Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 72 Wanxi Qingyang
Mu Wanqing stood quietly in place with her head down, saying nothing.

Jiang Mingzhe was somewhat anxious. Jianhu Palace was located on the mountainside of the main peak of Wuliang Mountain. The mountain road outside the front gate led directly to the summit, while a small path led to the back of the mountain. Zuo Zimu and the others were no match for the two villains, so he didn't have time to waste with Mu Wanqing.

Little did he know that Mu Wanqing's thoughts were surging like a tide, even more exciting than his battle with Yue Laosan just now...

Mu Wanqing grew up in a desolate mountain valley and had never even seen a man before coming down the mountain with her "master".

From childhood to adulthood, her master constantly warned her that all men in the world were unfaithful and there was not a single good person among them. He said that if she saw her face, he would do everything in his power to seduce her into promiscuity.

Therefore, at the age of fourteen, she covered her face with a veil and vowed never to let any other man see her except her future husband.

Given her upbringing, it's easy to imagine how deeply wary Mu Wanqing was of men.

She often thought to herself: Since men are all unfaithful, why should I get married? I might as well follow my master's example and live out my days in the desolate mountains.

Especially since she ventured out into the world this time, many men, simply because they saw her slender figure, have tried to harass her in every way. Their lewd behavior has repeatedly made her nauseous, and while she has been killing them, her prejudice against men has only deepened.

He then fled back to Wanjie Valley, where he encountered Azi chasing Zhong Ling.

Mu Wanqing had previously visited Gan Baobao with her master and had already met Zhong Ling. When she saw that Zhong Ling was being bullied, she immediately drew her sword to help her.

Two against one, Azi was no match for Mu Wanqing and released a hidden weapon to wound her. Mu Wanqing retaliated and wounded Azi with a short arrow. Both of them collapsed from the poison.

Zhong Ling then acted as a peacemaker, getting the two to exchange antidotes. During this time, A Zi tried to trick Zhong Ling several times, but Zhong Ling saw through her tricks. In the end, they successfully exchanged the antidotes, and each of them applied them externally and took them orally.

The two took the antidote a little too slowly, and the poison wasn't completely neutralized yet. Zhong Ling took them back to her home to settle them in, but then A Zi begged her to go find Jiang Mingzhe. While she was there, she put on A Zi's gloves and went to Snake Valley to call back the Lightning Sable and capture the poisonous monkey, Little Jiang.

The two little creatures fought for most of the day, but neither could gain the upper hand.

When Zhong Ling returned home, she told A Zi that she hadn't found Jiang Mingzhe. A Zi panicked and immediately forced herself to get up and leave. Zhong Ling persuaded her and promised to accompany her to search when she felt a little better, which finally calmed A Zi down.

Seeing Azi's distressed and worried appearance, Mu Wanqing felt sorry for her and brought up her master's saying that "no man is without a heart" to advise Azi not to care too much about a lousy man.

This touched a nerve with Azi, and she immediately started arguing with her, rambling on and on about all the good things about Jiang Mingzhe.

How could a young girl like Azi not have vanity? She couldn't help but embellish the story, praising the "big ginger" to the skies.

The two innocent girls, Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling, had no ability to discern the truth. At first, they thought that what A Zi said was too exaggerated and were somewhat skeptical. However, A Zi swore an oath and spoke with absolute certainty, leaving them no choice but to believe her.

This is similar to a girl reading a romance novel for the first time; she can't help but fall into it, feeling endless envy and longing.

Zhong Ling was very open about her feelings, and her envy was written all over her face, which made A Zi very satisfied.

Mu Wanqing, however, was used to being aloof and had no idea how to get along with people. Even though she was envious, she deliberately said a few cold and awkward things, which made Azi jump and scream in anger. Azi gave her the nickname "Wooden Person" and refused to talk to her about Jiang Mingzhe anymore.

In the following days, Zhong Ling pestered A Zi to tell her the "story of the big ginger" every day. Mu Wanqing pretended to be indifferent, but actually she was eavesdropping. Unconsciously, she had a very good impression of Jiang Mingzhe, whom she had never met.

Later, when Zhong Wanchou wanted to make things difficult for the Duan family, he invited the Four Evils to help him, and Yun Zhonghe was the first to arrive.

This fellow was initially quite polite, but upon accidentally seeing Madam Zhong, Gan Baobao, he suddenly went berserk and was about to commit violence. However, he was no match for Zhong Wanchou and Gan Baobao, who joined forces to escape. In the process, he also snatched Zhong Ling, who had rushed over after hearing the news.

When Mu Wanqing and Azi received the message from their maid, Zhong Wanchou and Gan Baobao had already chased after them.

Remembering that Zhong Ling had said the Lightning Sable had the most sensitive sense of smell, A Zi immediately asked Mu Wanqing for some scented powder and ran to Zhong Ling's room, asking the Lightning Sable to lead them to Zhong Ling.

However, Mu Wanqing had a fondness for blending perfumes. After years of research and development, she created an extremely pleasant-smelling perfume that lasted a long time. It was made with rose as the base and many other ingredients. Zhong Ling had been asking her for some to use these past few days.

The Lightning Sable is very intelligent. With Ah Zi's words and gestures, it actually understood what she meant. Following the scent of the powder, it eventually found its way to Wuliang Mountain, where it unexpectedly encountered the Crocodile God of the South Sea.

This person's martial arts skills were terrifying, and he also had a grudge against Mu Wanqing. Mu Wanqing was destined to suffer a calamity. Jiang Mingzhe suddenly appeared and blocked the South Sea Crocodile God without hesitation, allowing A Zi to lead everyone away first.

