The Longyin Mountain Range, inside a cave halfway up the mountain.
A bonfire burned within, illuminating the walls with a bright glow.
The cave entrance was concealed by a cluster of green leaves, so the light filtering in was not particularly clear.
Bricks and stones were piled around the bonfire, and a group of black-clothed men with cunning gazes gathered near them.
In front of the group, at the very center, a girl with short, deep purple hair leaned against a stone pillar.
She wore a simple, pale black dress that draped down to her ankles, revealing only two crystalline, delicate little feet.
The girl had a cold gaze and an elegant, aloof temperament, yet her attire was plain and unadorned.
It created a very subtle visual contrast…
Her name was Zi Menghan, the Demon Sect Princess disguised as a “commoner girl.”
Those men dressed as “mountain bandits” were her subordinates from the Guard Unit, and every single one was a Demon Cultivator.
At this moment, she was leading her subordinates on a late-night escape.
They had simply gotten lost in the Longyin Mountain Range and were forced to spend the night in the cave until dawn.
The story of their flight began a few days ago.
Back then, a mole within the Demon Sect had leaked information, drawing the attention of several righteous sects.
This led to a massive crusade against one of Zi Menghan’s hidden strongholds in the Kyushu Heavenly Dynasty, sending the Demon Cultivators fleeing in all directions.
Left with no choice, Zi Menghan, the Demon Sect Princess herself, had to retreat toward the Demon Sect’s headquarters overnight under the protection of her Guard Unit.
To leave the Kyushu Heavenly Dynasty and return to the Demon Territory, one had to pass through the Longyin Mountain Range.
However, the Longyin Mountain Range was not only filled with jagged rocks and complex terrain, but it also housed the world-renowned righteous sect, the Longyin Sect, at its summit.
For a group of fleeing Demon Sect cultivators to think they could run right under the noses of those righteous big shots was simply absurd.
With pursuers from the righteous sects behind her, Zi Menghan had no path of retreat.
Thus, she had come up with an emergency plan —
“Princess, you truly are a brilliant strategist. By disguising us all as mountain villagers, haven’t we completely fooled them?”
“Those pathetic righteous cultivators would never imagine we’d use disguises! Haha!”
“Brilliant, truly brilliant!”
By the bonfire, several subordinates offered their wicked smiles and flattering words.
In the center of the crowd, Zi Menghan, dressed as a village girl, pressed a hand to her forehead.
Her beautiful brow furrowed slightly, her eyes filled with disgust.
‘These useless fools… aside from licking my boots and blowing hot air every day, they really have no redeeming qualities.’
Zi Menghan had originally intended to have all these Demon Cultivators disguise themselves as mountain villagers while she played the role of a villager’s daughter, a simple country girl.
But looking at them now, how were these mountain villagers and a country girl?
These idiots truly lived up to their backgrounds as Demon Cultivators.
Each one had a more fierce and sinister gaze than the last.
Even their hemp clothes were worn so sloppily that they looked exactly like a group of mountain bandits who committed every evil imaginable!
And Zi Menghan, the only one who actually looked like a village girl, being mixed in with this crowd of bandits created an even more bizarre visual!
It looked like…
A group of murderous, pillaging bandits had kidnapped a small, weak young woman.
If those righteous cultivators saw this, they would definitely be exposed instantly!
They couldn’t even get a disguise right, turning “villagers” into “bandits.”
They were truly a bunch of brainless, muscular wastes!
The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became.
Zi Menghan watched her guards chatting and laughing by the fire, showing no sense of crisis whatsoever while on the run.
She felt a deep sense of unease.
She really wanted to slap these bandits twice and tell them to take their roles as villagers seriously.
“So annoying!”
“All of you, shut your mouths! Would it kill you to be quiet for a moment? What if those righteous cultivators catch up?”
Suddenly standing up, Zi Menghan’s face turned cold as she scolded her unruly demon subordinates.
For a moment, the subordinates dressed like bandits were all stunned.
They stared blankly at the angry Princess, too intimidated to speak.
However, a few of them had cold gazes, a hint of impatience flashing in their eyes.
It was at this exact moment that Zi Menghan raised her beautiful eyes, and her peripheral vision locked onto a young man in white outside the cave —
“…?”
Zi Menghan froze.
He Qiu’s mouth twitched, his expression subtle and complex.
He seemed to be witnessing a scene that was difficult to describe.
He had come here following the warmth and light of the bonfire, hoping to find a household where he could get a meal and a place to stay.
But when he pushed aside the bushes, he saw that this cave in the middle of nowhere was quite lively:
More than a dozen fierce-looking mountain bandits surrounding a weak young girl?
And the most ridiculous part was that the purple-haired girl had a look of disgust, standing in the middle of the crowd with her arms crossed.
All those bandits were staring intently at her body as if they were waiting to see what kind of performance she would put on next.
‘Ah… is it just me?’
‘Could these bandits have some kind of weird fetishes?’
Thinking of this, He Qiu felt a bit speechless.
His complex emotions were hard to put into words.
He began to back away step by step, feeling that the behavior of these bandits was far too strange.
It was probably best not to disturb them.
But just then, a large hand suddenly appeared and slapped down onto He Qiu’s shoulder —
“Young man, now that you’re here, did you think you could just run away?”
Looking back, he saw a burly, thickset man staring at him with a wicked grin, looking very much like a man from a certain type of adult film.
