Clouds and Moon Shadow

With a 'thud,' the bandit fell straight to the ground. The bandit in front of him turned around, saw his companion fall, and immediately swung his knife at Gu Qingyue.

After several exchanges, the bandit's moves were cunning and ruthless, clearly demonstrating his considerable martial arts skills.

Gu Qingyue accidentally cut her arm, but luckily she dodged quickly and only her sleeve was torn.

As the two were locked in combat, the last bandit was just a few steps away from catching up with Sister Rong and the others. Gu Qingyue's heart skipped a beat, and she felt her heart leap into her throat.

She tried to abandon the bandits in front of her and run forward, but he entangled her and she couldn't break free.

Meanwhile, on a narrow path along the cliff edge, Rong Qingqing was carrying Xiao Nian, with several teenagers following behind, all panting heavily.

"Sister Rong, run!" Wen Qinghong shouted.

Turning around, he saw the bandits were already in front of him. He raised his sword, steeled his resolve, and strode forward to fight them.

In less than ten moves, he was kicked to the ground by the bandits.

As the bandit's knife came down, a hint of fear flashed in Wen Qinghong's eyes.

In the crowd, Wen Qinglan, who was protecting Rong Qingqing and the others and still running forward, turned around and cried out, "Brother--------", his eyes wide with fury. He wanted to go forward to help, but it was too late.

At the critical moment, the dagger in Gu Qingyue's hand flew towards the bandit's broadsword with a whoosh.

Sparks flew as the two blades clashed.

The bandit was terrified and immediately drew his knife, taking a few steps back to regain his balance. What incredible strength!

Now that she was out of weapons, Gu Qingyue immediately changed her fighting style.

She raised her knee and bent her elbow, combining Sanda and Muay Thai techniques. In a moment, the once ferocious bandit had one arm dislocated, and he screamed in agony.

Wen Qinghong, who was in the distance, was rescued, but she almost collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.

He looked gratefully in Gu Qingyue's direction, but was stunned by Gu Qingyue's decisive and efficient skills!

Wow, that's amazing! Was there really such a big difference between him and Qingyue?

In a few breaths, Gu Qingyue had dealt with the bandit and returned to Rong Qingqing and the others.

Protecting a group of people behind her, Gu Qingyue warily looked at the burly bandit in front of her.

The bandit was still shaken; the force of the dagger had left a deep impression on him.

This was thrown by a young boy?!

He was starting to question the meaning of life!

He wanted to step forward and take down the boys in front of him, but when he looked at Gu Qingyue standing at the front, he hesitated.

The two sides were facing off when suddenly, a silver streak flew out from the jungle behind them. A thin silver needle pierced the back of the bandit's head and flew out from his forehead. Almost instantly, the tall bandit collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

Such powerful internal strength!

Gu Qingyue was alarmed. If this was the enemy, would their entire group be wiped out?

Gu Qingyue looked up into the jungle and saw a young bandit behind a big tree, holding a silver needle in his hand, ready to fire. Clearly, he was the one who shot the silver needle earlier. Why had he saved them time and time again?

Gu Qingyue paused for a moment, then saw the man put away the silver needles and leave quickly. She wanted to go up and ask him something, but clearly, now was not the right time.

The young man clearly didn't want anyone to know that he had saved someone. Watching his retreating figure, Gu Qingyue seemed lost in thought.

"Hurry up!" Rong Qingqing, who was behind them, saw the bandit lying dead in front of them and immediately called out to remind everyone.

"Let's go!" Gu Qingyue turned around and led a group of people toward the narrow mountain path.

Half an hour later, they finally found a small cave. The entrance was hidden behind a large clump of branches, and it would be difficult to find without careful observation. They were able to find this place thanks to Gu Qingyue's mental tracking ability.

"I'll go meet Senior Brother Liu," Gu Qingyue said to Rong Qingqing after settling everyone in. She then took the short sword from Wen Qinghong, looked at the worried eyes in front of her, and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Take care of yourself!" Rong Qingqing's voice came from behind.

