The Chivalrous Masters of Pictographic Martial Arts—Wasn't She Handless

Outside Qingmu City.

"Monsters! Monsters!"

A scout clad in rattan armor was surrounded by a group of monstrous kings and great demons who had taken human form, looking utterly helpless and pitiful.

"Bullshit! Which damn eye of yours sees me as a monster?" growled a towering middle-aged man, twice the height of a normal person, with arms as thick as a human waist and iron-hard horns protruding from his head.

"Yeeeaaah~, how~ are~ we~ monsters~~~?"

Manbo frowned, stroking her chin as crackling sparks of electricity flickered around her fingers.

She had no idea how they'd been exposed.

"Old Guo, we finally caught a tongue—don't scare him to death," Wu Qing shot a glance and then turned to the tightly bound scout.

Clearing her throat, she said,

"We're just... uh... human martial artists who practice animal-style techniques. No need to be afraid."

Boom—

The dark clouds thickened overhead, flashing with streaks of lightning as if rain were imminent.

"......"

The scout shrank back, even more terrified.

"Monstrous Kings, let's just get the facts straight first," said a bald, golden-robed youth.

The demons were here to help.

At Shang Qinqing's behest, when Li Mo and Ying Bing returned to Qingmu City, they had intercepted high-tier calamity beasts.

Putting aside the fact that the peerless Heavenly Flood Dragon and the Qingluan Goddess might lead the demon race to revival—

No sane demon wanted the Celestial Jade to fall into the hands of calamity beasts.

If the Celestial Jade were controlled by calamity beasts, the only options for ordinary demons would be submission or annihilation.

That was why Li Mo and Ying Bing hadn't encountered a single high-tier calamity beast on their way back.

Later, when the Hidden Dragon Ranking was announced,

The demons all learned of their human identities.

But after some deliberation, they decided to keep helping—after all, the peerless Heavenly Flood Dragon had integrity. Even as a human, he took the Celestial Jade and was willing to share it with them.

Better than letting calamity beasts seize it.

Thus, many monstrous kings and great demons used transformation arts to disguise themselves as ordinary humans who had practiced animal-style martial techniques...

But just as they were about to covertly reinforce Qingmu City, they arrived to find something amiss.

The battle was already over?!

"Speak. What exactly happened?" the bald Peng, Ling Yuangou, demanded sternly.

"We... lost. The Divine Commander Han was killed, so the army collapsed like a landslide..."

The scout was on the verge of tears.

He had only stepped into the bushes to relieve himself while fleeing, only to be inexplicably captured.

He swore he'd never pee in the wild again.

"Huh? Still lying at a time like this?"

The great demon of the Whale Clan bulged his eyes, a sight terrifying enough to silence crying children.

"Let~ me~ teach~ him~ a lesson~~."

"I swear it's the truth! That Li Mo—he’s practically inhuman!"

Just as Manbo was about to administer some electrotherapy to loosen the scout’s tongue, the latter widened his eyes in horror.

"Hmm..."

The monstrous kings and great demons nodded.

Fair point.

Under the threat of electrocution, the scout spilled everything in detail.

"He led a cavalry charge, absorbing the power of a hundred battle formations, and fought his way straight to Divine Commander Han’s palace. With that hammer of his—the one that shattered several divine statues—he smashed Han into oblivion in one strike."

"Oh, and that woman—she could command the battle formations while simultaneously transforming them into a domain. She killed both of our clan elders."

The hillside fell silent.

The monstrous kings and great demons felt their heads buzzing, their minds filled with sheer disbelief.

But it didn’t sound made up.

A scout like this probably couldn’t fabricate something so outrageous.

Amid the silence,

A small bird, seemingly carved from green jade, flew through the midday smoke of the city, over the scarred battlefield, and landed on a hill a hundred miles outside Qingmu City, transforming into human form.

"Clan Leader Shang, why are you only returning now?"

"How’s Qingmu City?"

Wu Qing, relieved to see no signs of her having fought, asked again:

"Just took care of some minor business."