At that moment, the moonlight was like silver, and the man beneath it was handsome and dashing, his figure soaring as he fought against a powerful enemy. Mu Wanqing was almost mesmerized, her mind racing with only one thought:
No wonder Poison Girl mentioned him twice in three sentences; it turns out that not all men in the world are like what Master said.

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt sorry for myself. I thought to myself, "That Poison Girl also lost her parents at a young age, but she has this big ginger who loves her. Her life is much better than mine..."

Hmm, this South China Sea Crocodile God is after me. Anyway, I'm all alone and nobody cares whether I live or die, so why should I let that Poison Girl's big ginger take the blame for me?
So she hid behind a rock, preparing to shoot an arrow to save people at the crucial moment, and to block the South Sea Crocodile God herself, so that Jiang Mingzhe could go and elope with A Zi.

She never expected that Jiang Mingzhe, who was only a few years older than her, could fight the Crocodile God of the South Sea for so long. Moreover, he was quick-witted and eloquent. After spouting nonsense, the Crocodile God of the South Sea actually wanted to recruit him as the fourth villain! She couldn't help but cheer inwardly, but she didn't expect that she had already been discovered by the Crocodile God of the South Sea, who ordered Jiang Mingzhe to kill her to prove his evil.

Mu Wanqing, used to being independent, felt annoyed that she had become a burden. Determined to force Jiang Mingzhe to leave, she coldly rebuked him.

To everyone's surprise, Jiang Mingzhe not only didn't leave, but also used his sharp tongue to persuade the Crocodile God of the South China Sea to give up seeking revenge for his disciple.

By this point, in Mu Wanqing's eyes, Jiang Mingzhe was the perfect embodiment of wisdom, courage, honesty, righteousness, and dashing charm, and she secretly admired him greatly.

Otherwise, given her personality, if a man dared to carry her across his shoulder, he would have already riddled him with bullets. She wouldn't have stayed still and obediently until Jiang Mingzhe put her down.

This is exactly it: Middle-aged worries are as rich as wine, while a young girl's feelings are always like poetry.

Even with Jiang Mingzhe's keen mind, how could he possibly perceive the subtle sweetness within it?
Seeing that Mu Wanqing remained silent, Jiang Mingzhe assumed that she was just being stubborn and that women in this era were conservative, and that she was sulking because she resented him for carrying her away.

He sighed and softened his voice, saying, "Miss, I apologize for my earlier offense; it was truly unavoidable. Although I can rely on my lightness skill to deal with the Crocodile God of the South Sea, Ye Erniang's agility is far superior. If it really came down to a fight, Ye Erniang would definitely be the one to deal with me..."

Mu Wanqing subconsciously touched her lower abdomen and felt it was burning hot, as if she could still feel Jiang Mingzhe's body temperature.

I couldn't help but wonder: Why is this Sword Lake Palace so close? Wouldn't it be better if it were farther away?
The moment this thought crossed her mind, her whole body felt hot. She immediately cursed herself inwardly: Mu Wanqing, are you really such a shameless woman? This man is Du Yatou's best friend. He was fighting desperately just now because of Du Yatou. What kind of foolish thoughts are you having? Your parents don't want you. How could such a good man possibly be interested in you?
Her bright, dark eyes suddenly dimmed, but because she kept her head down, no one saw them.

"Stop talking!"

Mu Wanqing suddenly spoke up in a panic, interrupting Jiang Mingzhe's incessant chatter.

"I... I can walk by myself. My horse is down the mountain. You go find the poison... go find Miss Azi. Tell Zhong Ling that I'm going back now."

Mu Wanqing spoke in a calm tone, lowered her head, and then turned and left.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

"By the way, thank you for risking your life to save me. I know you are Azi's junior brother, Jiang Mingzhe. Um, my surname is Mu, and my name is Mu Wanqing."

Mu Wanqing said without turning her head.

Jiang Mingzhe smiled, thinking that this girl was just a bit strange, but she wasn't ungrateful. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to the trouble of telling me her maiden name. In the original story, Duan Yu had to go to great lengths to find out someone's name.

Recalling Duan Yu's evaluation of the name, Jiang Mingzhe couldn't help but quote the original words: "Shui Mu Qing Hua, Wan Xi Qing Yang. The surname is good, and the given name is good too."

When Mu Wanqing heard him praise her name, her eyes lit up again, and she said in a low voice, "What's so good about it? Your senior sister A Zi calls me 'Wooden Man' all the time because my surname is Mu."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed and said, "She's just that quirky and clever. She even calls me Big Ginger."

Mu Wanqing wanted to say, "I know you're like a big ginger."

But I was too embarrassed to speak. Then I thought, "Wooden Man" and "Ginger" sound quite similar. One is dull and the other is spicy. My master always says I'm dull, but he can be quite ruthless when dealing with evil people...

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt as if she were boasting that she was a good match for him, and she was immediately overcome with shame. She let out a soft cry and ran down the mountain.

Jiang Mingzhe was taken aback when she ran away so suddenly. He thought to himself that this girl was indeed a blockhead, acting recklessly. The nickname that Azi gave her was quite accurate.

Shaking his head, he didn't think much of it, and used his Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to head straight for the riverside exit of Langhuan Paradise.

I walked quite a distance when something suddenly came to mind—

In the original story, Mu Wanqing was temporarily staying at a manor not far from Wanjie Valley when she was found by Madam Wang's subordinates. I had just forgotten to remind her that it would be best not to go back.

But now that they are far apart and the other party is cold, if I chase after them to tell them, they might think I have ulterior motives.

So he put aside his thoughts and decided to first meet up with Azi and the others before making any further plans.

　Because of the power outage the day before yesterday, my limited drafts were completely used up, and Li Yunlong also stopped for two days. I spent time with my son today, and it's a bit late writing, so there are only two chapters left. I'll write more tomorrow, maybe three chapters a day! Remember to vote for me, everyone!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)