Gu Qingyue waved her hand and ran down the mountain.

Seeing Gu Qingyue's figure already running far away, Rong Qingqing clenched her fist, a sense of self-reproach rising in her heart. She was so useless; at the most crucial moment, she still needed a child to protect them. She couldn't help but show worry and anxiety in her eyes.

"Sister Rong, go inside first. After you've hidden yourselves, Qinglan and I will go help Qingyue. Don't worry," Wen Qinghong said as she watched Gu Qingyue's figure grow smaller and smaller.

“Okay, I’ll go with you,” Wen Qinglan said, holding two short swords in her hands.

This was made by Gu Qingyue for everyone. Sect Master Liu has already taught everyone the Liu Family Twin Swords manual. Therefore, from the beginning, except for Gu Qingyue who doesn't use swords often, the other teenagers all use twin swords. However, this kind of sword is shorter than ordinary swords, extremely sharp, and the two swords can be put into one scabbard when they are combined, making it convenient to carry.

Everyone naturally carried these with them on their way from Liquan County to Lizhou.

"None of you are allowed to go," Rong Qingqing said, snapping back to reality. She looked at the two brothers and the other restless teenagers behind them, including Xiao Nian.

Rong Qingqing paused for a moment, then continued, "Your martial arts skills are not yet up to par. Going there will only hold her back and distract her. Protecting yourselves and staying here is helping her."

Upon hearing this, the young men were initially somewhat unwilling, but recalling the thrilling situation they had just experienced, they immediately lowered their heads in shame. Indeed, Sister Rong was right.

They've only been practicing martial arts for half a year, and their skills are still far inferior to Gu Qingyue's.

When Gu Qingyue arrived at the foot of the mountain, she only saw corpses scattered on the ground and did not find any trace of Liu Feng. After searching around, Gu Qingyue finally found Liu Feng's sword at the edge of the forest.

What's this? Was he captured? Senior Brother Liu never leaves his side with his twin swords, but now one of them is left here. Where is he?

After walking around the area within a two-mile radius of the incident site, Gu Qingyue was able to basically piece together what had happened.

It seems highly likely that Liu Feng has been captured. There are at least five or six bandits still alive, including the bandit leader, Scarface. Could it be that they kidnapped Liu Feng?

Following the trail, Gu Qingyue ran towards the mountainside.

As dusk fell, she arrived at the heart of a mountain surrounded by hills. Looking up, she saw a massive complex of buildings nestled on the hillside, hidden among the forest, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Looking at the rows of buildings, Gu Qingyue cursed her bad luck inwardly.

This was clearly no ordinary bandit stronghold. Although she had never seen any others, judging from the size of the stronghold and the height of the walls, it was definitely not just a simple bandit stronghold.

I never expected that there would be such a large, hidden bandit stronghold in the deep mountains not far from Lizhou.

However, judging from the situation along the way, this is indeed a very secluded place, and it would be difficult for outsiders to find it, except for Gu Qingyue, who has extensive experience in tracking traces.

Only when the moon was high in the sky did Gu Qingyue conceal herself and approach the village.

Taking advantage of her petite stature, Gu Qingyue easily approached the tall wall. Looking at the flickering torches at the village gate, she could tell that there were quite a few people on patrol.

The three large characters "Tiger Peak Village" were prominently displayed at the entrance of the village, leaving Gu Qingyue somewhat bewildered. Were bandits really this brazen these days?

After using her spiritual power to search the area, Gu Qingyue finally found a secluded corner with few people and quickly jumped over the high wall.

With the support of her spiritual power, Gu Qingyue moved as if she were in an empty field, easily avoiding the bandits who were constantly patrolling. In less than half an hour, she entered a relatively remote courtyard deep in the village.

Because Gu Qingyue noticed that there were quite a few bandits guarding the area, this courtyard must be imprisoning someone, and someone quite important at that.