Chapter 96: Mad Blade Xiahou Huan

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After advancing to the Silver rank, Lei Qing’s overall abilities increased significantly. His hearing and perception had also improved substantially. Listening carefully, he could roughly identify the group of knights of unknown allegiance; there were at least thirty of them.

Although Lei Qing had just advanced, the wounds he had suffered were not yet fully healed, which slightly reduced his combat power . Moreover, after a brutal life-and-death battle where three people had died, the remaining few Personal Guards were basically just out of the danger zone and extremely weak.

Those knights seemed to have high horsemanship skills. They could maintain a very high speed even in the complex environment of the Narrow Canyon, which meant they were likely not ordinary folks.

All Lei Qing could do now was quickly transfer the wounded onto the carriage. With no time to even clean the battlefield, he could only watch helplessly as the knights appeared one by one from a bend tens of yards ahead, galloping forward without stopping.

The distance of tens of yards took just over ten breaths to cross. That group of thirty-seven knights projected the momentum of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of horses.

Lei Qing observed those knights. They seemed to keep their Fighting Qi restrained, their gazes calm, their faces cold and composed. However, their eyes were like eagles, scanning the surrounding environment, the blood sacrifices, the dismembered limbs, the crossbow bolts, and so on.

Sand and dust were thrown high into the air by the galloping knights. Blown by the canyon wind, it swirled everywhere.

What made Lei Qing most wary was the middle-aged leader knight. He wore an old chainmail armor that seemed to bear the marks of many years of hardship and fierce battles. His black cloak was also very old, with visible patches. It seemed that a large saber was hidden beneath his fluttering cloak.

However, in such a yellow sand-filled environment, riding at a gallop without a single speck of dust settling on him. What did this mean? Dust and dirt were repelled by his Protective Gang Qi, unable to touch his body.

Yet, Lei Qing could not find even a trace of qi energy surging around him. His aura was calm and restrained, looking like an ordinary middle-aged man.

But while Lei Qing was observing him, he felt a hint of pressure in that calm gaze. It seemed light, but it made Lei Qing feel as if he were being stared at by an ultimate ferocious beast, causing his heart to tremble with fear.

After scanning the battlefield and Lei Qing and the others, it seemed he had already deduced most of the previous combat process. His eyes vaguely fixed on Zong Wuji’s severed hand with claws lying on the ground.

“This senior must be the renowned Commander of the Iron Cavalry Regiment, Mad Blade Xiahou Huan. Greetings, Senior Xiahou.” Li Baobao stepped forward and bowed respectfully. “This humble girl is Li Baobao, the direct daughter of the Li Family of the Li Chamber of Commerce, paying respects to Senior Xiahou.” She valued intelligence the most, had sharp eyes, and a strong memory.

Mad Blade Xiahou Huan was already a famous person, a powerful figure ruling a region. Although the Iron Cavalry Regiment was not large in number, their combat power was astonishing. Li Baobao had read Xiahou Huan’s profile many times, so she could identify him at a glance. Moreover, after passing through the Narrow Canyon, this area belonged to the sphere of influence of Tieling City, which was the territory of the Iron Cavalry Regiment.

When that middle-aged knight heard the name, his slightly stern expression softened and became kind. He dismounted in a simple, unadorned motion and walked forward with a hearty laugh: “That’s right, I am Xiahou Huan. I was wondering where such a beautiful and elegant young lady came from. It turns out it is Miss Li visiting our Iron Cavalry Regiment. Welcome, welcome.”

“Senior Xiahou is joking.” Li Baobao lowered her head shyly. “I have come disguised and in such a messy state, how can I be called beautiful and elegant? Also, it is likely that the whole world now knows that I was captured after being defeated. Senior Xiahou, please do not tease me.”

“That matter was just my nephew joking around with you. Young people sometimes act impulsively. I will scold him later. Girls should be pampered, not bullied like that.” Xiahou Huan laughed heartily, brushing past the incident. Then he looked at Lei Qing. A pair of sharp eyes like those of a tiger or leopard scanned Lei Qing up and down. However, it was subtly visible that there was excitement and trembling in those tiger-like eyes.

The reason Lei Qing had not recognized Xiahou Huan immediately was that he had only seen him once when he was very young. Too much time had passed, and his memory had become blurry. Besides, Xiahou Huan at this time looked very different from how he did seventeen or eighteen years ago.

