We’ll take a shortcut later and get ahead of them!"
"How can you tell?"
"Yesterday, when I went to sharpen my knife, I saw this spear. It seems to belong to Zhao, the physician’s young medicine boy. He paid a fortune for it!"
"A fortune!"
The other martial artist gasped, incredulous.
A fortune spent on resources would be enough for them to go from Flesh Refinement Realm to Bone Refinement Realm, so why would they need to carry sedans and guide people here, earning a meager few silver pieces?
"No one knows Ten Thousand Demon Mountain better than we do... and this kid is even carrying someone on his back, yet he has no spiritual power. He might be some rich young master running off with the daughter of some family... hehe..."
The two came to an agreement with a slap of their hands and picked up the bamboo sedan to leave the place.
The mountain path was winding, and Lu Chen was unfamiliar with it, but they knew it very well!
...
There was no path in the mountains, but once people walked through, a path was created.
Later generations stepped in the footprints left by their predecessors, which is an innate instinct.
Lu Chen was no exception.
In the midst of the forest, the vegetation was lush, surrounded by towering ancient trees.
The dappled shadows were somewhat gloomy, requiring Lu Chen to be vigilant all around.
He had already taken off the eyepatch from his left eye, but it was inconvenient to walk with his right eye closed, so he simply moved the eyepatch to cover his right eye and used his left eye to see.
Still, he didn’t use any spiritual power, and that was enough for him in this place.
After a long trek, the mountain path began to descend, and the sound of flowing water reached his ears, clearly indicating a stream nearby.
As the sky gradually darkened, Lu Chen said, "Yaotiao, let’s rest here for the night and continue our journey tomorrow."
Firstly, he feared that at night, it would be easy to encounter wild beasts, making it difficult to act while carrying Qin Yaotiao.
Secondly, he was concerned about moving too quickly and running straight into the dozen or so Lu Family martial artists.
Though a martial artist in the Bone Refinement Realm posed no threat to him now, Lu Chen’s journey was not one of murder, and it was best to remain as cautious as possible.
If they were to kill and draw blood, attracting many demon beasts, that would be troublesome.
Wild beasts were one thing, but demon beasts were comparable to martial artists!
"Hmm, young master, I’ll listen to you!"
Qin Yaotiao’s pretty face turned slightly red as she softly responded. In truth, she had wanted Lu Chen to put her down for a while now.
Having been on the move for so long, she was feeling an urgent need, yet was too embarrassed to mention it to Lu Chen.
Half an hour later, when the sky was completely dark, they had reached the valley below.
The clear stream trickled by with a tinkling sound. Lu Chen had been to this place before and remembered there was a concealed cave nearby.
"Let’s head over there first, hoping that the cave hasn’t been discovered yet!"
The floor of the valley was smooth, so Lu Chen set Qin Yaotiao down.
"Young master, I need to... I need to..."
Qin Yaotiao tentatively spoke, squeezing her legs together and twisting her waist.
Realizing what she meant, Lu Chen laughed, "Go ahead, and don’t hold it in next time!"
"Mm."
Qin Yaotiao replied in a voice as small as a mosquito’s, thinking to use the sound of the flowing water as cover, she moved a bit closer to the stream.
Relieved after holding it in for so long, Qin Yaotiao felt at ease.
But unexpectedly, two dark figures used the cover of some large rocks beside the stream to stealthily approach!
The stream provided her with cover, but it also gave cover to them!
A sack suddenly enveloped her head from above, and with her vision shrouded in darkness, Qin Yaotiao screamed out loud!
"Ahhh!!!"
The scream tore through the night, echoing continuously in the valley. Lu Chen, who had just cleared the entrance to the cave, tensed up immediately!
"Yaotiao!"
The echoes filled the valley, preventing Lu Chen from pinpointing the direction of the sound. He infused his pupils with spiritual power and searched the entire valley but couldn’t spot Qin Yaotiao’s location!