Pawning lifespan, starting from a low-level martial arts world to transform into a dragon.

Chapter 39 The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

The sound of horses' hooves grew louder as they approached.

A brand-new carriage was pulled over and came to a steady stop in front of Cui Xijun.

When Cui Xijun saw the carriage, her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.

It wasn't anything else, but rather that this carriage was the very one Liu Zhao had sent.

"What about the other carriages?"

Manager Cheng said with a helpless expression, "Miss, the carriages left in the capital were either borrowed yesterday or broke down. Right now, this is the only carriage we have available."

Cui Xijun narrowed her eyes, neither reacting nor saying anything more.

What a coincidence!

It must have been Liu Zhao who secretly sabotaged the Cui family.

She simply composed herself and deftly climbed into the car using the stool.

After settling in, Cui Xijun leaned out of the carriage and said to Steward Cheng, "Go and investigate who borrowed or used the other carriages in the manor, and why they broke down. If you find any connection to the Liu family, expel them from the manor immediately."

Manager Cheng bowed and agreed.

Seeing that she had boarded the carriage, Hongling hurriedly instructed the servants to deliver all the things that might be needed on the road and at the temple to the carriage.

Then the guards were instructed to properly count and load the incense, candles, flowers, lanterns, tea, food, treasures, pearls, money, and other items onto the carriage.

Once everything was ready, she got into the car and sat down next to Cui Xijun.

"Third Miss, Steward Cheng and I have checked all the items."

Cui Xijun nodded slightly, but her brows remained furrowed: "Since you're all ready, let's leave as soon as possible."

The servants, having received their orders, cracked their whips.

After a shout, the horses neighed, the wheels slowly turned, and the caravan drove away from the Cui residence.

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Inside the carriage, Hongling looked around and tapped on the side wall, saying, "This carriage looks ordinary from the outside, but it's spacious and quite sturdy inside. That young master Liu certainly put some thought into it. But why is there only a square window in the front and none on the sides? That's strange."

Cui Xijun sat on the soft cushion, becoming unusually lazy.

Listening to Hongling's words, she also took a few careful glances and felt that the carriage was indeed somewhat special.

Hongling turned her gaze to Cui Xijun and couldn't help but ask, "Third Miss, why do you dislike that eldest son of the Liu family?"

Cui Xijun said in a calm tone, "I wouldn't say I hate it, but I certainly don't like it."

"Why?" Hongling was her personal maid, and the two had grown up together since childhood, so they could talk about anything. "I took a few glances at her from afar that day, and her appearance was decent enough, nothing out of the ordinary. Her speech and behavior were also unremarkable."

"He didn't want to marry me; he only wanted to marry me because my surname is Cui."

Cui Xijun interrupted her, saying, "If it were any other daughter of the Cui family, like Cui San or Cui Si, he would still ask for her hand in marriage. If I agreed to marry someone like that, how would I be any different from a commodity sold in the marketplace?"

Hongling hesitated before saying, "But all the young ladies from prominent families in the capital are like this. Even our eldest daughter got engaged to a son of the Wang family last year. No matter how much you dislike it, Third Miss, you'll still have to marry into the same family in the future."

Cui Xijun leaned back on the cushions and said in a calm tone, "Life is so long, who can say for sure what will happen in the future? At least for now, I like what I like, and I don't like what I don't like."

Hongling opened her mouth, but swallowed the rest of her words.

Having followed Cui Xijun for many years, she knew that once these words were spoken, any further questions would be pointless, so she simply kept quiet.

The convoy slowly drove away from the capital.

At the same time, the Liu family...

Liu Zhao also got up early today and was changing into a brand new and gorgeous brocade robe with the help of his servants.

Just then, the steward hurriedly walked in.

"Young master, we just received news that Miss Cui has already set off ahead of schedule."

Liu Zhao's hand stopped in mid-air, leaving the brocade ribbon, which the servant had tied halfway, hanging there.

He waved his hand to dismiss the servants in the room, and tied the brocade sash himself, his movements neither fast nor slow.

"Won't this interfere with our plans?"

"According to the original plan, the young master was supposed to travel with her, but an unexpected incident occurred on the way, and he was supposed to stay in the carriage with her, waiting for our rescue. Now it seems that this plan has fallen through," the middle-aged manager said in a low voice.

Liu Zhao pulled hard on the last section of the brocade ribbon and tied it tight.

"It's alright. It doesn't matter if we can't go together. I'll have my private soldiers come with me. They can't forget about the life-saving favor."