In an instant, He Qiu got goosebumps all over, his expression stiffening.
‘It’s over. These bandits really do have twisted fetishes. It wasn’t enough to capture a young girl and leer at her in public; they’re even planning to drag a young man like me back, too?’
‘How can such fetishes exist? That’s toxic…’
The more he thought about it, the more disgusted he felt.
He Qiu’s left hand gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, a flicker of hostility appearing between his brows.
Although he hadn’t witnessed these bandits committing a crime yet, if they insisted on laying a hand on him, He Qiu didn’t mind cutting them all down and rescuing that innocent village girl.
‘Uh, although… is it possible the girl is here voluntarily?’
But seeing how she glared at the bandits with such loathing, it looked more like she was being forced into something terrible by villains.
There was no way it was voluntary.
If he left her alone, who knew what kind of unimaginable atrocities would occur…
‘As expected, once you stumble upon something like this, you can’t just walk away easily.’
“Kid, speak up. Who sent you here?”
The burly man blocking He Qiu asked threateningly.
He Qiu raised an eyebrow, his expression becoming even more subtle.
He didn’t understand what this bandit was talking about.
“What? Can’t I just be passing through?”
“Passing through? Heh, what a coincidence.”
“Then what do you want?”
He Qiu was starting to lose his patience.
He hadn’t even asked anything yet, and these bandits were already looking for trouble.
These days, were villains really this bold and self-righteous?
“Since you’ve already seen our business, then you’ll just have to stay and keep us company tonight.”
“…Huh?”
‘Keep you company?’
‘Me and that girl, staying overnight with a bunch of burly men like you?’
‘These bandits really are perverts! They won’t even let a man go?’
He Qiu felt disgusted by the man’s leering gaze and finally couldn’t hold back anymore, drawing his sword.
“Oh? A sword cultivator at such a young age?”
As an evil cultivator of the Demon Sect, the man’s instinctual habit of provoking righteous cultivators was fully on display.
He also took two steps back and drew his sword to face He Qiu, settling into a combat stance.
“Come on, come on. Let uncle see if your sword skills are any good — “
“Tch, that idiot…”
Inside the cave, Zi Menghan finally couldn’t take it anymore.
They were Demon Cultivators currently being hunted and wanted by the righteous path.
At a time like this, wouldn’t starting a fight with a random person greatly increase the chances of being detected?
Furthermore, that young man was handsome and elegant, clearly a disciple of a major righteous sect.
Most importantly, Zi Menghan instinctively felt that this white-clothed youth had a deep cultivation level and was not someone to be trifled with!
It was best not to provoke people with mysterious cultivation levels; it was too easy to fall for someone playing the pig to eat the tiger.
Besides, the guy wanted to leave anyway.
Why did you have to go and stop him?
‘These idiots, why do they love making trouble so much! I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less from Demon Cultivators and villains.’
Thinking of this, Zi Menghan hurriedly shouted to stop them.
“Hey, you! You are not allowed to touch him!”
“What?”
The burly man was just about to strike when he was pulled back by his Princess’s command.
He couldn’t help but frown and click his tongue.
To be honest, he was very dissatisfied.
Why should more than a dozen Demon Cultivators be afraid of one little righteous sword cultivator?
The kid clearly looked weak as hell!
‘This princess is such a nuisance…’
But despite his inner resentment, the man still obeyed the order and retracted his killing intent.
“Hmph. Kid, did you hear that? For that girl’s sake, I’ll spare your life today! Now get lost!”
“Heh…”
After a cold laugh, He Qiu said with righteous indignation, “I refuse!”
“?”
The burly man turned back, his face full of impatience.
“You little brat, I give you an inch and you want a mile?”
“In the dead of night, you bandits are cornering a weak woman and even attempted to lay hands on me. Do you really think that because the Longyin Mountain Range isn’t under the direct jurisdiction of the Kyushu Heavenly Dynasty, it’s a lawless land where you can do whatever you want?”
He Qiu was gradually gaining confidence.
Originally, he wanted to leave because the scene was too weird, and he preferred to avoid trouble.
But hearing the girl actively speak up to protect him, He Qiu couldn’t just sit idly by.
If he left now, acting as if nothing happened, then God only knew what kind of filthy things these bandits would do to that girl tonight.
If things continued like this, would there be any “Light of Righteousness” left in the world?
He, He Qiu, might not be a man with an overwhelming sense of justice, but he was by no means a man without compassion.
He hadn’t expected that his first trial after descending the mountain would involve a group of perverted bandits with disgusting tastes.
What bad luck…
If possible, He Qiu didn’t want to deal with these creeps.
He would have preferred a more normal “hero saves the day” plot.
But since he had run into them, there was no other way.
Even if villains were perverts, they were still villains.
He’d just have to make do and cut them down!
Silently thinking, He Qiu summoned his Sword Spirit, Can Xue.
Then, accompanied by a vast Sword Intent that enveloped the area, he slammed the edge of Can Xue into the ground, vibrating with ripples of purple-dark sword runes.
“Come at me!”
He Qiu roared in anger.
“You villains, not a single one of you will escape today!”
At this moment, He Qiu felt the light of the righteous path shining upon his face.
Surely, the girl surrounded by the bandits must be feeling incredibly moved right now?
‘As expected, doing good deeds really gets the blood pumping.’
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