Chapter Sixty: Two Women in Peril

Feeling triumphant, Lin Cheng bought all the candied hawthorns from an elderly vendor by the roadside, then walked out of the east city gate in high spirits, leaving the old man standing there, clutching his silver coins in astonishment.

He glanced up at the sky. The sun was already sinking, the horizon ablaze like a sea of fire, dyeing the world in a bloody crimson. He wondered if those two girls had returned yet.

At the thought of An’an and Yingying, a faint smile curved Lin Cheng’s lips.

Beyond the east city gate stretched a vast, desolate wilderness. As far as he knew, this wilderness adjoined an endless wasteland of gravel and stone—no one had crossed its bizarre expanse in years. Its reputation for strangeness came from the fact that, the deeper one ventured, the more likely they were to become lost forever. Even some cultivators, confident in their skills and dismissive of such tales, had never returned. Since then, the locals had given the wasteland a name: the Man-Eater Gobi.

The An family’s mining fields lay at the border between this Man-Eater Gobi and the wilderness.

Just as Lin Cheng was about to summon his sword and take flight after leaving the city gates, he suddenly paused, looking up ahead.

From a distance, a cloud of dust billowed as a lone figure galloped toward him on a white horse, a crimson flag fluttering in hand. The flag, emblazoned with a bold character for "An," snapped in the wind, trailing a faint red haze behind.

With his sharp eyes, Lin Cheng instantly recognized the An family’s cavalry.

In no time, the horseman reined in before Lin Cheng. Without waiting for Lin Cheng to speak, the rider yanked the reins hard, making the white horse rear and neigh in pain. Before its hooves touched the ground, the rider leapt down and hurriedly clasped his fists in greeting. “Young Master Lin, please, I beg you to save them...”

The rider was a personal guard of the An family. He had seen Lin Cheng at the An estate in recent days and knew well of his close relationship with their young mistress.

Seeing the man’s desperation, Lin Cheng’s heart skipped a beat. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the white horse was none other than An’an’s own.

“Has something happened to An’an?” Lin Cheng quickly asked.

“It’s the young mistress and Miss Yingying. A group of men in black robes took them. Their strength was overwhelming—we couldn’t stop them...”

Before the guard could finish, Lin Cheng soared into the sky on his sword, a streak of rainbow light flashing toward the An family’s mining fields.

Behind, the guard shouted, “They told us to go to the Man-Eater Gobi if we want to get them back...!”

Without caring whether Lin Cheng had heard, the guard spurred his horse toward the city—he had to inform the family head at once.

Man-Eater Gobi!

Please, you two, nothing must happen to you! Wait for me!

With Lin Cheng traveling at full speed, he soon arrived at the An family’s mining fields.

Below, many were seated cross-legged, tending to bloody wounds, while a number of corpses lay silently on the open ground.

Spotting Lin Cheng descending on his sword, one of the An family’s personal guards recognized him and, despite his injuries, hurried over and bowed respectfully. “Young Master Lin, the young mistress...”

“I already know. Which way did they go?” Lin Cheng cut him off urgently.

The guard pointed to the right rear. “They took the young mistress and Miss Yingying that way—said they would wait for the family head at the entrance to the Man-Eater Gobi...”

A streak of light shot skyward, leaving behind a group of An family defenders who seemed to have glimpsed hope.

At the An estate:

“What? An’er and Yingying have been kidnapped?” An Zhan erupted in rage upon receiving the news. Lady An’s face was equally anxious.

“Zhan, you must save them...”

“Go inform the old master at once. I’m heading to the Man-Eater Gobi!” An Zhan told his wife, then rushed for the main gate.

“Bring me my Flame Leopard—quickly!”

In the blink of an eye, a fiery silhouette leapt over the city, racing toward the wasteland. Behind, a thunder of hooves echoed as dozens of An family cavalry thundered forth, a whirlwind sweeping from the city gate, raising a storm of dust before vanishing into the horizon.

—

At the entrance to the Man-Eater Gobi.

A beam of light streaked down from the sky, resolving into Lin Cheng’s form.

Before him stretched the boundless Gobi, desolate and lifeless. Occasionally, a whirlwind would stir a column of sand into the air, and an eerie silence seemed to pervade the heart.

Scattered amid the gravel stood the ruins of massive stone walls, and a giant armored statue towered over the scene, gripping a greatsword buried in the earth as though it were an ancient guardian, silently watching over the realm behind.

Gazing at this scene, Lin Cheng could easily imagine that a grand city must once have stood here.

As he surveyed the area, ready to search, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Atop the giant statue, a figure emerged slowly from behind its head.

Shrouded in purple robes, only a pair of cold, sinister eyes were visible, studying Lin Cheng in return.

“Brother Lin... leave quickly...”

“Brother Lin Cheng, hurry! There are too many of them...”

Hearing the girls’ voices, Lin Cheng felt a wave of relief.

Moments later, shadows flickered atop the broken walls as several figures in black brought the two girls out.

Lin Cheng narrowed his eyes, sensing the auras present.

Three were at the Spirit Realm, one of whom was at the Earth Spirit level, while the rest were all above the seventh rank of the True Qi Realm. Most troubling, however, was that he could not gauge the strength of the purple-robed man atop the statue, making his heart sink.

“So, you’re the one who killed the Qiu family’s men at the southern mine?” a hoarse voice called from the center of the ruins.

“You’re with the Qiu family, aren’t you? There’s no need to hide. None of you will escape today,” Lin Cheng retorted, raising his sword, the Skyward Blade, and pointing it at them.

The group felt a chill as he leveled his sword—the man before them had slain two of their Spirit Realm elders single-handedly. Though they had the advantage in numbers, real experts made numbers irrelevant.

The central black-robed man turned to look at the purple-robed figure on the giant statue.

“Well, well... what arrogance.” The purple-robed man stepped forward with a mocking smile. “Just a True Qi Master of the eleventh rank dares act so boldly before me...”

With that, the purple-robed man’s aura surged, radiating oppressiveness.

He was at the Heavenly Spirit Realm!

The three black-robed men on the ruined walls exchanged shocked glances—so young, yet a Heavenly Spirit expert!

Lin Cheng’s heart grew heavy. This battle would not be easy.

With a sharp cry, Lin Cheng’s sword sang as he struck first, sending a chilling blade of energy slashing toward the purple-robed man.

“Sword energy?”

For a moment, the purple-robed man was stunned—he hadn’t expected Lin Cheng to have mastered sword energy already. Jealousy rose in his heart; he himself had reached the Heavenly Spirit Realm but still hadn’t grasped the essence of spear energy, yet this mere True Qi cultivator had already comprehended sword energy.

Displeased though he was, the purple-robed man did not underestimate his foe. A spirit spear appeared in his hand as he leapt forward, engaging Lin Cheng in battle.