"It's good that we left early; it saves me from having to put up with her and get ignored."

After dressing, Liu Zhao glanced at himself in the mirror and instructed, "Let's set off early too. We can't be too late and delay our business."

Beyond the mountain path, deep in the dense forest.

Chen Ye squatted down next to an old tree and loaded the last crossbow bolt into the slot.

He also poisoned the arrows, using a deadly poison known throughout the martial arts world.

This poison is not enough to deal with martial artists at the Dragon Elephant Realm, but it is sufficient to deal with ordinary people.

After he finished doing all that, he heard some noises coming from the dense forest near the mountain path.

It wasn't birdsong, nor the sound of wind, but the soft sound of footsteps, mixed with the clinking of sword sheaths as they walked.

At least a dozen people were scattered on both sides of the mountain path, moving in the same direction.

He listened intently, and although the distance was far, he could still discern the approximate location.

The group of desperados ventured into the woods and began cutting down trees, setting up obstacles on the narrow, rocky path after the bend.

The dull thuds of trees falling to the ground echoed one after another.

Chen Ye and the other two quickly crouched down and hid in the bushes to conceal their presence.

To prevent the news from leaking, only the three of them were mainly involved this time.

Su Guang and Zuo Dongxi had both seen blood and killed people in the past.

But this is the first time something like this has ever happened.

Both of them unconsciously gripped the knife handles tightly, then, noticing the sweat on their palms, forced themselves to loosen their grip.

Chen Ye didn't look at them; his gaze remained fixed on the group of dark figures outside the forest. He made a shushing gesture, held his breath, and crouched down in place, motionless, like a clay sculpture.

At that moment, for some reason, the three of them felt that time was passing particularly slowly.

I don't know how much time passed.

The birdsong in the woods gradually subsided.

As the sun slowly rises from behind the mountains, the forests are bathed in a golden hue.

Chen Ye and his two companions finally heard the sound of wheels rolling over gravel in the distance.

coming!

The three of them were instantly invigorated!

Chen Ye silently raised his palm, signaling the two to remain still for the time being.

He held the crossbow in his hand, tucked the long sword into his waistband, and his face immediately became serious.

His five senses underwent a qualitative change after being reborn three times, but the distance was too great at the moment, and he could only discern the approximate size and distance of the convoy.

The same applies to Su Guang and Zuo Dongxi.

at the same time.

In the dense forest at the bend of the mountain road, the group of dark figures also silently lowered their bodies.

The sound of the blade being withdrawn from its sheath was completely swallowed up by the morning breeze through the forest.

The wind stopped.

The entire mountain road fell silent again in an instant.

Only the sound of horses' hooves and the lingering echo of wheels came from the other end of the mountain road.

in the carriage.

Cui Xijun held the small teapot and used the Qi mechanism to boil the tea.

Hongling, quick-witted and agile, handed over two small cups to receive them.

Cui Xijun was in a bad mood when she left the mansion, but she was still a young girl at heart. She had been cooped up in the mansion for a long time and it was rare for her to go out.

After the carriage left the city, she cut open the three sides of the soft gauze curtain at the front and occasionally looked out at the scenery through the square window, and her mood gradually improved.

Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Hongling cried out "Yay!" as she spilled all the tea in her hand, soaking herself completely.

Cui Xijun used some force on her wrist to gather the tea soup into the teacup without spilling a drop.

When Hongling saw that her favorite dress was stained with tea, her face immediately turned red with anger. She shouted towards the carriage, "How could you drive like that? The Third Miss was enjoying her tea. How can we apologize for getting her dress wet like this?"

The driver quickly apologized, sounding somewhat aggrieved, and replied, "Third Miss, a tree has collapsed ahead, blocking the road and preventing the carriage from passing. Guard Yin has already led men to deal with it."

The tree collapsed?

Cui Xijun frowned.

This wasn't the first time she'd walked this road. There weren't any tall trees on either side of the narrow mountain path, so where could a tree have fallen onto the road?

She put down her teacup, her heart filled with vigilance.

Just as he was about to shout to warn the guards, the sharp whistling of arrows cutting through the wind suddenly came from outside the carriage window.

From the dense forest behind the convoy, more than a dozen crossbow bolts were fired simultaneously, striking the walls of the carriages and the shields of the guards with dull thuds.

The horses were startled and neighed, throwing the entire caravan into chaos.

"Enemy attack! Protect the Third Miss!"