But now that he knew this was Xiahou Huan, his heart also surged with excitement. He took two steps forward, knelt down with a thud, kowtowed, and shouted, “Lei Family’s Little Nine pays respects to Uncle Xiahou.”

“Worthy nephew, rise, rise.” Xiahou Huan hurriedly stepped forward to help him up. His rough but powerful hands trembled slightly as he carefully examined him, feeling both gratified and sorrowful. “Good kid, in the blink of an eye, you’ve grown so tall. How did you end up in such a wretched state? Who did you clash with just now? From the looks of it, someone from Ten Thousand Eagles Stream? Hmph, tired of living, daring to touch my nephew on the edge of my territory.”

“Uncle Xiahou, please do not be angry. This is what happened.” Lei Qing calmly and unhurriedly explained the general course of events.

Xiahou Huan was also an old hand in the Jianghu. Although his appearance was rugged, his heart was calm and detailed. After a brief examination, he said, “This matter likely involves a power struggle within the Li Clan. They probably wanted to take this opportunity to frame our Iron Cavalry Regiment.”

“Uncle Xiahou, that Poison Eagle clearly wanted to frame Brother Lei. How could it be the Iron Cavalry Regiment?” Zuo Qianqian stepped forward, blinking her big eyes and asked curiously.

“Haha, what a cute little girl. But your Uncle Xiahou is still young, don’t call me ‘old’.” Seeing her cuteness, Xiahou Huan reached out with a big hand and rubbed her hair, smiling. “The reason is simple. Since Poison Eagle chose to intercept my nephew in the Narrow Canyon, it means the person behind the scenes must have already calculated Lei Qing’s movements. In other words, the opponent must already have intelligence on the relationship between me and Lei Qing. I, Xiahou Huan, share a life-and-death friendship with Lei Qing’s father. How could I watch his brother’s son die? Therefore, the one who would bear Li Qianlong’s wrath would definitely be our Iron Cavalry Regiment.”

“Uncle Xiahou…” Lei Qing also understood in an instant. Actually, for a small figure like himself, others might use a trick to frame someone else, but he was definitely not the main target. With his small stature, how could he bear the roaring wrath of the giant Li Chamber of Commerce?

“Lei Qing, stop talking.” Xiahou Huan turned and patted his shoulder, smiling. “You don’t need to say some things, lest I find you too verbose. You did well this time. When things went wrong, you took the initiative to send someone to contact your Uncle Xiahou and expressed the desire to bring people to join us. I am gratified. This shows that you truly treat me as one of your own.”

Lei Qing smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Uncle Xiahou, it is my fault for being too young and acting impulsively, taking things for granted. I originally only wanted to take some people and find a secluded place in Uncle Xiahou’s territory to hide for a while. I didn’t expect the intelligence capabilities of the Li Chamber of Commerce to exceed my imagination so much. Even Li Qianlong’s competitors could so easily find the loopholes in our intelligence and then set up a killing formation. Compared to that, President Li is even more formidable. Our movements are probably known to him clearly.”

“Lei Qing, I have long told you not to underestimate the Li Chamber of Commerce and my father.” Li Baobao glanced at him impatiently. “I told you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“Yes, the Li Clan is formidable. Even non-heir figures can have such strong intelligence capabilities.” Lei Qing touched the wound on his stomach, his expression becoming heavy. “Baobao, have you identified any suspects?”

Li Baobao’s eyes also dimmed. “Among the current heirs, there are not many who can compete with me. My cousin is one of them. He is backed by my eldest uncle, whose power is second only to my father. However, the reason for his high popularity is that he is a man. His personal abilities are not particularly outstanding.”

“In any family, struggles for power and profit are unavoidable.” Lei Qing comforted her by patting her shoulder. “Work hard in the future. Fight when necessary, suppress when needed. Do not be merciful or soft-hearted. Let me teach you four words: ‘Do not yield when doing what is right.'”

“Um, originally I didn’t have heavy ambitions for power, but I worked hard to live up to my father’s expectations.” Li Baobao’s eyes became firm and serious as she spoke. “But if the Li Chamber of Commerce fell into the hands of someone like my cousin, who has crooked morals, it would probably suffer disasters.” However, the sadness in her eyes was hard to hide.

“Congratulations, the future wealthiest woman on the Pan-Continent.” Lei Qing joked helpfully to help her shake off the gloom. “When you become rich, please don’t forget me, your savior. Just keep me as a dependent. Give me a hundred thousand or eighty thousand gold coins every month to spend is enough.”

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