Chapter 77: Redemption in the Jungle
"Quack! Quack! Quack!"

In broad daylight, a few crows were cawing in the sky, circling back and forth around Cao Qin and his party who were slowly moving forward on the mountain road. They could not be driven away, making Cao Qin, who was already in a heavy mood, even more anxious.

Today is the Jade Dragon Festival, so before dawn, Cao Qin personally led more than 100 elite disciples of the Jade Tiger Hall and hurriedly set off for Tianshan. This trip can be said to be ready to go. The reason why he brought so many disciples with him was mainly to deal with Xunzhen's group. Cao Qin had previously received news from Su He that Xunzhen had more than a hundred swordsmen hiding in Luohan Temple.

In addition to the people from Yuhutang, Suhe, Chagan, Bater and Zhuoya were also on the trip.

Cao Qin was a man of his word. Although Su He failed to help him rescue his son, he had helped him with all his might after all. Therefore, Cao Qin decided to fulfill his promise to Su He and help introduce them to the Master of Jade Dragon Palace.

As for Su He, he kept his promise to Liu Xunyi and stayed by Bai Shuang's side all the way. Bai Shuang just kept her head down and walked forward. Even when Su He occasionally had questions for her, she didn't say a word.

After leaving Huodu, they walked for about two hours. There was no conversation along the way. Everyone had a solemn look on their faces and walked hurriedly. Everyone knew that the primary purpose of this trip was not to celebrate the birthday, but to save people.

"Where did this dead crow come from? What bad luck!" Lei Biao seemed to see Cao Qin's displeasure, and then raised his eyes to the sky and shouted, "Bring a bow and arrow!"

"Forget it!" Cao Qin said with a gloomy face, "We have already entered the leaf forest. You should lead your men to be careful and alert. Why bother with those crows?"

Yezilin is actually a birch forest halfway up the mountain. Due to the great climate change in this area, the birch forest is covered with fallen leaves all year round, hence the name Yezilin.

When you enter the forest, it is still spring and summer, and when you leave the forest, you can see the snow-capped Tianshan Mountains. The scenery of Yezilin is so beautiful that it is like a fantasy world. Every step you take is a different scene, and every scene is a different season.

It’s a pity that Cao Qin didn’t have much interest in enjoying the scenery at the moment.

"Did you tell that woman exactly what I meant yesterday?" Cao Qin looked around as he stood in the woods and asked Lei Biao casually.

Lei Biao said sternly, "At the beginning of the morning hour today, Ye Zilin redeemed me in person, without missing a single word."

Cao Qin nodded vaguely and asked, "Did the woman agree in person?"

"This..." Lei Biao paused, and smiled awkwardly, "No, I saw the reactions of the man and woman at that time, and they seemed a little hesitant..." As he spoke, Lei Biao's expression suddenly changed, and he asked anxiously, "Master, if they don't come to trade, then wouldn't the young master..."

"No!" Before Lei Biao could finish his words, Cao Qin suddenly interrupted him, looking extremely confident.

Lei Biao was stunned when he heard this, and wanted to respond, but he saw Cao Qin's resolute expression change, and a hint of hesitation appeared between his eyebrows. He murmured to himself: "It should be... no? Their purpose is to obtain the Jingfenghuayutu, not to hold my son hostage. They should not give up easily..."

"Strange." Lei Biao looked around the forest and wondered, "I clearly sent people to Yulong Palace for help yesterday, why haven't our people shown up yet? Doesn't the Palace Master intend to help us?"

"That won't happen." Cao Qin shook his head. "Even if the Palace Master doesn't give me face, he will give the Wind and Rain Painting face. He will definitely not sit idly by."

"father!"

Suddenly, a terrified cry came from deep in the forest. Cao Qin was shocked and his solemn expression became a little panicked. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a vague figure in the distance, hanging in the air on a tree branch, swaying involuntarily from side to side.

"It's the young master!"

Lei Biao shouted loudly and rushed over without waiting for Cao Qin's order.

"Rui'er!" Cao Qin, who was both surprised and happy, followed closely behind, and kept calling out his son's nickname.

"stop!"

Just when Cao Qin and his men arrived about five or six feet away from Cao Rui, a cold shout suddenly rang out from the forest, and then dozens of swordsmen rushed out from all directions and surrounded Cao Qin and his men.

Several big men from the Western Regions, led by Cao Rui, flashed out from behind the tree with a sneer. One of them was holding a hemp rope in his hand, and at the other end of the rope was Cao Rui, who was hanging high in the air.

At this moment, Cao Rui's left sleeve had been stained deep red with blood, and there was nothing underneath the cuff. What was missing was the severed hand that was sent to Yuhu Hall.

"If he dares to take another step forward, I will throw him to death!" The leading Western man pointed at the pale-faced Cao Rui and shouted coldly, "What's your plan?"

Now Cao Rui's life was still in the hands of the thieves. Even though Cao Qin was extremely anxious, he did not dare to act rashly. He waved his hand to signal the disciples of Yuhu Hall to step back two steps, then looked back and forth among the crowd and asked in a serious tone: "Where is your master? Why didn't that woman come?"

"Your son's life is in my hands now. Just hand over the map and I'll exchange him for you. No need to waste your time!"

"Fuck you, who do you think you are? How dare you talk to our hall master like that?" Lei Biao was furious, holding up the skull knife and yelling, "If you have the guts, just let my young master go, and we'll fight openly..."

Before Lei Biao could finish his words, the Western Region man holding the hemp rope suddenly loosened his fingers, accompanied by a scream like a pig being slaughtered, and saw Cao Rui's body falling rapidly downwards, and then suddenly tightened after a rapid drop of three feet. Although it was just a false alarm, Cao Qin was still frightened so much that his face turned pale, and the blood in his body instantly ran cold.

