Chapter 60: The General Qin and the Seventh Young Master

Qin Mu seemed to have anticipated this. With one hand, he seized Qiluo Zen Staff, using sheer force to swing the Demon Ape and the staff upwards, then fiercely slammed them into the ground. With his other hand, his five fingers shot out in quick succession, producing six explosive 'dang' sounds that shattered the vital energy-transformed curved knives of Fox Ling'er.

"Ang——"

Suddenly, the Dragon Elephant exerted force with all four limbs. Taking advantage of the moment Qin Mu was occupied with the Demon Ape and Fox Ling'er, it lowered its head and charged towards him. With a 'boom,' it sent Qin Mu flying!

The instant the Dragon Elephant knocked Qin Mu away, its trunk suddenly elongated. It wrapped around Qin Mu, who was still in mid-air, and pulled him back. Then, with a swing of its trunk, it plunged Qin Mu headfirst into the earth.

As the Dragon Elephant pulled Qin Mu from the ground, preparing to smash him once more, Qin Mu's legwork changed abruptly. He kicked aside the elephant's trunk, then unleashed a hundred and ten continuous kicks onto the Dragon Elephant's face, sending this colossal beast flying.

"Little one, lie down!"

The Demon Ape's incredibly sturdy body, entwined with Azure Dragon, covered Qin Mu, who had just kicked away the Dragon Elephant, in one palm, pinning him to the ground. The Demon Ape roared, lifting its thick and sturdy short leg, and stomped down viciously towards Qin Mu!

This was Cripple's Heaven-Stealing Leg Technique, Step Breaking Mount Sumeru!

Smashed to the ground, Qin Mu immediately flipped over, standing on a single leg with his body parallel to the ground. His other leg then rose to meet the sole of the Demon Ape's massive foot.

The move he used was also Step Breaking Mount Sumeru, though his execution was more casual and less standard. However, its power was equally astonishing!

The Demon Ape grunted, staggering back. Immediately, it grabbed the Dragon Elephant by the tail, swinging this giant beast up to smash down on Qin Mu. At the same time, Fox Ling'er's tail shook, a whistling wind arose, and a curved knife broke through the air. The curved knife rotated madly in the air like a wheel, slicing towards Qin Mu!

Suddenly, sounds of rushing wind transmitted. Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. He hastily avoided Fox Ling'er and the Demon Ape's attacks, then followed the sound with his gaze. He saw over a hundred men and women in armor leaping through the mountain forest like flies, hurrying upstream along the Surging River.

Several of them noticed Qin Mu, stopping immediately. They looked around, and one man, looking at Qin Mu, the Demon Ape, and the white fox, said in surprise: "Hunters?"

"Do not make unnecessary trouble, we must hurry!"

Another person said in a low voice: "The ship will arrive soon! We must set the array on the river surface before the ship arrives!"

"Is that proper? We have been seen, spreading the word will only be unfavorable to us…"

"There are many reclusive experts in the Great Ruins, do not invite unnecessary trouble. We must hurry, his ship is very fast, if we miss it, we will regret it later!"

Those few individuals conjured wind beneath their feet and sped away, disappearing into the mountain forest.

Qin Mu's heart was puzzled. He said in a low voice: "These people do not seem to be from the Great Ruins. They are hurrying upstream, seemingly planning to ambush someone. The person just now even seemed to want to kill us to silence us, not like good people… Ling'er, big fellow, you see, it is like us, being honest and simple only leads to being taken advantage of, being killed to silence at any moment."

Little White Fox nodded repeatedly, in deep agreement. The Demon Ape curled its lip: "Believe that? Ghost!"

Just as Qin Mu was about to speak, the Dragon Elephant suddenly ran over and knocked him flying with its head. The Demon Ape was greatly angered. It pressed this Dragon Elephant to the ground and gave it a beating, saying angrily: "Rest, understand?"

