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"What rotten luck!"

Gu Qingfeng cursed under his breath. Although he had lost a lot of blood, his physical constitution was still robust enough that even a heavy downpour wouldn't give him a cold.

Nevertheless, Gu Qingfeng had no intention of traveling in the rain, as he only had this one set of clothes. If they got soaked, he would have to journey back wearing wet clothes, and just the thought of that clingy, damp, uncomfortable feeling against his skin was unbearable.

So Gu Qingfeng had no choice but to turn back and take shelter in the Mountain God Temple.

The rain grew heavier, showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. It seemed he would have to make do with spending the night in the temple.

Pushing open the dilapidated temple door, he was greeted by the sight of an ancient, decrepit shrine overgrown with weeds. In the center stood a man-sized statue of the Mountain God.

The Mountain God statue, which should have commanded reverence and dignity, now had its paint dissolved and discolored, resembling a chaotic palette of colors that gave it an eerily distorted appearance.

Most terrifying of all, the statue's head was missing, with a large gash at the neck as if some fierce beast had bitten it clean off.

Gu Qingfeng completely ignored the sinister and frightening statue, calmly found a corner to tie up his horse, then casually settled down in an empty spot.

According to the Demon Hunter's Manual, Mountain Gods, worshipped by countless people and empowered by collective faith, possessed certain abilities to ward off evil and misfortune. Therefore, a broken Mountain God statue indicated that powerful demons capable of defying the statue's power had been here - a grave omen warning people to stay away.

However, what ordinary people considered grave danger was actually good fortune for Gu Qingfeng.

He gathered some dry grass and twigs, lit a fire, and took out some simple flatbread from his pack to toast.

When traveling, one had to make do with limited conditions.

As he was toasting his bread, suddenly multiple footsteps could be heard approaching from outside.

Gu Qingfeng's spirits lifted immediately upon hearing this.

"Could it be demons and monsters coming to visit? What good fortune!"

Then, voices came from outside.

"Young Miss, the rain is quite heavy tonight. There happens to be a Mountain God Temple here. In this humble servant's opinion, perhaps we should rest here for the night?"

It was the robust voice of a middle-aged man.

"Very well, let's stop here then." A rather pleasant and gentle female voice responded.

Gu Qingfeng's face fell. What a letdown - they weren't demons after all?

From the sound of it, it seemed to be a young lady from a wealthy family traveling. He wondered if she was beautiful.

While Gu Qingfeng was pondering this, BANG!

The temple door was pushed open, and seven people walked in.

Leading them was a middle-aged man dressed as a guard - the one who had spoken earlier.

Behind him was a young woman wearing a light green gauze dress with a white veil covering her face. Though her features were hidden, her exposed eyes were as beautiful as autumn waters, bright and captivating. Her figure was excellent too - slender but not skinny, tall but not awkward. Her bearing was dignified, her eyes gentle, giving off the air of a well-bred young lady.

Beside the woman was an elderly man in fine clothes, impeccably groomed and proper, like a loyal butler, following closely at her side.

The remaining four were guards equipped with swords and crossbows, positioned at four corners to protect the woman in their midst.

When the seven saw Gu Qingfeng sitting on the ground, only the woman showed slight surprise. The others remained unperturbed, clearly being keen-sensed martial artists who had detected his presence while still outside.

Gu Qingfeng looked at them curiously, though mainly at the woman. There was something intriguing about a veiled face, like a half-hidden pipa player, that made one want to discover what lay beneath.

Of course, Gu Qingfeng wasn't some lewd fellow who would stare inappropriately at women, so he only glanced briefly before looking away.

Too covered up - Little Corpse Charm looks better, he thought to himself.

The head guard sized up Gu Qingfeng before frowning and saying, "Young man, the temple is small and too crowded. Here's two taels of silver - take it and find somewhere else to stay."

The commanding tone irritated Gu Qingfeng. This place was in the middle of nowhere, it was pouring outside, and they thought they could make him leave for just a month's wages? Dream on!

"Not enough, need more money," Gu Qingfeng said flatly.

The head guard was clearly taken aback, apparently never having encountered someone like Gu Qingfeng before.

"Then name your price."

Gu Qingfeng thought for a moment - it should be at least a year's wages!

"Twenty-four taels!"

The head guard's face immediately darkened. Twenty-four taels? That was almost his monthly salary!

"Young man, don't be so greedy!" the head guard said, a glint flashing in his eyes as he released a slight hint of his martial artist's aura.

Gu Qingfeng was startled!

Damn! True Qi Realm!?

This was scary!

If the other party had been at Internal Qi Realm, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't have been intimidated at all. With his various trump cards, he could have fought an ordinary Internal Qi Realm practitioner, or at worst, made a clean escape.

But True Qi Realm...

Well, come to think of it, two taels of silver wasn't bad - it was a month's wages after all.

Just as Gu Qingfeng was about to speak, the young lady suddenly said, "Uncle Li, they were here first. How can we make them leave?"

Turning to Gu Qingfeng, she apologetically said, "Please forgive my people's rudeness."

Gu Qingfeng nodded at the refined young lady, "No matter, but... are you sure you won't reconsider the twenty-four taels? We could negotiate twenty?"

The young lady paused, her beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly on Gu Qingfeng, before suddenly breaking into a light laugh.

She had clearly been amused by his words.

"Please don't jest, sir. It's dark now, raining heavily, and there might be demons about. It's too dangerous. Please stay and rest here."

With that, the young lady turned and went to another empty spot, while the guards began gathering firewood.

Gu Qingfeng secretly sighed. What was so scary about demons? If it weren't raining outside, he would have already been sleeping in the wilderness, waiting for demons to come by. Now he wouldn't even get the two taels of silver.