343: Chapter 343: Battle Qi Transforms into a Horse?

"Reading?" Xiao Ran gestured with his chin toward the book in her hand.

Su Qinghan closed the book and stood up: "Alliance Leader."

"Don't be so formal, sit."

He didn't stand on ceremony, walking into the courtyard to sit on a stone stool, then unscrewed his wine gourd and took a sip.

"Three days from now, I need to make a trip to Falling Star Town on the border. Something has happened there, and I need help."

Su Qinghan stood where she was, watching him.

Xiao Ran looked up: "What? You don't want to go?"

"This Disciple wouldn't dare. It's just that I've only just returned, and I'm not yet familiar with the internal and external affairs of the Sect, so I'm afraid of delaying the Alliance Leader's business."

"It's precisely because you aren't familiar with them that you need to go out and move about."

Xiao Ran set the wine gourd on the stone table and tapped his fingertips twice on its belly.

"Falling Star Town is to the north of Gray Wolf Ridge. It's a small town where Loose Cultivators live mixed together. Seven people have gone missing in the last three months."

"The town manager reported that it was a Yao Beast causing trouble, but I've read the case files, and it doesn't seem like it."

Su Qinghan keenly caught the phrase "Yao Beast causing trouble."

Anomalies near the ruins of the Ancient Battlefield often disguised themselves as beast tides or Yao Beast infestations; this was very likely the clue she was looking for on this trip.

"What does the Alliance Leader suspect?"

Xiao Ran glanced at her, his gaze lingering on her face for two breaths before he smiled slightly.

"We'll talk when we get there. Pack your things; we depart the morning after tomorrow."

He didn't ask if she was willing, nor did he give her any room to refuse.

After saying this, he stood up, picked up his wine gourd, and walked out.

When he reached the courtyard gate, he suddenly turned back, his gaze falling on the short blade at her waist: "That knife of yours is not bad; there's an inexplicable aura on the blade."

Su Qinghan instinctively pressed her hand against the hilt: "This is something I had on me when I woke up this time."

"Hmm." Xiao Ran nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

She stood in the courtyard, watching that dark-robed figure disappear at the end of the corridor.

Xiao Ran had praised the knife—or rather, he had praised the blood groove on the knife.

That short blade was Li Changsheng's handiwork, and the forging style of the edge and blood groove was in line with several major Artifact Refining Sects of the Righteous Path.

Before leaving, Su Qinghan had specifically used sandstone to polish the blade's edge and applied a layer of medicinal liquid to make it emit the luster of old iron.

But the curve of the blood groove could not be polished away.

That was the mark left by the forger.

She wasn't sure if Xiao Ran understood Artifact Refining.

But she was more inclined to believe that he understood everything.

...

On the morning of the third day, before the sky had fully brightened.

Su Qinghan had already been waiting at the mountain gate for the time it takes an incense stick to burn when Xiao Ran finally strolled out.

He had changed into a dusty old robe, his hair tied casually into a ponytail, looking like a Loose Cultivator who had spent years wandering outside.

The short blade at his waist had been replaced with an ordinary iron sword, which didn't even have a scabbard; the naked blade was just tucked into his belt.

"Let's go." Xiao Ran didn't look back at her.

He immediately brought Su Qinghan along, shrinking the earth to inches, covering thousands of miles in an instant.

Su Qinghan was secretly shocked.

Xiao Ran's strength seemed to have increased quite a bit; no wonder Li Changsheng had sent her here to go undercover.

Given time, Xiao Ran would definitely incite a great war once again.

When that time came, it would be another catastrophe for all living things.

But Su Qinghan couldn't afford to think too much right now; in her view, she should first focus on getting closer to Xiao Ran step by step.

Xiao Ran took Su Qinghan through Black Stone Town and several desolate plains at an extremely fast speed.

The scenery along the way gradually changed from blue-gray to withered yellow and ochre red.

The faint scent of sandalwood in the air had completely dissipated, replaced by the scent of dry sand, wind, and scorched vegetation.

Only then did Xiao Ran stop, seemingly slowing down the pace on purpose.

With a wave of his hand, he conjured two Yao Beast horses.

"I suddenly feel like we aren't in such a rush. I think we can enjoy the scenery along the way, don't you?"

Su Qinghan couldn't quite keep up with Xiao Ran's train of thought.

Cultivators riding horses? Do you think this is "Qi Turning Into Horses"?

However, Su Qinghan didn't speak up to refute him. After all, the Demonic Path was Xiao Ran's dictatorship.

So, the two of them mounted the fine horses.

The two of them traveled at a moderate pace, occasionally reining in their horses to stop and observe the ground or the mountain terrain in the distance.

Su Qinghan followed about half a horse's length behind him, neither falling behind nor getting ahead.

The two of them remained silent for most of the journey.

Until the sun began to set in the west, when Xiao Ran suddenly spoke, his voice loose and scattered by the wind.

"When you were wandering outside before, how did you survive on your own?"

Su Qinghan didn't expect him to ask this suddenly. She paused for a beat before answering: "As a Loose Cultivator, naturally I took on some odd jobs."

"Odd jobs?"

Xiao Ran turned his head to look at her; against the light, his facial features were outlined deeply.

"Killing people?"

"... Sometimes."

"Have you ever gone soft?"

Su Qinghan was silent for a breath, then shook her head.

"Never."

Just kidding; which member of the Demonic Path would go soft when killing?

Xiao Ran let out a laugh. He didn't press further, urging his horse to speed up onto a slope ahead, then reined it in to a stop.

Su Qinghan followed, looking forward in the direction of his gaze.

Below the slope was a low-lying valley, and in the center of the valley stood a cluster of dilapidated houses.

With gray tiles and earthen walls, it was the size of about forty or fifty households. At the entrance of the town stood a crooked wooden stake, from which a paint-chipped sign hung.

It was impossible to see what the name was. The town was eerily quiet.

There was no cooking smoke, no human voices, not even the barking of dogs.

The sun shone brightly, but the shadows under the eaves were as thick as ink, as if light could not penetrate them.

"Interesting."

Xiao Ran dismounted and tied the reins casually to a withered tree nearby.

"Let's go, let's go in and take a look."

Su Qinghan dismounted as well, her hand unconsciously pressing against the short blade at her waist.

The town's streets were deserted. But from behind the tightly closed wooden doors, faint sounds occasionally drifted out.

It sounded like something dragging across the rough ground, or the friction of fingernails scraping against wooden boards.

Xiao Ran didn't stop, walking along the main street all the way to the notice board in the center of town. A yellowed piece of paper was posted on the board, its ink blurred.

One could vaguely make out the characters for "Missing" and "Bounty."

"Seven people, three months." Xiao Ran reached out and peeled off the paper, looking it over front and back.

"This human town seems to have experienced some kind of disaster."

"The first to go missing here was a hunter, then the town blacksmith, followed by a widow, and then a family of three."

He handed the paper to Su Qinghan: "What do you see?"

Su Qinghan took it and read it carefully: "The interval between disappearances is getting shorter and shorter. From one person in the first month to two people per month by the third month, it indicates that whatever is causing trouble is accelerating."

"Also—" She pointed to an inconspicuous brown stain on the edge of the paper. "This is a bloodstain, but it's been there for a while. It was probably accidentally stained when the notice was posted."

"Hmm." Xiao Ran nodded, his gaze landing on a half-collapsed tower at the west end of the town. "That tower, let's go up and take a look."