In the morning light, a clear and shallow river flows from west to east, winding around the entrance of the village and flowing into the distance.
Several young women were chatting and washing clothes by the river.
In the fields, many villagers were plowing or watering.
Under the big banyan tree in the village, a group of children were playing. A few old men were watching them while rolling cigarettes and chatting.
Smoke is rising from the roofs of every house, and the aroma of food is floating in the air.
In this scene, a scholar in a green shirt and a girl in a green skirt carrying a miniature bookcase and a thin leaf mark on her forehead walked over from the west end of the village.
These two people were Li Changyi and Xiao Qianjun who had left the academy.
It was Li Changye who deliberately teased the old man by driving away in the wind that day. In fact, after descending from the mountain, he still followed his teacher's instructions to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles.
After flying out of the small town at the foot of the mountain and familiarizing himself with the area, he dispersed the wind and led Xiao Qianjun on foot.
As of today, it has been seven days since I left the academy and I have traveled several hundred miles eastward.
When they saw a stranger entering the village, the playing children immediately ran over, but when they saw Xiao Qianjun's strange appearance, they were instantly frightened away and hid behind their grandfathers.
"This young man, are you... a Confucian scholar?"
After all, there was an old man who had gone out to work outside when he was young. He had some experience and recognized Li Qingyue's Confucian dress.
He also guessed that Xiao Qianjun was his family leader who followed the little spirit instead of the monster into the village.
"Yes, father-in-law. May I ask if this is Xiuxia Village? Is there a Xiufeng Ridge in front of it?"
"Yes, it's Xiuxia Village. Young Master, are you going to Xiufeng Ridge?"
"Yes, we are going east and have to pass through Xiufeng Ridge."
As soon as Li Xianying answered, the expressions of all the villagers present, whether they were old men or children, changed dramatically.
"Old man, is there something wrong?"
"Young Master, you must never dare to go to Xiufeng Ridge."
"Why?"
"There is a monster! There is a big monster on Xiufeng Ridge. It is very scary and wants to eat people!" A child rushed to answer.
Other children also echoed loudly: "Yes, there are monsters, they have green faces and fangs, they are very scary."
"The mouth is so big that you can swallow a whole cow in one bite!"
"If you walk over there, you're guaranteed to be eaten together!"
Li Chaoyi and Xiao Qianjun looked at each other in shock, and finally asked the old man just now: "Excuse me, father-in-law, is this really true?"
The old man nodded: "Yes."
"What kind of monster is it?"
"Peach Blossom Demon!"
"Peach Blossom Demon?"
"Yes, it's the Peach Blossom Demon!"
The old man was very sure.
Li Chaoyi and Xiao Qianjun walked aside to discuss.
"Elder brother, I'm a little scared." Xiao Qianjun said timidly.
Li Xiangyi was a little funny: "You are a little monster yourself. Are you still afraid of monsters?"
"Afraid." Xiao Qianjun nodded heartily.
She is just a weak grass, without green-faced fangs, nor a bloody mouth, and has never been down the mountain before.
"Okay, let me think about it."
After having breakfast in the village, Li Changyi finally decided to continue to Xiufengling.
After all, if we go around it, we have to walk dozens of miles more.
Xiufeng Ridge is five miles away from Xiuxia Village. There is an increasingly deserted horse trail leading to the east through the back of the ridge.
This horse trail used to be an official road, but it was abandoned for unknown reasons. Since the peach blossom demon lingered on the ridge, no one dared to walk on it.
Many places are already covered with weeds, and many wild flowers are blooming.
Li Changyi walked along the way, gracefully and calmly, as if he were on an outing.
However, Xiao Qianjun held on to the hem of his clothes tightly and did not dare to move away for a moment. Her big eyes looked around from time to time, fearing that the peach blossom demon would jump out at any time.
Seeing her nervous look, Li Xianyue smiled without saying a word and let her go.
As I was walking, I suddenly heard the clatter of horse hooves.
Looking back, I saw three or four people riding fast horses, galloping in this direction.
"Uu——"
When they arrived, Li Qianyi and the two men approached, the leading man reined in his horse and stopped.
The other three riders also stopped.
"Is this young gentleman a Confucian scholar?" the man glanced at Li Chaoyi and Xiao Qianjun and asked.
"Yes, brother, do you have any advice?" Li Changyue replied, also looking at the other party.
I saw that this man was in his early thirties, tall and majestic, with bright eyes and full momentum. He was a martial artist in the world who could be counted in the world.
The rider immediately behind him was a woman in red. Her facial features were somewhat similar to those of the leading man, her temperament was also sassy and sharp, and she had several throwing knives on her waist.
The remaining two riders were one thin and the other fat, and both looked impressive.
The four of them all have a badge of "Killing Demons with Swords" tattooed on their chests. They should be a team of demon hunters.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the leading man immediately clasped his fists and said: "I'm here to capture the demon master Guo Hengbei in Hengzhou of the Great Wei Dynasty. These three are Nan Jun, the sister-in-law, Wei Lun, the sharp swordsman, and Feng Gu, the axe-wielder. I have met Xiao Langjun. .”
Guo Nanjun, a woman in red, Wei Lun, a sharp-swordsman, and Feng Gu, an axe-hand, also followed suit and clasped their fists.
Confucianism is the leader of the three religions and hundreds of schools of thought, and the most prominent school in the world. In addition to its theory of classics and meanings spreading across nine continents, it is also the most powerful in the world.
So when they saw that Li Changyi was a true Confucian scholar, they were all very polite.
Li Chaoyi also bowed in return: "Brother, you're welcome, Li Chaoyi from Hanshan Academy has met you all!"
Hearing "Hanshan Academy", Guo Hengbei and the others had a strange look on their faces, but when they saw that he was only in one realm, they quickly returned to calm.
There is only one realm, and it must be from the lower court of Hanshan Academy, not the cultivation geniuses from the upper court.
Countries around Hanshan Academy all know that the outstanding talents in its upper academy will only come down to study in the fifth realm of study tours.
"Master Li, there is a big peach blossom demon in Xiufeng Ridge ahead. It is extremely ferocious. You can rest by the road until we get rid of it before crossing the ridge." Guo Hengbei reminded him kindly.
"Are you going to drive away the peach blossom demon?"
"Exactly, we have accepted the reward from Master Zhang of Yuyang County and vowed to kill him today to comfort the countless people who were harmed by him."
Li Chaoyi lazily handed over his hand: "Okay, thank you, Mr. Guo."
Guo Hengbei nodded, then rode away with the demon catching team.
After a while, Wei Lun, a thin man with a sharp sword, rode back on his horse, handed a bunch of beautiful wild flowers to Xiao Qianjun, and said with a smile: "Little girl, these flowers are for you."
Xiao Qianjun was stunned for a moment, but still took the flower with both hands, "Oh, thank you, big brother, my name is Qianjun!"
"What a good name. See you soon, Xiao Qianjun!"
The thin man galloped away in a cloud of dust.
Feng Gu, the fat man holding the axe, also kept looking at Xiao Qianjun until his companions returned, and then they chased the Guo brothers and sisters ahead.
…
About three quarters of an hour later, the team of demon hunters finally arrived at the peak of Xiufeng Ridge.
It deserves to be called Xiufengling, with white clouds lingering on the peak and beautiful scenery.
Where the white clouds dispersed, there was a huge peach forest.
At this time of the year, the peach blossoms are blooming, and they are brilliantly pink.
Under the flower branches, a charming girl in pink clothes was bending over to weed.