The Dragon Elephant wailed incessantly under the beating. Qin Mu originally also wanted to beat it, but seeing the Demon Ape beat this sturdy creature until its face was distorted, he had to give up.

This Dragon Elephant was a strange beast from the valley next door to True Yang Palace. It also ruled a territory, full of brute force, very extraordinary. The Dragon Elephant and the Demon Ape did not get along; the two strange beasts often fought. The Dragon Elephant often ran to the Demon Ape's territory to snatch wild beasts. However, since Qin Mu became the lord of True Yang Palace valley and taught the Demon Ape cultivation, the Dragon Elephant was no longer the Demon Ape's opponent.

The Demon Ape often went to its door seeking revenge, beating it over a dozen times. Later, the Dragon Elephant could not bear it and simply surrendered, being treated as a mount by the Demon Ape, which was very majestic.

But the Dragon Elephant was somewhat stupid, not as clever as the Demon Ape and the little fox.

Qin Mu's gaze flickered. Suddenly, he leaped up, jumping onto the waterfall and reaching the mountain ridge. The other side of the mountain ridge was the Surging River, facing the precipice below the mountain cliff.

River water carrying ice blocks surged down. There was still a lot of floating ice on the river surface. At this season, there were generally no ships on the river.

Just at this time, Qin Mu saw a sailing ship sailing up the river below. It broke through the ice and moved forward at great speed. Going against the current and with the floating ice, it actually still had this fast speed, which was somewhat inconceivable.

The Demon Ape, Fox Ling'er, and the Dragon Elephant also climbed up and sat beside him. The Demon Ape pulled off a pine tree, plucked a handful of pine needles, and sent them to the little fox.

Fox Ling'er hastily shook her head. The Demon Ape said: "Eat, strong!"

Fox Ling'er laughed and said: "I don't eat this."

The Demon Ape again sent pine needles to the Dragon Elephant, saying: "Eat, strong!"

The Dragon Elephant shook its head. The Demon Ape pressed its head down, then gave it another beating, saying angrily: "Eat!"

The Dragon Elephant's eyes were filled with tears as it silently ate the pine needles. The Demon Ape was then satisfied and sat down with a thud, leisurely eating pine needles. Fox Ling'er couldn't help but say: "Big fellow, do you know? The Dragon Elephant is not a vegetarian, it eats meat. It follows the nature of a dragon, not an elephant."

The Dragon Elephant was extremely moved and nodded continuously.

The Demon Ape gave a cold laugh, saying: "Vegetarian, strong! I, vegetarian, strong!"

The Dragon Elephant's tears flowed long, and it continued to eat pine needles.

As the sailing ship drew near, Qin Mu immediately saw soldiers in armor everywhere on the ship, and also a fluttering canopy. Under the canopy was a young general, sitting there grandly with a big horse and golden sword.

And on the wide deck, there were several painters painting. In front of each painter stood a copper mirror over a zhang high.

Beside them were several soldiers dressed like herdsmen, continuously opening iron cages and releasing golden eagles one by one from the cages on the ship.

Qin Mu quietly opened his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye. He saw that images were actually floating out of those copper mirrors – green mountains and clear waters, and the pictures were continuously changing.

Suddenly, the cry of an eagle transmitted. Qin Mu lifted his head and looked. He saw a golden eagle flying to the top of their heads.

He suddenly realized: "The pictures in the copper mirrors are the pictures seen by the eyes of these golden eagles! What kind of spell is this? It can actually make the golden eagles' sight become pictures in the mirror… Yes, those painters are painting the geography map of the Surging River!"

They released the golden eagles, and the golden eagles flew high into the air, observing the geography near the Surging River, reflecting it into the copper mirrors, and the painters then painted these mountains and rivers. In this way, by sailing from downstream to upstream, they could paint out the entire terrain of the Surging River.

"Who are these people? Why do they want to paint a geography map of the Surging River? What do they plan to do with this geography map?"

