Why do I have so many masters?

Chapter 689: Chapter 16: Hiding (Two in One)

On the mountain road, a group of people on horseback came galloping along, each dressed in vigorous attire, with swords slung on their backs, displaying a fierce temperament that anyone with a discerning eye could tell were martial artists from Jianghu.

Among them, at the very center, was a young man in his early twenties.

He was quite handsome, dressed in brocade clothes, with a matched sword at his waist.

Immediately to his right, half a step behind him, was a plump woman riding a fast horse, with steel chains entwined around her arms, seemingly wielding a type of Qimen weapon rarely seen in Jianghu. Though her features were quite beautiful, they were overshadowed by her voluptuous figure.

Seemingly aware of her striking attributes, she wore her vigorous attire tight, accentuating curves so breathtaking they attracted surreptitious glances.

To the left of the central young man was a man dressed in hemp clothing. He did not ride a horse but lightly tapped the ground with his toes, gliding forward, his speed no less than that of galloping horses.

He wore a light golden mask that covered everything but his nose and mouth, the lines of his jaw rigid. He carried no sword but had a dark brown strong bow slung on his back and a cunningly made crossbow quiver hanging at his side, the ends of the bronze-tinted arrows visible.

The masked man lifted his head and saw the uneven rock walls in the distance. Suddenly, he halted his movement, floated out from among the people, and landed steadily on a rock to the side.

The martial artists, noticing his movements, instinctively reined in their horses.

The sound of neighing horses filled the air, and in just a few moments, dozens of martial artists had stopped. It showed clear authority and the young man whom everyone was escorting curiously turned to look at the masked man, saying,

“Sir, this is…”

The man raised his hand and pointed towards the distant rock face, nearly half sheared off, speaking slowly, “That place is where I clashed with the remnants of Divine Martial Mansion. Their stronghold is nearby.”

The young man suddenly understood, looked toward the cliff, saw the vaguely recognizable bluestone, and noticed the clear traces of pure Vigorous Qi impact on the rock, and expressed,

“To be able to clash with you, Sir, and to cause such destruction with mere aftermath, wouldn’t a direct hit shatter a person to pieces? I truly cannot believe it. Their descendent is merely of an age with me, yet people really are not created equal.”

The masked man said,

“My lord, you shouldn’t belittle yourself.”

“No matter how skilled a person’s martial arts might be, he’s only a match for one man. If you were to learn, you should study the military tactics that can stand against thousands, or the strategies of the Imperial Court, with a single thought capable of affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands.”

The young man nodded, smiling, “What you say makes sense, sir.”

The masked man seemed not to want to waste more time here and decisively said: “Yesterday, I fought with Divine Martial Mansion here; they must have already left, but given their hurried departure, they surely left some clues behind.”

“My lord, please wait here while we go up and take a look.”

The young man nodded, then whispered a few words to the plump woman beside him. She frowned slightly but then gave a slight nod, turned to look at the masked man, and said,

“As the lord commands, I will also accompany you, sir.”

The masked man was quite kind towards this woman, nodding slightly and saying warmly,

“Having the lady’s assistance is surely more reassuring.”

He then looked toward the distant stronghold, narrowing his eyes, “We should move quickly.”

Immediately, a number of expert protectors were left to guard the young man, while the rest of the scores of people urged their horses to follow the two experts towards the distant stronghold.

Though it was a mountain road, the horses were strong, and the martial artists bodily fitness was unmatched by ordinary people, taking just the time of a single cup of tea to reach the entrance of the stronghold.

The gate, made purely of thickly hewn tree trunks, was tightly closed.

The stronghold seemed deserted, not a sound to be heard.

The masked man snorted coldly and pulled a long blade out from the saddle of another martial artist’s horse.

He suddenly swung it forward.

A visible bright blade aura heavily struck the thick gate, which, put together solely with thick ropes, iron, and logs, was immediately split from the middle and fell heavily to the ground.

Dust and the wave of air settled on the ground.

Looking around, it was indeed deserted; the vast stronghold seemed like a ghost town. The masked man flung his hand, sheathing his blade, and said,

“Check every part carefully.”

“They left in a hurry today, inevitably failing to cover all their tracks. If we can find this group of people, you all will earn the first reward, and who would worry about not receiving Silver Coin then?”

He then slapped the black horse next to him, a vigil of Vigorous Qi hidden between his fingers. The horse, stimulated, carried the riders into the stronghold, and the dozens of martial artists, not wanting to fall behind, urged their horses to follow suit and charged in.

The masked man simply stood with his hands behind his back, standing outside the stronghold.

His eyes watched these Jianghu martial artists dismount and run back and forth, searching. After half the time it takes to burn incense without any accidents, he barely relaxed internally.

The plump woman had not entered either, standing beside him and smiling, “Sir, you are indeed cautious.”

Her comment revealed his thoughts, but he was not annoyed, instead giving a bitter smile and said warmly, “Being accustomed to walking in Jianghu, I am a bit cautious by nature, which might seem amusing to Miss Feng.”

“It’s nothing to laugh at; what Mr. Wu said also holds much merit.”

Wu Feiwen smiled and nodded, then stepped into the stronghold, the plump woman following closely. Looking around, the stronghold was not as disordered as he had seen before but instead was rather neat and orderly.