Casting immortality in the furnace

Chapter 31 Beheading

Sangmuya, dressed in a wolfskin coat and carrying a full bamboo basket, was wrapped up tightly and walked briskly along the mountain path, constantly exhaling hot steam from her mouth and nose.

The soft snowflakes fell like dust, sprinkling onto the rocks, branches, and streams.

She gazed ahead and saw several rolling green bamboo mountains, her eyes lighting up. She called out to the people behind her:

"Young Master Fan, Green Bamboo Village is just ahead in the bamboo mountains; we're almost there!"

"I saw it."

Fan Zhou responded and walked briskly to her side.

He was dressed in a thick yellow robe and wore a pair of deerskin boots. His messy hair was tied up with straw rope, and a dark wooden sword was tucked into his waistband.

After several months of training, he had clearly grown taller and appeared much more upright. Perhaps due to his sword practice, his temperament had also become more composed, and his eyes were calm yet sharp.

He found Sangmuya yesterday, hoping to find more people to work in the market. Sangmuya recommended Green Bamboo Village to him, so the two agreed to set off today.

Sangmuya took this matter very seriously because she had a good friend in Green Bamboo Village, and she even brought some dried meat as a gift.

The two continued walking forward.

As they approached their destination, Sangmuya couldn't help but smile.

"If Green Pearl saw all this dried meat I brought, she'd probably drool."

Green Pearl was her best friend.

Fan Zhou had already heard many interesting stories about Sang Muya and learned some things about Green Bamboo Village from her.

It is said that Green Bamboo Village used to be a medium-sized village with four or five hundred people. A kind of magical bamboo grows in the village, and the people of Green Bamboo Village can make various bamboo products from it, which are very popular among the surrounding villages, so they live a pretty good life.

However, after Black Wind Stronghold was established, it used force to compel the people of Green Bamboo Stronghold to produce a large number of bamboo utensils for them, and recklessly cut down the spirit bamboo, which eventually damaged the spirit bamboo and made it unable to grow again.

Without the spirit bamboo, Green Bamboo Village became worthless to Black Wind Village. They robbed Green Bamboo Village of everything and took many people as slaves, causing Green Bamboo Village to decline and almost perish if it weren't for the help of other villages.

Today, Green Bamboo Village has only about a hundred people, barely managing to survive.

After the two bypassed the bamboo mountain, a snow-covered, muddy path appeared before them, covered with various footprints.

Fan Zhou raised an eyebrow, sensing that something was amiss.

Sang Muya, who lived in the mountains, immediately noticed the problem and his expression changed instantly:

"These footprints only indicate entry, not exit; outsiders have trespassed into Green Basket Village!"

"They're in danger!"

Sangmuya quickly unloaded the bamboo basket behind her and ran towards Green Bamboo Village.

Fan Zhou, however, was one step ahead of her, and in seven or eight leaps, he had already covered more than ten feet.

He has now broken through to the second level of fetal breathing, and has also mastered the basics of the dual sword technique of hardness and softness. His body is more agile, and his speed has also increased significantly.

In just a short while, he saw a cluster of simple bamboo huts huddled together in the mountain valley, and various cries and shouts could be heard from them.

"You can't do this! You've taken all the food, how are we supposed to survive!"

"Please, I have children to raise, please leave me some food!"

"I'll fight you beasts to the death!"

"Father!"

The sounds of fighting filled the air, followed by a gasp, as if something had been knocked over.

Fan Zhou frowned, but did not act rashly. Instead, he went around the bamboo forest.

When he circled around to the side, he finally got a clear view of the situation inside the village.

A group of people were looting food from house to house, digging out dried meat, bamboo shoots, and various wild vegetables, and finally dumping them all into a large bag.

The people of Green Bamboo Village were gathered together and guarded by a group of people with knives. Anyone who dared to resist was beaten up, and the children cried incessantly in fear.

However, these bandits had a different idea from Fan Zhou.

The robbers were a group of teenagers, some of whom looked only twelve or thirteen years old.

Leading them was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in animal skins, with disheveled hair, riding a magnificent elk, and holding a curved knife in his hand, the blade dripping blood.

At his feet, a white-bearded man lay panting on the ground, a bloody gash on his chest, his clothes soaked in blood. A pale-faced girl pressed her hand against the wound, but it was to no avail.

"I told you, anyone who dares to touch me will lose their life!"

The young man on the deer's back swung his curved knife fiercely, and drops of blood splattered onto the snow, a stark and striking sight.

"Brother Kazaki, all the food we could find is here."

By this time, the robbing teenagers had searched every room and dumped all the food they found together, which totaled less than a sackful.

"Well done!"

The young man on the deer's back was overjoyed. He picked up the sack, tied a knot casually, and held it to his chest, calling out to the other boys:

"Let's go!"

A group of teenagers gathered and followed the deer, preparing to leave this place.

"stop!"

With a clear shout, Fan Zhou emerged from the bamboo forest and blocked their way.

He placed one hand on his sword and addressed the young man riding the deer who was leading the group:

"Leave the grain, leave the deer, leave your lives."

Lu Qi pulled the deer to a stop, looked Fan Zhou up and down, pointed his knife at him, and said fiercely:

"Who are you to interfere in the affairs of our Deer Horn Village!"

Fan Zhou remained expressionless, approaching step by step with his sword in hand, and simply said:

Who I am is not important.

Kashima frowned, gave his men a look, and shouted:

"kill!"

"kill!"

Immediately, seven or eight teenagers wielding curved swords rushed out, slashing at Fan Zhou with a whooshing sound.

"The pavilions are shrouded in mist."

Instead of retreating, Fan Zhou advanced, his toes suddenly touching the ground, and he leaped out instantly, his wooden sword slicing through the air, its trajectory unpredictable.

A series of crisp clanging sounds rang out as he used his wooden sword to cut the curved knives in the hands of the boys, sending them flying into the snow. The crowd trembled violently, terrified as if they had seen a ghost.

Shikazaki's pupils contracted. He had never seen such exquisite swordsmanship before, not even in those large strongholds.

Who exactly is he?

Despite his fear, seeing Fan Zhou's relentless advance, his figure shifting left and right until he was right in front of him, Lu Qi still shouted and rode his deer to meet him. His curved blade, filled with inner energy, gleamed with a chilling white light, and he slashed down at Fan Zhou's face.

"Go to hell!"

His scimitar was a treasure of Deer Horn Village, and combined with his Bone Tempering Realm strength, it was enough to cut down tree stumps as thick as a person's waist.

He had tried it himself, so he was full of confidence in his strike.

"How can you possibly stop me with just a wooden sword!"

Fan Zhou remained calm and parried with his sword.

clang!

Swords clashed, sparks flew.

The wooden sword was not only not cut, but it wasn't even left with a mark.

"How is this possible...!"

Kashiwagi was terrified; his pupils dilated and contracted rapidly, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

He instantly grasped the situation and hurriedly shouted:

"I'm willing to give up my grain and deer, please..."

Fan Zhou's eyes remained calm and unwavering, only responding to him with a scorching sword aura.

"It's snowing and the sky is clearing!"

The next moment, Kashima's head flew high into the air, and scalding blood gushed out from his severed neck, leaving a large patch of bright red on the snow.