While on Mount Hua, my mind is at peace!

Chapter 154 Great Sword Mountain, Linked Strongholds

A throwing knife was embedded in the man's thigh, the blade completely submerged, only the dark hilt visible. Xie Tianqing tossed the man next to Steward Liang, removed his face mask, revealing a face quite similar to Steward Liang's, but appearing much younger.

Yue Feng looked at the man, then at Steward Liang, and said, "Tell me, what happened?"

Both men gritted their teeth, remaining silent. Lin Pingzhi slapped Butler Liang hard across the cheek. Butler Liang coughed up a mouthful of blood, mixed with a few teeth.

The man on the roof shouted, "Brother!" Butler Liang shook his head. The man turned around and yelled at Yue Feng, "You're their leader, aren't you? I'm only telling you this once, release us now! Otherwise, my brothers from Lianhuan Village will definitely not let you off!"

Yue Feng asked Master Hu, "Lianhuan Village? What kind of place is that?"

Master Hu's face grew paler and paler, and he said in a trembling voice, "To the west of this place, there is a Great Sword Mountain, with many strange peaks and many large and small mountain strongholds."

"These mountain strongholds were originally independent of each other, but last year a strongman came and gathered them together, calling them the 'Chain Strongholds,' and even General Wang could not do anything about them."

"Young brother, since this man is a hero of Lianhuan Village, I think... we should let this matter drop and let him go. Otherwise, if the heroes of Lianhuan Village blame us, I... I... I can't afford to be offended!"

Hearing Master Hu's words, the man was extremely smug and said to Yue Feng, "Did you hear that? The master here has spoken, so hurry up and release us!"

Yue Feng thought to himself that rather than being trapped in this predicament with Master Hu, it would be better to go to Lianhuan Village and find a way to get through. Even if he couldn't find a way, he could still gather more information. With this in mind, he said to the man, "I can let you go, but on one condition."

"What are the conditions? Tell me!"

Yue Feng said, "I just heard Master Hu mention your Lianhuan Village, and I'm quite curious. I'd like to go and see it for myself. If you agree to take me there, I'll let you go."

The man and Butler Liang exchanged a glance, and Butler Liang nodded. The man said, "Alright! We'll take you to see the world. But you can only go alone; the other two can't come along."

Lin Pingzhi and Xie Tianqing frowned simultaneously. Lin Pingzhi said, "Boss..." Yue Feng waved his hand at him and said to the man, "No problem. Shall we go now?" With a wave of his hand, the pressure points on the man and Steward Liang were immediately released.

Seeing that Yue Feng could release acupoints from a distance as easily as eating and drinking, both the man and Steward Liang held their breath. The man asked, "You... what kind of sorcery is this?" Yue Feng smiled but did not answer.

Butler Liang pulled the throwing knife from the man's thigh, and blood immediately gushed out. Butler Liang took out some wound medicine from his pocket, applied it to the man's wound, and then tore a piece of cloth from his clothes to wrap the wound.

Steward Liang skillfully finished bandaging the man, then carried him on his back and walked out without a word. Despite carrying someone, his steps were still quite light. Yue Feng followed behind them at a leisurely pace, and they soon left the village.

The three men walked westward for a while when they heard the neighing of horses in the night wind. A rough voice called out from afar, "Brothers Liang, why didn't you send a signal? Aren't you afraid of running into ghosts while walking at night?"

Amidst the laughter, a dozen fast horses galloped up to the Liang brothers. They were all extremely puzzled to see that one of the Liang brothers had a swollen face and the other had an injured leg, yet a young man in a blue robe was following behind him.

The burly man with the thick beard, who was in the lead, frowned and asked, "Hey, Liang brothers, what's going on? Weren't we told you to go and capture that guy surnamed Hu? Who is he?" The voice was that of the man who had just shouted.

Steward Liang's younger brother said, "Brother Pan, we two brothers had bad luck this time. We ran into a tough nut to crack. The guy only agreed to let us go after we took him to the mountain stronghold, so we brought him here. As for the rest, it's up to you, Brother Pan."

Pan Laoda looked Yue Feng up and down for a while before saying, "Since Lao Wu and Lao Liu have already agreed to your request, I will give them face."

"Let me make this clear from the start: behave yourself when you get to the village. Don't go where you shouldn't go, and don't touch what you shouldn't touch! Otherwise, no matter how good your martial arts are, someone will come and deal with you."

Yue Feng smiled slightly and said, "I'm going to Lianhuan Village as a guest, not to cause trouble, so Brother Pan can rest assured."

Old Master Pan said, "You're a smart kid. You injured my brothers, but you let them go. Let's call it even. Someone! Lend him a horse!"

A bandit led over a horse and let Yue Feng ride it; the Liang brothers, Lao Wu and Lao Liu, also mounted a horse. Pan Lao Da led the bandits westward, whipped their horses, and galloped into the vast mountains under the cover of night.

About half an hour later, the group dismounted in front of a mountain peak. The mountain path was treacherous and unsuitable for horses, so they had to ascend the mountain on foot.

These bandits were all skilled in martial arts, but even Pan, the leader with the highest skill and the most familiar with the mountain paths, felt like he was walking on thin ice when he went up the mountain. Looking at Yue Feng, however, he saw him silently following at the back of the group, and the treacherous mountain path under his feet seemed like a flat plain to him.

Although Pan Laoda didn't say it, he admired Yue Feng very much and felt that it was not unjust for the Liang brothers to be defeated by such a trickster.

Pan the Elder secretly decided to befriend Yue Feng, so he began chatting with him as he went up the mountain. The two exchanged names. Yue Feng learned that Pan the Elder's name was Pan Kai, and he was the chieftain of Dongshan Village, one of the Lianhuan Villages.

Dongshan Peak, where Dongshan Village is located, is not the highest peak of Dajian Mountain. The highest peak is Peach Blossom Peak, and Liangshan Temple on the cliff of self-sacrifice at the summit is the main stronghold of Lianhuan Village. Upon hearing this, Yue Feng found it utterly absurd that a temple could be the main stronghold of Lianhuan Village.

Pan Kai pointed to a mountain peak in the distance and said, "See that? That's Peach Blossom Peak. When the moon is clear, you can see Liangshan Temple on the peak from here."

Yue Feng followed Pan Kai's finger and looked in the dim moonlight; he could indeed see several eaves. Pan Kai then said, "It's late today. You should rest in my village for now. Tomorrow, I will personally take you to see the main village."

Before Yue Feng could even utter a single word of thanks, the night was suddenly filled with the whooshing sound of countless hidden weapons piercing the air, hurtling towards Pan Kai and his companions from all directions. Yue Feng, standing right beside Pan Kai, was naturally one of the targets.

The hidden weapons gleamed with a ghostly blue light in the night, and they all appeared to be poisoned. Even if Pan Kai and his men hadn't expected to be ambushed at their own gate, they would have had little chance of escaping with their lives amidst the dense barrage of hidden weapons.

Yue Feng looked at Pan Kai, who was also looking at him. Their eyes met, and a hint of apology appeared on Pan Kai's scarred face. Pan Kai opened his mouth as if to speak, but Yue Feng shook his head, indicating that he should speak later.