It was already afternoon, the sun was shining slightly through the woods and fields, swaying gently in the wind.
Under the shade of the trees, a group of eight strong men took a rest for a while. Lu Pan, carrying a hunting knife on his back, waved his strong arm and asked the others to leave.
"It's almost an hour here, let's go down the mountain!"
The other seven men stretched their arms straight, supported themselves on the ground, and stood up one after another, walking out of the shade of the trees. The sweat on their bodies cast an oily sheen, outlining the contours of their bulging muscles, which trembled from time to time.
"Let's go, after patrolling the mountains, we'll go back to the village to eat." "Why not just kill a deer, it's quite nutritious."
"Go away... Killing a deer is nothing. It would be better if we could meet an old bear."
"Stop talking and leave!"
Lu Qing, who was holding up a circle of tree branches, waved his hands, untied the small wine jar hanging from his waist, poured a sip into his mouth, and couldn't help humming.
"... Liangsheng asked eight of us to patrol the mountain... We walked around the mountain, stared at me, and tapped my chest... We chased the mountain spirits away all over the mountain..."
The group staggered down the mountainside, swinging branches and belts. The nearest hilltop was still two or three miles away. Walking in the middle of the eight people, Lu Xi, who was slightly shorter, made a rumbling sound in his stomach.
"Let's find something to eat. I'm a little hungry."
Lu Pan turned around and glared at him, then reached for the leather bag at his waist, took out a piece of dried meat and threw it to him: "This is the last one. Hurry up and finish patrolling the mountain. I'll go home and treat you to wine and lamb."
"Don't fool around with pigs again..."
Lu Xi, who was chewing dried meat, said something that caused everyone to laugh. This had happened before. Amid the laughter, Lu Qing suddenly stopped and raised his hand abruptly.
"Be quiet!"
The whole person lay on the ground, with his face pressed against the ground. The rumbling sound of horse hooves came from far away.
"Someone's coming on horseback."
"Not only are there people riding horses, but there are also many people." Lu Pan's voice said in the front.
Lu Qing tried to wipe the dirt off his face and stood up, stunned for a moment.
"How do you know?"
Behind him, someone poked his waist, then pointed forward, "Look for yourself."
Looking in the direction of the finger, where the mountain road turned, a team of eight riders were galloping towards this side with the sound of rumbling hooves.
"Hurry up, they're catching up!" "Old man, don't move, be careful not to fall!"
"There are people ahead, let them get out of the way!"
The knight at the front of the cavalry waved his long sword and shouted, "People in front, move away!" At the same time, eight people lined up in a row, looking at the other side, as if they were going to force their way in. Lu Pan stabbed his hunting knife to his feet and clenched his fists.
The voice shouted: "Get off the horse!!"
The words echoed loudly through the mountains, squeezing out the mud beneath their feet.
Xilulu-
The sudden roar startled the other two horses. The rushing cavalry hurriedly grabbed the reins and ran a few steps before stopping. One of the guards was holding the old man in his hand, but he lost his grip and dropped him with a snap.
"Ouch..."
Wang Banxia rolled on the ground twice, holding his waist. However, no one paid any attention to him. Someone in the horse team shouted anxiously.
"You bunch of hunters, get out of here!"
Huh? Orion?!
Lu Pan and the other eight people looked at each other, then narrowed their eyes, and in the sight of the cavalry in front, they grabbed the lapels of their clothes and tore off their short jackets.
Hiss—
"Set up the formation!!"
The torn short jackets flew around, and the moment they fell to the ground, the eight men shouted "Ha!" and took half a step forward. The muscles in their arms were tensed, and they clenched their fists to press down or pull them upward to form lines. The muscles on their chests were knotted with sweat, and in the sunlight, their bronze and dark skin was like a hard iron plate, bulging high.
The sound broke out in an instant.
"We are the eight warriors of Mount Qixia. Do you have the guts to come over here—"
The bones all over his body made crackling sounds, and his eight pairs of pectoral muscles seemed to have balls embedded in them, shaking up and down continuously towards the eight riders opposite.
Gulp…
On the opposite side, the eight riders were also skilled in martial arts. They could not be called first-rate in the martial arts world, but they were at second-rate level. One could tell at a glance that those eight sturdy men had practiced kung fu for more than ten years, and it would be difficult for them to have such power.
In an instant, Min Yuerou glanced at the shaking chests of the eight men, and somewhat embarrassedly spurred her horse to push aside the guards in front of her, stepped forward, lowered her eyes and clasped her hands.
"Eight heroes, we are not here to cause trouble, we are here to look for someone. Do you know where Lu Liangsheng lives in Qixia Mountain? I am the daughter of the Minister of Personnel, Min Changwen."
Min Changwen
Before, the eight people had accompanied Liangsheng to court, so they were naturally familiar with the name. Lu Pan frowned.
"Min Changwen, was he the county magistrate of Fushui County back then?"
Hearing that the other party knew her father, the woman smiled with joy and nodded: "I also lived in Fushui County for four years. When Lu Liangsheng went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, he still lived in my house."
"Hey, hey, it turns out they are family. No need to fight, no need to fight."
Lu Pan quickly raised his hand and waved, and the seven people including Lu Qing, Lu Xi, Lu You, Lu Gui, and Lu Lai who were lined up on the left and right then withdrew their formation and shouted.
"So she is the daughter of Lord Min." "She is so pretty."
"… It's probably too far to come here from the capital."
