It was late spring early summer, Qin Mo leaned against a willow tree, the sky above him filled with flower petals. They floated down onto him, and before long, they masked the aura of indifference surrounding him, imposing a slight gentleness upon him.
Qin Mo's fingers moved in pain, and it took him a long moment to take out a bottle of spirit restoring pills from his Qiankun Bag. Spirit restoring pills were Huang grade medicinal pills, suitable for people with serious injuries, they could quicken his recovery.
Swallowing one, Qin Mo closed his eyes and slipped to the ground where he began slowly breathing.
He wasn't sure how much time pa.s.sed when he heard footsteps approaching. His brow knit but he did not open his eyes, continuing to meditate.
Four people drew near, all wearing the same style of robes. They were all from the same sect.
Qin Mo sat cross-legged on the ground, his white robe blood-stained, his long-narrow phoenix eyes closed, his skin white and somewhat translucent underneath the sunlight. He was clearly injured.
The four looked at one another, a spark flashed across their eyes. They had arrived at Zhengyang Sect only after the demonic cultivators attacked and were unfamiliar with Qin Mo's reputation and his cultivation. However, seeing how feeble he appeared now, they couldn't help but let their thoughts wander.
They nodded amongst themselves and walked towards him.
The footsteps closed in on him, and Qin Mo opened his eyes. He glared fiercely at the four people, parted his thin lips parted, and coldly said, "Scram."
The four men were stunned. They didn't antic.i.p.ate him capable of such coldness and to simultaneously place such pressure upon them.
Amongst the four, a tall man stepped forward, a smile on his face. He threatened under his breath, “Hand over your jade card!”
"Scram." Qin Mo's expression remained unchanged, only the coldness in his gaze became even more severe.
Seeing the state he was in, the four men could guess what his thoughts were. Their faces darkened and they moved to attack.
Although Qin Mo had been injured quite seriously by the giant beast, he had recovered a fair bit in his recuperation moments ago, more than enough to deal with a few minor characters in the Qi refining stage. All they saw was his long sleeve s.h.i.+ft when they were overtaken by an invisible wind. In an instant, the four men were awkwardly thrown to the ground.
Their expressions became ones of extreme fear, they hadn't expected that the person before them would bear such strength. Initially, they wanted to take advantage of his unfortunate circ.u.mstance, but to their surprise were met with an iron-plated kick.
Thinking it over, the four faces change once more. Afraid of the consequences their actions may carry, they took the jade cards out from inside their robes and tossed them onto the ground, turned around and ran away, terrified that Qin Mo, once angered, would not stop untill he killed them.
Qin Mo glanced at them casually, moving his long sleeves to roll up the jade cards, before returning to his slow breathing once more.
Qin Mo lingered there a few days, during which people would pa.s.s by him, many would attempt to s.n.a.t.c.h his jade card, but left void of their own jade cards without exception.
After changing into a set of clean clothes and straightening them out, he breathed a sigh of relief, his wounds at last healed. Now that he checked his Qiankun bag, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise, he already had ten jade cards and, by and of itself, accomplished the small heavenly grottos task.
Having thought it through, Qin Mo picked out a jade scroll from the Qiankun bag and considered snapping it. It was a teleportation talisman issued by Zhangyang Sect before they entered the small heavenly grottos, by snapping it he would be teleported out.
“Ds.h.i.+xiong!” just then he heard what sounded like an excited voice call him.
Qin Mo paused and looked in the direction it originated from.
The person that approached was a Yueqing Sect disciple, one Qin Mo already recognized from before entering the small heavenly grottos.
Qin Mo asked, “What's the matter?”
His face seemed quite anxious, but once he caught sight of Qin Mo, he was beyond thrilled and answered, “Ds.h.i.+xiong, it's not good. Yunyin Sect's disciples and our sect's disciples started a fight!”
“What happened?” Qin Mo's face drifted into solemnity.
“After entering the small heavenly grottos, a few of our Yueqing Sect disciples were fortunate enough to regroup, so we prepared to act together. But we came across a Yunyin Sect disciple named Liu Qingzhou, and he dared hara.s.s Xiao s.h.i.+mei, we got angry, and a quarrel was started!” the disciple's face was red. Liu Qingzhou's behavior had been shameless in every respect.
“But this Liu Qingzhou is very strong, we were not their opponents at all. I was told to find someone to help. I didn't expect to be able to meet Ds.h.i.+xiong here!” The disciple's tone was full of joy, confident in Qin Mo.