Shang Qinqing suppressed her auntie-like smile and said,

"Relax, everyone. They’re eating dumplings in Qingmu City."

The monstrous kings and great demons wore complicated expressions.

They had rushed here, fearing Qingmu City would fall within days.

Never had they imagined the opposite would happen.

"If there’s nothing for us here... should we head back?"

"What flavor are the dumplings?"

"With vinegar~? Now that’s~ authentic~~."

"Well, since we’re already here..."

......

The atmosphere in Qingmu Camp remained lively.

Especially when someone bit into a dumpling and found a golden bean inside.

"Holy shit, what’s this? Gold?"

"Who the hell stuffs dumplings with gold beans for the holidays?"

"Wait, I just swallowed something hard earlier..."

"Don’t worry, it’s fine. We’ll all hit the latrine tonight with lanterns and dig around."

"......"

The latrines of Qingmu Camp would be quite the scene tonight.

Li Mo coughed, the image of Elder Xue searching for an elixir pill with a lantern flashing in his mind. He nearly spat out the dumpling skin and filling soup Ying Bing had painstakingly prepared.

"This is Young Hero Li’s little surprise for everyone. Come on, let’s toast to Young Hero Li!"

Wu Lang clamored to propose a toast, and the soldiers all joined in.

This was shaping up to be a night of heavy drinking.

Li Mo glanced at Ying Bing and found her smiling a little too sweetly, her small hand lightly pinching his waist.

Has your injury healed or not? Have some self-awareness.

Just then, Qu Sheng returned, his once-gray hair now restored to thick black.

The heavy aura of aging had completely vanished from him.

"No words can express my gratitude."

He spoke to Li Mo, then raised his cup:

"On behalf of everyone, I toast to Young Hero Li."

Qu Sheng led the way, and the soldiers all drank deeply. The camp’s atmosphere grew even more fervent as everyone relaxed, drinking and boasting.

Li Mo’s chest felt warm.

Looking down, he saw the Vast Illusory Pagoda in his pocket glowing faintly white at its base.

It was absorbing the power of the masses.

Who knows how much it’ll take to spar with the Monkey King?

Well, this definitely wasn’t enough.

After purification, the Vast Illusory Pagoda retained only a tenth of the absorbed power, and projecting the form of a Great Dao divinity would require an absurd amount.

The soldiers outside were too enthusiastic, and Li Mo was struggling to keep up.

He and Ying Bing retreated into a nearby tent.

Raising his still-weak arm, he rinsed his mouth, swallowing the sour taste.

"Why do these dumplings make me hungrier the more I eat...?"

Half a bowl of vinegar was way too appetizing.

Hearing this, Ying Bing immediately stood, ready to head out—seemingly drawing from past experience to unveil Ice Block’s Dumplings 2.0 and satisfy Young Li’s cravings.

But as soon as she took a step, her small hand was caught by a not-so-strong grip. Heaven knew how hard Li Mo had tried—right now, he could barely hold a skewer steady, so grabbing her hand was a real effort.

"Didn’t you say you’re still hungry?"

"Don’t just eat dumplings. I kinda want some skewers."

"Hmm..."

Ying Bing sat back down, nodded, and picked up a skewer of grilled meat, bringing it to Li Mo’s lips.

Li Mo opened his mouth and bit down, tilting his head slightly to pull the meat off, but it didn’t budge—the meat seemed glued to the skewer, foiling his attempt.

He blinked and said,

"Ice Block, try pulling from the other side."

"But I don’t have a free hand."

Ying Bing considered nudging his head, but her right hand was resting in Li Mo’s palm, and her left held the skewer.

"You don’t necessarily need another hand."

Li Mo paused, puzzled.

Ying Bing lowered her gaze, glancing at her toes.

The military tent was empty, save for the two of them...

Suddenly.

A cool, soft touch pressed against Li Mo’s left cheek—fragrant and gentle.

A light push helped him successfully slide the meat off the skewer.

Chewing the lamb, Young Li found it odd.

Didn’t she say she had no free hands?

Emmmmm.

Li Mo turned his head.

"?"