"You came all the way from the capital to see our Liangsheng. What do you want?"
Amid the buzz of conversation, Min Yuerou didn't dare to say more. After all, there might be something chasing her, which might be a monster, so she hurriedly rode forward.
"Uncles and aunts from Lujia Village, there is trouble in the capital. My father led away some of the pursuers and asked me to find Lu Liangsheng, saying that he has a way... Please tell him where he is. There are monsters chasing us from behind, and we can't delay any longer."
Lu Pan and his eight companions were most afraid of women crying, so they shouted several times: "Don't cry! Don't cry!" They made way and waved: "You go first..."
At this time, the wind blew up on the mountain path. The people in the mountains were very familiar with their surroundings, so even the wind could make them feel a little strange. What's more, Lu Pan and the other eight had already mastered martial arts and physical training, and were very sensitive to qi.
"Go ahead, we'll hold off for you for a while."
The horses neighed in panic and stamped their hooves anxiously. Min Yuerou kicked the horse's belly and rushed past Lu Pan and others. She turned back and ordered: "Leave four of you to help!"
He lightly rebuked: "Go!"
Whipping the horse and galloping away along the mountain path, Lu Pan withdrew his gaze and waved his hand. The seven people including him blocked the road tightly. The four guards who were left also dismounted and stood behind the eight people.
Lu Qing looked at them from the side: "What kind of monster is it? Three heads, or six arms?"
"I can't see..."
Just as a guard took over the question, Lu Xi suddenly cried out "Ouch!", covered his chest and took a half step back.
"Hit me in the chest with something!"
When he took his hand away, a bloodstain was clearly visible on his right pectoral muscle.
The next second, Lu Pan's shoulders also felt a burning pain, as if he had been stabbed by a knife. He quickly gathered his strength, his muscles bulged and tensed, and he shouted, "Form a formation!"
"ha-"
The eight people shouted at the same time, their bodies shook, and in the invisible air, the light twisted rapidly, and the sound like the collision of metal hit Lu Pan and others.
Ping pong…
His skin and flesh were shaking. As Lu Qing gritted his teeth and persevered, he suddenly felt a foot stepping on his shoulder. He turned around and yelled.
"The monster jumped over!"
A guard at the back subconsciously swung his sword, and there was a loud bang in the air, sparks jumped out, and only the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground was heard, and then it ran away along the mountain path.
"It went after the young lady."
“Chase him!!”
The four guards jumped on their horses, turned around, whipped their whips and galloped away. The eight people led by Lu Pan who were left behind on the road did not have much experience. The moment the formation was dispersed, Lu Qing loosened his teeth, looked at the distorted light in front of him, made up his mind, screamed, and rushed forward.
As if he had hit an object, he grabbed the thing with both arms, and under the force of inertia, he fell to the ground holding the object and rolled over.
"Come on, I caught one!"
The feeling of being cut by knives all around them suddenly disappeared. Seeing this, Lu Pan and Lu Xi endured the pain in their bodies and rushed forward fiercely, pressing Lu Qing under them and beating him with their hands.
"This guy is really strong." "Come on!"
"Here they come!" "Lao Pan, disperse!"
The remaining four people yelled and ran over, grabbed the transparent but solid thing and pressed it down. The eight of them were extremely strong and had practiced martial arts. Their weight was beyond the reach of ordinary people. They pressed the thing down together. Some of them touched each other's hands, some touched each other's legs and feet, and tried to pull it apart.
On one side of the road, Wang Banxia, who was clinging to the mountain wall, held his stomach with his hands. No one paid any attention to him and he slowly got up by feeling the rocks.
Next second.
A miserable scream of "hiss" suddenly sounded, and blood splattered in the air, covering the old man's face. The eight people over there also fell in several directions at the same time, holding people's limbs in their hands...
"Ouch."
Lu Xi was so scared that he quickly threw his arm away, and saw a body without head and limbs in a pool of dark red blood on the ground.
"And she's a woman... Is she also a monster?"
At the same time, looking at the head of the woman with her eyes open in her hand, Lu Pan shuddered, threw it to the ground, and waved his hand quickly.
"Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave, or you might kill someone."
Most of them thought he was a monk who could perform magic like Liangsheng.
"Yes, yes, let's go." "Don't get into trouble."
The other seven people were also exhausted. They threw away the broken limbs and flesh, grabbed the dirt on the ground to wipe off the blood stains, and ran towards Lujia Village.
"Hey... wait a minute, old man."
Wang Banxia's face was covered in smelly blood and dirt. He stretched out his hands and rubbed the ground randomly as he moved forward. In front of his staggering feet, the soil suddenly loosened, and a pair of tentacles stretched out. A centipede half the length of a human crawled out with difficulty.
It was almost half dead, and as soon as it crawled out, it fell to the ground and passed out.
The tip of his toes touched the cracked hard shell. Wang Banxia reached out and touched it, picked it up, held it in his arms, and limped after it, shouting as he walked.
"Hey, wait a minute, you dropped your stuff!"
…
at the same time.
As the horses galloped past the mountain path, the view became wider and in the distance, a bare field could be seen, with farmers busy in the fields.
To the west of the distant mountain village, under the welcoming old pine tree, eight magic swords were buzzing.
Lu Liangsheng looked at the spiritual energy that was gathering together visibly with his own eyes.
"The first step is accomplished."
He stretched out his hand and a stream of spiritual energy rushed into the moonlight, emitting a magical light.