The Lord of Void and Real

Chapter 289: Chapter 287 Nie Caizhu

Shen Luo needed to continue his search for his cousin Nie Caizhu, so naturally, he could not tarry here. He spoke, “Miss, when I was on the road, I no longer saw any signs of the bandits, it seems they have already been driven away by the government officials. If you are unharmed, you can return to the county town on your own.”

“Thank you for your advice, young man.” The girl slightly bowed and replied.

Shen Luo gave her a respectful nod, turned around with the intention to leave.

At that moment, there was a sudden flash of insight in his mind. He turned around abruptly, looking up and down at the attire worn by the girl standing in front of him, a strange look flashed in his eyes as he asked:

“I find you somewhat unfamiliar, and your accent also differs greatly, you seem to be not from around here?”

Hearing this, the young girl showed a hesitant expression, seemingly ambivalent. Out of courtesy, she answered truthfully:

“I am from Yunzhou. I arrived in Chunhua County only half a month ago.”

“Forgive me for being presumptuous, may I ask for your name?” Upon hearing the word “Yunzhou”, Shen Luo’s eyebrow raised unknowingly.

“Young master, I appreciate your help offering your coat. However, since we are but strangers who met by chance, please forgive me for not disclosing my personal information.” Seeing this, the girl’s eyes flashed with a trace of resistance, expressing her refusal as she was about to take off the fur overcoat to return it to Shen Luo.

“It was inappropriate of me.” Shen Luo immediately raised his hand to stop her, apologizing.

“Based on your previous remarks, it seems like you rushed here from the city. You must be busy, so it’s best not to delay further. Could you leave me your name and address so that I can have someone return the coat to you later?” Seeing Shen Luo’s reaction, the girl’s expression softened as she asked.

“I was originally here to chase the bandits, but now they’ve all retreated, there really isn’t much to attend to. Why don’t I escort you back to the county town, so as to save the trouble of you returning the borrowed coat. Moreover, even though there are no bandits sighted on the way back to town, it doesn’t mean there won’t be any criminals with malicious intentions taking advantage of the chaos.” Shen Luo spoke thus.

Hearing his words, the girl turned towards Shen Luo, her eyes filled with suspicion, as if to question, “How do I know you aren’t one of those criminals?”

“Miss, if I’m the malicious criminal type, currently isn’t it the perfect chance to commit any crime? Why would I go to such great lengths to trick you into returning to the town together?” Shen Luo sighed, expressing his helplessness.

“I apologize, I was being overly suspicious.” Having hearing his words, she thought for a while and seemed to find some reasoning in them, so she gave a nod of agreement.

Noticing her simplicity and naivety, Shen Luo couldn’t help but feel a certain sentiment. Such a delicate young lady, how could she have travelled through mountains and rivers, journeyed thousands of miles to Chunhua County alone?

“It’s okay, let’s set off back now.” Shen Luo gestured with his hand and said.

Having said that, he turned around and walked towards the gate of the temple. The girl lagged a few steps behind, then followed reluctantly.

“My name is Nie Caizhu.” After only a few steps, a voice came from behind Shen Luo.

“So, it is Miss Nie. My apologies for not recognising you.” Shen Luo secretly thought to himself, “It is indeed as expected,” responding steadily without revealing any change in his facial expression.

Nie Caizhu saw that Shen Luo didn’t introduce himself after her introduction, she pursed her lips and remained silent.

The two of them continued their journey towards the front yard, and as they passed by the Hall of Heavenly Kings, they suddenly heard a loud noise. Two burly men kicked open the palace door and rushed out.

This sudden change startled Nie Caizhu, and she subconsciously took a step forward to follow closely behind Shen Luo.

Shen Luo, on the other hand, stood still, peering at the palace door. He saw the two men dressed casually with a steel knife each hanging around their waist, not like ordinary temple pilgrims at all.

One of them was disfigured by a scar on his face, and the other was a one-eyed man. Both of their faces were twisted into ferocious expressions.

“Gentlemen, is there a matter I could assist with?” Shen Luo asked with a calm demeanor.

“Tsk tsk, this pretty boy is quite lucky, having such a beautiful lady by his side.” The scar-faced man completely ignored Shen Luo’s question, with his eyes shamelessly wandering about Nie Caizhu’s body.

“Lucky boy, you are pretty lucky to have met us, as we’ll spare your life. Leave the money and valuables you have on you and get away. As for this pretty lady, we will take her back to our lair as the Bandit Chief’s wife.” The one-eyed man licked his chapped lips with his tongue, narrowing his one eye.

“How bold of you two, the government has already sent officers to catch you, are you not afraid and fleeing away?” Shen Luo pretended to be astonished, pointed at the two men and exclaimed.

“Pretty boy, do you know the saying ‘the darkest place is under the candlestick’? Officers are in pursuit of others, they are not aware of us hiding here. Spare the talking, if you don’t scram, we will give you a taste of our knives first.” The two men weren’t scared at all by the threat, instead, they started laughing.

“You two should hold yourselves back. I’ve been practicing martial arts since I was young, I am not afraid of you…” Upon hearing this, Shen Luo continued to pretend to be calm.

The two men didn’t believe a word Shen Luo said because of his frail appearance, so they drew their metal knives and started approaching Shen Luo step by step.

“In case a fight really starts, you should run first.” Shen Luo whispered his instructions to Nie Caizhu.

“You’re unarmed, don’t try to fight them, we should run separately. Surely, one of us would be able to escape.” Nie Caizhu grabbed his sleeves and whispered back.

This remark surprised Shen Luo. The targets of the bandits were Nie Caizhu; if they ran separately, the one who could successfully escape wouldn’t be her.

He turned around and looked at her and saw that although her face was filled with fear, there was a determined look in her eyes. She was already holding her skirt in preparation to run at any time.

“Don’t worry, it’s just two petty thieves. No need to be concerned.” Shen Luo saw this and couldn’t bring himself to continue pretending, so he smiled at her.

Looking at Shen Luo’s warm smile, Nie Caizhu felt inexplicably reassured. The hand that had been gripping her skirt loosened a bit.

“Annoyingly slow, die!” The scar-faced man already felt impatient and ran up with his knife ready to hack at Shen Luo from behind.

“Be careful…” Nie Caizhu gave a startled cry.

Shen Luo still had a smile on his face. He leaned his body slightly to the side to evade the attack, not even turning around.

The blade of the scar-faced man swept across Shen Luo’s clothes and came to a halt against the ground. Shen Luo shot one finger forward against the scar-faced man’s hand that was holding the knife.

“Pop!” With a crisp sound, the scar-faced man’s grip loosened, and the steel knife slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground.

In his mouth, he let out a mournful cry, his hand bones had been shattered.

Since Shen Luo’s movements were very small, the one-eyed man didn’t know what had happened. He only saw his companion suddenly fell to the ground and howled, so he immediately rushed forward with his knife.

Shen Luo footwork shifted, and in a twinkling his body was in front of the one-eyed man. He held out his hand to lightly press on the man’s neck.

The one-eyed man’s body immediately softened, and his eyeballs rolled up into his head as he fainted.