Volume 1, Chapter 134: I Have Been Waiting for You for a Long Time.

Meanwhile, in the north, Liuli and Li Changsheng were crouched in a tree.

“Liuli, I’ll take care of them in a moment. You stay up there and don’t come down, remember?” Li Changsheng instructed.

Liuli snorted softly. “I’m not going to wait around. I can handle it myself. If I go, you stay put.”

“Hey!”

Liuli moved swiftly, and before Li Changsheng could stop her, she had already reached their opponents. Her speed was astonishing, almost unbelievable, as if she had been holding back for a long time.

Though Liuli had rarely left the mountains before, her sense of patriotism was no less fierce than Li Changsheng’s. When faced with these enemies, her decisiveness and promptness in action far exceeded what Li Changsheng had imagined. She showed no hesitation, striking with ruthless precision.

During their time together, Liuli, despite being a girl, often acted with more maturity and resolve in critical moments than many boys, a quality that Li Changsheng admired deeply.

Liuli sensed Li Changsheng’s intentions but was determined not to change herself simply because he liked her; she remained true to who she was.

Quickly, Liuli dispatched three of the enemies and cheerfully approached Li Changsheng.

“How’s that? Impressive, right?” she said with blood smeared across her face.

Li Changsheng carefully took out a wet wipe and gently cleaned her face. “Don’t be so reckless. What if there’s an ambush? They may be villains, but they’re not fools. We can’t act rashly, understood?”

“Oh, come on. You’re just like my dad, always nagging. I’m not listening. Let’s hurry and find the next group—I’m itching to get going,” Liuli said, rubbing her hands.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next spot.”

Their pace was brisk. Less than two hours had passed, but more than ten enemies had fallen to their hands.

After defeating the fifteenth enemy, Li Changsheng looked up at the sky.

The surrounding mist had thickened. “We’ve probably explored enough here. We need to go deeper. Let’s leave a mark here for Jiang Chen.”

Liuli thought for a moment, then carved a five-pointed star into the tree.

“That should do it. If anything happens to us, Senior Brother Jiang Chen can follow this mark to find us.”

Suddenly, a thin man emerged from the mist.

“Mark? Hah, did you two carve that too soon? I never said you could leave this place,” he said.

He wore numerous talismans of the Yin-Yang masters, exuding an aura of dark energy that made anyone nearby feel uneasy.

Li Changsheng sensed danger. “Liuli, you go first. If I don’t come for you within ten minutes, tear up the talisman paper and let Jiang Chen come.”

Liuli also felt the seriousness of the situation. “If we live, we live together; if we die, we die together. I’m not leaving.”

“Listen to me. This person is very strong. If you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to later,” Li Changsheng warned firmly.

But Liuli only turned to him and asked, “Changsheng, have you heard this poem?”

Li Changsheng asked, “What poem?”

Liuli recited slowly, “Don’t say a woman lacks heroic qualities; every night, the dragon sword sings upon the wall.”

...

To the east, Shen Huaizhu gripped her long sword, though blood dripped steadily from her arm.

Beside her, Ye Zhi was also injured, a small cut across her forehead.

Both bore varying degrees of wounds, but after their prior reconnaissance, they had a rough idea of the enemy’s main base. Without any news from Liuli and the others, they had to proceed cautiously. Luckily, they had managed to escape for now.

“What was that just now? Why was its physical strength so formidable?” Shen Huaizhu’s mind replayed the terrifying encounter.

They had surrounded and killed fifteen of these enemies, expecting to retreat unscathed. Yet, after some distance, a monstrous figure nearly two meters tall leapt down from a tree.

The creature was incredibly fast. Shen Huaizhu fought it head-on, but her control abilities were ineffective. In just a brief clash, her arm was injured.

Realizing they were outmatched, Ye Zhi made a quick decision to retreat. However, she was attacked during the withdrawal, sustaining injuries as well.

The creature could snap a tree like a toothpick, leaving destruction wherever it passed. Its strength was truly terrifying.

“I’ll lure it away. You use the chance to scout ahead. If you find the enemy’s headquarters, tear the talisman paper immediately to summon Jiang Chen for the final battle,” Shen Huaizhu instructed the less injured Ye Zhi.

Ye Zhi shook her head. “No, you’re Jiang Chen’s friend. I can’t let you risk yourself. Even if you lure it away, what if I call Jiang Chen and then you’re left behind? That would be abandoning yourself.”

Shen Huaizhu looked at this innocent, earnest girl. “I’ve long since set life and death aside. It doesn’t matter if I die. To die in Lingqin is a worthy place. The dragon vein of the Great Xia is more important than my life. Do you understand?”

Ye Zhi clenched her fists. “I understand, but I don’t want to. You’re Jiang Chen’s friend, so you’re mine too. I won’t let my friend walk into danger. I’ll lure the monster away; you go scout. If I don’t come back, tell Jiang Chen to remember to marry me.”

Ye Zhi stood up and immediately spotted the monster. She ran in the opposite direction to Shen Huaizhu, deliberately running twice to create the illusion that they were together.

Shen Huaizhu, unsure how to explain things to Jiang Chen, wrapped her injured arm with her sleeve and ran toward the suspected direction.

The monster followed Ye Zhi, its voice sharp and mocking. “Hehehe, little sister, little sister, don’t run anymore. Come back with big brother, okay? Big brother will treat you well, don’t worry.”

Ye Zhi turned her head, two golden lights flashing from her hands. “Ugly monster, you talk too much!”

The monster tilted its head, saliva dripping from its huge mouth. “Not listening, not listening, I’ll kill you, kill you!”

Its voice repeated relentlessly.

At that moment, Jiang Chen, sitting at the foot of the mountain, keenly sensed the commotion below. Yet, behind him, someone had appeared without his knowledge.

“Hello there, I’ve been waiting for you here for a long time.”