Retreat

Lu Luanli is currently treating Chu Xisheng for a bone injury. Chu Xisheng's injury is to the clavicle, and if the bone is not set in time, it could lead to serious consequences.

When Lu Luanli hears a muffled sound from a distance, she tenses up and rushes over with a knife: "Who's there?" However, when she reaches the source of the sound, the surroundings are empty, with only the collapse of the right-side rock wall and some scattered stones on the ground. Lu Luanli relaxes slightly, sheathed her knife, and returns to the hot spring to continue setting Chu Xisheng's bone.

Chu Xisheng's face contorts in pain, as the woman's bone-setting skills are extremely unprofessional, completely different from her earlier boasting. However, there is no one else in the cave to help him set the bone. Chu Xisheng can only endure the pain, trying to distract himself and ask, "What happened? Why was there a noise over there?" "It's nothing," Lu Luanli shakes her head slightly, "just a section of the rock wall collapsed over there."

The Firebone Cave is formed from the body of the Giant God and is relatively stable as a whole, but occasional collapses do occur. Especially after her intense battle with the sword-wielding youth just now, the clash of blade and sword qi may have loosened the nearby rock layers. She is clearly being overly cautious.

Lu Luanli finally sets Chu Xisheng's bone, then takes out a talisman and slaps it heavily on the fracture, sticking it in place. "Okay, as long as you don't engage in vigorous activities, this bone will heal as if it was never broken." Chu Xisheng is in agony from her slap, letting out a miserable scream. Strangely, as soon as the talisman is applied, he feels a significant improvement in his bone. Despite having just set his clavicle, it wasn't broken again by Lu Luanli's heavy slap. Chu Xisheng gives Lu Luanli a sidelong glance, suspecting that she did it intentionally to vent her frustration about the identity leak, but he has no evidence.

Chu Xisheng puts on his clothes and then carries Tie Xiaosheng on his back. Due to his injuries, Tie Xiaosheng falls into a deep sleep once again. Perhaps the talisman water they fed Tie Xiaosheng, as well as the internal and external medication, have taken effect, as Chu Xisheng feels that Tie Xiaosheng's condition has improved. The physical quality of a sixth-rank martial practitioner is already quite astonishing. In such a short time, Tie Xiaosheng's face has regained some color.

"Let's go!" Chu Xisheng used two belts he had snatched to securely tie Tie Xiaosheng.

"Lung's people might come looking at any moment, it's not safe here." Lu Luanli also felt that they shouldn't stay in the hot spring for too long.

She sighed and forced herself to perk up, following Chu Xisheng closely.However, after they had walked a few miles, Chu Xisheng suddenly exclaimed softly and used his eagle-like night vision to look ahead.

"What's wrong?" Lu Luanli followed his gaze and then looked startled.

She saw three hyena-like creatures covered in gray fire, gnawing on a corpse.It seemed to be the young man who wielded the negative sword and had escaped from her, his head had somehow turned into pulp, but she recognized the clothes he was wearing and the sword he dropped on the side.She immediately went over and cleanly cut the three hyenas in half, then endured the nausea to examine the body.

Lu Luanli's eyes gradually lit up, and the despair on her face disappeared.She recognized the chest wound on this person as the one caused by her own stab.This person really was that young man with the negative sword.Although she didn't know who had attacked him so ruthlessly and forcefully. But since this person was already dead, did it mean that she could continue to lurk in the Zhengyang Martial Arts Hall?At this point, Chu Xisheng also walked over and silently reached out to her.

"What are you doing?" Lu Luanli's face darkened.

"What do you think?" Chu Xisheng smirked and beckoned with his finger.

Of course, what he wanted was the fifteen taels of demon silver that Lu Luanli had demanded back.Lu Luanli couldn't help but click her tongue and had to return the money.However, she was in a good mood now and didn't care about the small amount of money.

Chu Xisheng also put away the sword next to him. At that moment, a large fireworks exploded within his field of vision, instantly raising his martial arts points to 19.

He shifted his gaze and looked behind him, his eyes shimmering with an inexplicable light.At the same time, the young master of the Long family, Long Heng, arrived near the hot spring with a group of people, where Chu Xisheng had just defeated sixteen people in a row.Seeing the bodies on the ground, Long Heng frowned deeply, his expression grave. Beside him, the elder of the Long family, Long Sifei, was also observing the traces left on the battlefield.

When they arrived, the bodies had already been devoured beyond recognition by the monsters in the Fire Bone Cave. Fortunately, due to Long Sifei's extensive experience, he was able to deduce some of the truth from the clues left behind.

"The person who killed them should have a strength at the ninth rank and used the Wind Chasing Blade. Without a doubt, the culprit is Chu Xisheng. Look at the wounds on their throats, the angle of entry is exactly the same as before, only with greater force and speed. He must have found some medicine in the cave to enhance his cultivation," Long Sifei praised with amazement.

"This kid not only has remarkable swordsmanship but also exceptional intelligence. He lured our people into disarray, then killed the clan's soldiers first before eliminating the armored soldiers. With his lone strength, he forcefully defeated these sixteen men," Long Sifei remarked.

His younger brother, Long Sheng, however, wore a look of disbelief. That sickly boy, does he really have such ability now?His older brother, Long Heng, furrowed his brow, "What about Du Hong? My senior brother Du Hong is a swordsman at the upper seventh rank, where was he during the battle?"Just then, a heavily armored soldier rushed over, "Young Master, we've found some traces near the hot spring ahead."

Long Heng and Long Sifei wasted no time and led the group straight to the hot spring. They searched around for a while, their expressions becoming even more serious and unyielding.

"Du Hong must have engaged in a fierce battle here, but after fighting for a minute and a half, he was injured and fled," Long Sifei surmised, hands behind his back, lost in thought. "The opponent's strength should be comparable to Du Hong's, but the God Eagle Sword couldn't be fully utilized in the cave, resulting in his defeat. However, I cannot determine the identity of this person or the martial arts they used based on the battle traces here."

Long Sheng's expression shifted slightly, "Could it be Tie Xiaosheng? With his severe injuries, his strength may temporarily only be at the seventh rank."

Upon hearing this, everyone present tensed up.

"It's possible," Long Sifei stroked his long beard, his face puzzled, "But if it's Tie Xiaosheng, why did he erase the traces here and play tricks?"

Long Heng felt extremely stifled, realizing that in either case, it was very troublesome. This meant that there was a formidable presence at the seventh rank beneath the cave, and the Long family currently only had a few people capable of contending with them.He also recalled the reports from his subordinates earlier, that a mysterious person had single-handedly killed several clan soldiers and infiltrated the Fire Bone Cave.

After pondering for a while, Long Heng finally let out a long breath, "Spread the word, recall all our forces, and let's return to the county city. Then, find some reliable herbalists and have them quickly locate the whereabouts of Senior Brother Du."

Long Sheng was taken aback, "Not going to pursue further? Just letting Tie Xiaosheng and Chu Xisheng go like this?"Long Heng didn't bother to reply, he turned and walked away with his hands behind his back in another direction.Long Sifei explained with a wry smile, "We must return to the city. The leader of the Iron Flag Gang, Iron Blood Butcher, Iron Madman, has returned to Xiu Shui City this afternoon!"Long Sheng's pupils contracted, upon hearing the name "Iron Blood Butcher", he almost couldn't catch his breath.