Qin Shi: I went astray in the Heavenly Sect

Chapter 28 Caught in the Trap, Ambushed on the Way
"woke up?"

"You didn't sleep?"

In the early morning, when the sunlight pierces through the gray sky, it signifies the start of a new day.

Xiaomeng, who was slowly waking up, was somewhat surprised to see Chen Xiuyuan, whose posture had hardly changed.

It seems like it was the same last time we were in the dilapidated temple; Chen Xiuyuan didn't sleep either.

"Sleep is a way to relieve fatigue, and so is meditation."

Xiaomeng nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

After having some food, Chen Xiuyuan and Xiaomeng embarked on their journey for the day.

Not far from the gates of Daicheng, Xiaomeng seemed to remember something and asked, "Are we going to Sanyang Village today?"

"Ah."

Sanyang Village isn't exactly close to Daicheng. Two years ago, when he, Yao Yi, and Xiao Lin left Sanyang Village, it took them almost two days and two nights to get to Daicheng. Roughly estimated, it was about 250 li (125 kilometers).

Now, his eight extraordinary meridians are fully opened, and he has achieved success in internal strength and movement techniques. When it comes to traveling, he is no slower than when he rode a horse back then.

If he had used his lightness skill to travel, he might have been even faster, but this time, he had a little burden with him, so he gave up on that idea.

After all, the last time he left was to escape for his life, and this time he's back to collect a debt. The purposes are different, so there's no need to go to such lengths.

On the way, Xiaomeng held Chen Xiuyuan's hand, her mind somewhat dazed.

When she first became his disciple, Bei Mingzi said that she was exceptionally talented, but her mind was bound by limitations.

So later, Qingxu returned to his hometown to settle his karma, and she accompanied him all the way.

Now that she's here, she's starting to have some doubts.

She was very clever. Bei Mingzi arranged for her to follow Chen Xiuyuan, which was obviously for a purpose. He probably intended for her to let go of that national and family hatred. Along the way, she did gain a lot, whether in cultivation, in her state of mind, or even in her perspective.

She learned a lot from Chen Xiuyuan, and her mindset did change somewhat, but those things didn't seem to solve her core problem. Her inner obsession didn't seem to have diminished much.

"Perhaps the answer lies in Sanyang Village!"

Xiaomeng pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked at the young man beside her. A strange light flashed in her eyes. Faced with national and personal vendettas, she wanted to see what this young man would do.

Nothing else happened along the way; occasionally, a few fast horses would pass by, kicking up a cloud of dust.

This time, even though Chen Xiuyuan didn't say anything, she had a guess in her heart that war seemed to be about to start again.

However, this time, she felt unusually calm about the war. It seemed that Chen Xiuyuan had previously shared his views on war, which made her feel a subtle aversion to this kind of game between countries.

In this era, the population had not yet expanded rapidly, and some later theories did not fit reality. For example, the lack of resources and the transfer of contradictions leading to wars are not plausible.

As Chen Xiuyuan said, the fighting was more often caused by the rapidly expanding ambition and boundless greed of those in power.

In this game played by those in power, countless families and ordinary people have paid an unbearable price, and she herself is one of them.

Perhaps Xiaomeng herself did not expect that, in fact, when she had these thoughts, the principle that "from the perspective of the Tao, things are neither noble nor lowly, and people are neither noble nor lowly" had already taken root in her heart.

Those who were initially held in high esteem by her now have a shift in her perception of their importance.

When a ruler launches a war merely to satisfy his own selfish desires, is the enmity still an enmity? Even if the country perishes, it is simply a consequence of his own actions.

In fact, for the lowest rungs of society in this era, the best treatment they could enjoy in a country was probably to live a peaceful and stable life, contributing their own strength so that the nobles could enjoy it. Even if a new monarch came along, life seemed to remain unchanged. But was such a life really worth protecting? Changes had already been subtly occurring, but she was unaware of it because she was caught up in the situation.

Time flew by and the next day arrived. Xiaomeng gradually adapted to the current rhythm. In the evening, she would meditate for two hours before going to sleep.

Their journey remained peaceful until they encountered another dilapidated temple.

When they came in, they found corpses lying haphazardly on the ground. Judging from their clothes, these men were probably the messengers they had seen earlier.

Without even thinking, Chen Xiuyuan knew what was going on.

His gaze swept over every corner of the dilapidated temple, and his heart sank.

It's about 120 li from Daicheng to here, a time when a horse needs to catch its breath and rest. Clearly, this was a meticulously planned ambush.

"What's going on here?"

When Xiaomeng saw the corpse on the ground, she subconsciously stepped back behind Chen Xiuyuan. Although she had witnessed similar tragedies before, she still felt some resistance when faced with it again.

"If I'm not mistaken, it was done by Qin assassins. War is all about winning and losing, and disrupting the battle is a good move."

Upon hearing this, Xiaomeng recalled seeing the soldiers earlier and suddenly realized what was going on.

Suddenly, several whooshing sounds rang out.

Chen Xiuyuan's gaze narrowed slightly. Just now, when he was examining the dilapidated temple, he had already discovered that there were several assassins lurking in the shadows inside the temple.

Adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble, he did not expose the whereabouts of these people. Instead, he said a few words and planned to leave after sitting for a while.

Unexpectedly, these people didn't seem to intend to let him go.

"Senior brother, watch out!!"

Xiaomeng was already quite skilled; even before joining the Heavenly Sect, she was able to defeat its disciples. Now that she heard the sound of something cutting through the air, she naturally thought of a sneak attack with a hidden weapon.

"Ah~~"

Why bother?

Chen Xiuyuan sighed softly.

He didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing, but things didn't go as planned.

Xiaomeng saw Chen Xiuyuan standing still, and her face immediately showed anxiety. Just as she was about to pull him away...

Suddenly the surrounding environment darkened, as if it had been stripped of its own color in an instant, and turned into a grayish-white color.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment, and everything was frozen in time.

Xiaomeng stared in disbelief at Chen Xiuyuan and herself, the only ones still in the field who had color.

The quick-witted girl understood almost instantly that Chen Xiuyuan had made a move, but she couldn't understand at all how he had done it.

Then they saw Chen Xiuyuan grab at the air and pull four masked men in black clothes to their side, whereupon they were forced to lie face down like dead dogs.

"Senior brother??"

"They might know the answer."

(End of this chapter)