Qin Mu blinked his eyes, somewhat confused.

And at this moment, a soldier on the ship quickly came to the canopy, knelt on one knee, and cupped his fists, saying: "General Qin, there are people spying on the shore!"

The young general under the canopy raised his eyebrows and turned his head to look towards Qin Mu's side. Qin Mu's heart jumped. When the general's gaze under the canopy moved over, it seemed as if two paths of extremely bright light shone over, making his eyes completely white, unable to see anything!

Fox Ling'er and the Demon Ape also exclaimed, hurriedly covering their eyes. Only the Dragon Elephant continued to bury its head and eat pine needles, not noticing the anomaly.

"Just ordinary villagers by the river, I presume."

General Qin closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, and said: "Even my gaze cannot be borne, they are no threat, no need to mind them."

"Yes, General!"

The soldier hesitated, then said: "General, seven months ago, you followed the imperial order to confiscate the home of Minister of the Household Department, Yan Zheng. Yan Zheng had a good reputation in court and in the wild, often speaking for those small sects. He himself is from the Hua Qing Sword Sect and holds a very high position in court and in the wild. General confiscated his home, beat him into heavenly prison, and the emperor ordered his execution, which was also General's supervision of the execution. I only fear that this road will not be peaceful, Yan Zheng's remaining followers are only afraid that they will make a move on us on the way."

General Qin gave a cold laugh, saying: "The order to confiscate the home was from the emperor, and the order to execute Yan Zheng was also from the emperor, what does it have to do with me? Yan Zheng sought fame and compliments, actually impeaching the emperor, saying that the National Teacher intended to rebel, and wanted the emperor to immediately execute the National Teacher, who really rebelled! He dared to alienate the monarch-minister affection between the emperor and the National Teacher for a little good reputation, plotting improperly, he deserves more than enough guilt for his death, who else would be killed if not him?"

He rubbed his temples, sighed, and said: "The emperor ordered me to confiscate his home, ordered me to supervise his execution, also because I am a disciple of the National Teacher, promoted by the National Teacher himself. Allowing me to confiscate his home and supervise his execution is also to tell the court and the wild that the emperor's favor towards the National Teacher is still prosperous, so that those treacherous ministers and sycophants should dismiss this thought! It is a pity that some people cannot see politics clearly, cannot understand the intentions of the superiors, and seek death themselves."

The soldier said: "But, this time, I only fear there will be people seeking fame and compliments who will ambush us…"

General Qin waved his hand, saying indifferently: "I just want to lure out Yan Zheng's remaining followers and take the opportunity to net all these chaotic ministers and thieves!"

He stood up and walked to the ship's bow, looking at the surging river water carrying floating ice rushing down, looking at the mountains and precipices on both banks, saying indifferently: "The National Teacher ordered me to enter the Great Ruins and draw the geography map of the Surging River, for the sake of the state and rivers, to include the Great Ruins into our dynasty's territory in the future. These chaotic ministers and thieves actually do not understand the National Teacher's good intentions, still thinking of killing me, disrupting our Yan Kang country's state and rivers, isn't that deserving more than enough guilt for their death?"

At this time, a young master walked out from the ship's cabin. He was not fat, just his face appeared somewhat baby fat. There was a red dot between his eyebrows, and he held a folding fan in his hand. He laughed and said: "Such people, actually still carry the name of clear stream, loyal minister, and righteous scholar, it really makes people cry and laugh! Such loyal ministers and clear streams, it is best if they all die!"

General Qin hurriedly turned and saluted, saying: "Seventh Young Master."

Seventh Young Master lifted his head and looked at the mountain. The shadows of Qin Mu and the Demon Ape on the mountain were cast down, just enough to cover the sailing ship that was sailing.

"General Qin, I hear that the natives in the Great Ruins are all people abandoned by the gods, is this statement correct or not?" Seventh Young Master asked.