Qin Mo's brows wrinkled. He pulled the disciple to the side and went in the direction that he had come.
"It is this place!" The small disciple halted, pointing up front. Qin Mo's movement also stopped, and he looked in the direction he was pointing.
Before them was a large open area and standing in it were two groups. Among them, one was very familiar to Qin Mo. They were four of Yueqing Sect's disciples. Jin Ling-er and Lin Zizheng were amongst them.
Qin Mo was a little surprised. He didn't expect Lin Zizheng to be here. Then he turned his attention to the other side.
They had a total of five people. A young man wearing a blue-green robe embroidered with dark lace ferns, with handsome features, and an elegant manner stood at the front. His cultivation was at the start of qi refining, which was outstanding among the young disciples. This was Liu Qingzhou.
Qin Mo had never seen this person before. Although he did not know why, with his strength, he did not come with the leaders of Yunyin Sect, it was obvious he also just arrived a few days ago.
“Hum! Don't you hesitate until you're forced!” Liu Qingzhou snorted and made a gesture to the four people behind him, he said in an unspeakably sinister tone, “Go, seize her!”
The four people behind him rushed toward the Yueqing Sect group. Those four's cultivation was around the sixth layer of qi refining, which was too much for Jin Ling-er and others.
Lin Zizheng glanced at the anxious Jin Ling-er, thinking of the way she and Ds.h.i.+xiong spoke ambiguously from before, and his fingers twitched, but he did not make a move in the end.
A white figure flashed into sight, and the four men fell back.
A cold voice rung in the air, “We from Yueqing Sect are so easily bullied?”
Several of the Yueqing Sect disciples opened their mouths in surprise and cried, "Ds.h.i.+xiong!"
"You are Yueqing Sect's Ds.h.i.+xiong?” Liu Qingzhou examined Qin Mo, and his heart could not help but feel a trace of unhappiness.
In the Yunyin Sect, women were valued over men. While Sect Head Liu Yun was his mother, his treatment had always been bad despite his outstanding ability. When he saw Qin Mo who was equally excellent but treated differently, his heart was filled with jealousy.
Qin Mo ignored him and looked at the four people in Yueqing Sect. He saw they were only exhausted and couldn't help but be relieved.
This only set the fire in Liu Qingzhou's heart ablaze. Both eyes red, he drew on his spirit power and waved a palm toward Qin Mo's back.
“Ds.h.i.+xiong! Watch out!” The sudden change made the Yueqing Sect disciples' faces s.h.i.+ft. They did not expect that Liu Qingzhou would try a sneak attack.
Qin Mo remained impa.s.sive. He turned and watched the impending attack. He s.h.i.+fted his robe's sleeve, his sword swung unhurriedly and light flashed along its blade, catching Liu Qingzhou's.
Liu Qingzhou's body jerked, and he was sent backward. He staggered a bit and turned pale. Fortunately, there were a few people behind to support him, so he did not fall.
He couldn't help but cough and grab his chest. He glanced at Qin Mo hatefully then turned and fled into the distance. The remaining people on his side followed.
A Yueqing Sect's disciple then reacted. This Liu Qingzhou who had been boastful and domineering just fled. With dissatisfaction on his face, he said, “Ds.h.i.+xiong, you're just going to let them escape?”
“Drop it, too troublesome!” Qin Mo glanced at them. After all, he did not put those people in his eyes. The hand with the longsword already returned it to his Qiankun bag.
The disciple quieted at his words.
Qin Mo turned a little and saw Lin Zizheng was covered in small wounds he hadn't caught in his observation earlier. His brows furrowed and he asked, "What happened?"
Lin Zizheng was stunned then he understood. His lips curled up a little, and he said, "Nothing. Just accidental bruising from before."
Lin Zizheng said this lie with a straight face. These injuries were from the mysterious cave he went into earlier. He didn't want to deceive Ds.h.i.+xiong, but he didn't trust anyone else here.
Qin Mo nodded, appeased. After all, it wasn't unusual for one to be injured in the small heavenly grottos. It wasn't worth making a fuss over.
“Ds.h.i.+xiong! We collected all the jade cards, let's go back together!” Jin Ling-er frowned and pulled on Qin Mo's arm acting coquettish to get his attention.
Qin Mo nodded.
After a flash of white light, not a trace of them remained.