Cao Rui was even more unruly. His crotch felt hot and he was so scared that he wet his pants.

"They say that a hero's father has a hero's son. You, my son..." the leading Western man mocked without any hesitation, "Or are you, as my father, actually a coward at heart?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding swordsmen couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Slap his mouth!" The Western Regions man pointed at Lei Biao with a fierce look in his eyes and ordered Cao Qin, "His stinky mouth almost took your son's life just now." Su He couldn't bear to see these thieves going too far, so he said loudly: "If you want to do it, then do it. Why do you have to humiliate Master Cao?"

The man from the Western Regions ignored Su He and continued to stare at Cao Qin with a sinister smile, saying quietly, "Defeat him first, and then redeem him!"

"This……"

"Snapped!"

Before Su He could speak again, Cao Qin stared at the man from the Western Regions, and suddenly attacked without warning, slapping Lei Biao hard. Although Lei Biao was angry, he did not speak again, but stared at the man from the Western Regions fiercely, turning his anger into murderous intent.

"Master Cao, you finally understand the rules." The man from the Western Region laughed, "You know who is in charge now."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Cao Qin said coldly, "Let him go!"

The Western Regions man was not angry. He just stretched out his hand to Cao Qin slowly and said, "Where is the thing I want?"

"Let my son go first!"

"Master Cao, I don't want to repeat the same thing twice." The man from the Western Regions raised his hand slightly towards Cao Qin, the meaning of which was self-evident.

The muscles on Cao Qin's face trembled slightly. After a moment of stalemate, he reluctantly took a black bamboo tube from the Jade Tiger Hall disciple and handed it to the Western Region man, saying, "Here's the picture for you. Release my son!"

"No problem!" The Western Regions man took the black bamboo tube and handed it to his accomplice behind him. His accomplice took out the Wind and Rain Painting from the bamboo tube, looked at it carefully, and nodded slightly.

"If you dare to take the map and not let the people go, I guarantee that you will not be able to leave Ye Zilin." Cao Qin threatened impatiently.

"Since Master Cao is trustworthy, I will also keep my word." The leading Western man smiled sinisterly at Cao Qin and said, "But you have to let your men throw away their weapons first, otherwise how can my brothers leave with peace of mind? Master Cao, you are a smart man, you should understand what I mean."

"What if you suddenly attack me if I throw away my weapon?" Cao Qin asked back.

"You have almost twice as many people as me. Are you afraid that I will make trouble?" The man from the Western Regions sneered, "I have already got what I want. There is no need to cause trouble for myself. If you don't let your men throw away their weapons, that's fine. I'm afraid I will have to inconvenience Master Cao and ask him to leave with us..."

"Impossible!" Cao Qin shouted, "I'll have them put down their weapons."

After saying that, Cao Qin turned around and winked at Lei Biao and the others. At this moment, Lei Biao's eyes almost popped out blood, but even so, he still reluctantly threw the skull knife in his hand to the ground.

With Lei Biao taking the lead, more than a hundred Jade Tiger Hall disciples also threw down their swords. The Western Region man ordered his men to quickly collect the weapons on the ground and throw them far away.

"Can you let him go this time?" Cao Qin's patience was almost worn out, and his tone became unusually stiff.

"It's OK!" The man from the Western Regions nodded with satisfaction, and then shouted loudly in Khitan, "Brothers, let's go!" Before he finished speaking, the man holding the rope suddenly let go, and along with Cao Rui's screams, the group of Western Regions people quickly retreated to a distance.

"Ruier!"

Cao Qin reacted very quickly. At the moment Cao Rui fell, he flew out and caught him before he hit the ground. After landing safely, Cao Rui could not suppress his fear and threw himself into Cao Qin's arms. Cao Qin looked at his son's broken hand with a look of sorrow and hatred on his face. The father and son immediately hugged each other and cried bitterly.

"Hall Master..." Lei Biao stepped forward quickly, his eyes full of anxiety.

Cao Qin raised his head quickly. A chilling murderous intent suddenly burst out from his eyes that were already blurred by tears. He gritted his teeth and spat out one word: "Kill!"

Upon hearing this, Lei Biao's eyes suddenly became fierce. He quickly reached out from the back of his collar and pulled out a dagger. He pointed at the backs of the group of Western Regions people and shouted, "Avenge the young master and avenge the shame of Yuhu Hall! The hall master has ordered that they be killed, leaving no one alive!"

"kill!"

A shocking roar of rage suddenly erupted from the leaves forest, and then the Yuhu Hall disciples who had thrown away their weapons suddenly drew out their hidden swords from their backs, and rushed towards the group of terrified Westerners like a pack of wolves pouncing on their prey or a surging wave, roaring.

In the blink of an eye, this group of Jade Tiger Hall disciples who had been humiliated to the point of being unable to bear it any longer, were like tigers entering a flock of sheep, killing the unsuspecting group of Western Regions people in all directions, and their army was completely defeated in the blink of an eye.

The absolute advantage in numbers, coupled with their ferocious momentum, forced the group of Western Region swordsmen into a desperate situation in an instant.

As the saying goes, an army in despair will win. The Western Region swordsmen who gradually reacted were also blood-thirsty. On one side was the strict order to kill without mercy, and on the other side was a desperate situation where they would die if they did not fight. Both sides believed that it was either you die or I die. The hatred that had been dormant for several days broke out completely at this moment, and the beautiful Yezilin forest instantly turned into a purgatory on earth.

"Quack! Quack! Quack!"

The shrill cries of crows rang out again in the forest, mixed with desperate wails and angry roars. Today, Ye Zilin was destined to be littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

……

(End of this chapter)