I Have A Dual World Seal

The three masked burly men blocking the road all wield long sabers and have robust builds, clearly trained martial artists.

One of them has a well-proportioned physique, his breathing is steady, and his movements smooth—although he has yet to develop Qi Sensitivity, he is on the verge of stepping into the Martial Dao realm, making him the strongest among the three.

Another has long arms, powerful swings, and calloused hands, evidently an adept in hand techniques from an Outer Sect.

The last one has a stable lower stance, standing behind the other two but poised in a bow step, ready to charge forward at any moment.

These three... are much stronger than the three ruffians Lu Zheng encountered in the Peach Blossom Forest all those years ago!

If he had encountered these three right when he first arrived in the Peach Blossom Forest, he might not have been able to prevail!

The eyes of the three men were all focused on Lu Zheng.

This was also expected, as the old man’s clothes were worn and patched—clearly from a poor family.

However, Lu Zheng had fair skin and looked refined; although he wore only simple green robes, his attire was clean, and he appeared spirited, like a well-off Scholar.

"Hey there, Scholar, hand over all the money you have!"

"Otherwise, we’ll stab you and a red knife will come out—a single cut and you’ll be finished!"

Then...

The leading man cast an unsettling gaze upon Lu Zheng, a sinister smile playing at his lips, "Dispose of the old man. As for this young fellow, he’s my fun first."

"Hiss——"

Lu Zheng felt goosebumps rise all over his body and then noticed the other two men also giving him odd looks.

Lu Zheng gritted his teeth, swiftly drawing a piece of firewood, thick as a finger and over two feet long, from the ox cart behind him.

"You... you stay away!"

"Haha!"

The leading man, even more interested now, flashed a wicked grin, his body lunging toward Lu Zheng like a large bird.

Then, in his field of vision, he saw the delicate-skinned Scholar hurriedly jump off the ox cart, clutching a piece of dry wood, frantically retreating behind the cart.

"Hehehe, young master, fear not, I’ll be sure to treat you tenderly!"

The leader laughed evilly, proceeding to circle around to the back of the ox cart.

The other two men flanked the old man from the left and right.

"Quickly handle it, just toss him into the nearby wild woods—the wolves will ensure not even bones remain by tomorrow."

"You do it, or I do it?"

"You do it. Kick him once, and he’s dead."

Just as the two men approached the old man, Lu Zheng slipped under the ox cart with a swift "swish."

The leader didn’t mind, chuckling as he squatted down, peering underneath to see Lu Zheng lying there, clutching the firewood tightly and watching him warily.

On the other side, the old man trembled, hunched on the ox cart, seemingly trying to climb onto the ox’s back to escape, but the two masked men had already surrounded him front and back.

Then...

The leader wielded the saber in his left hand, extending his right towards Lu Zheng.

The other masked man leapt, ready to kick the old man’s head.

In the next moment...

"Swish!"

"Moo!"

Taking advantage of the leader’s half body extended beneath the cart, impeding his movements, Lu Zheng swiftly thrust the firewood.

"Ah!!!"

The leader screamed as he felt the hard wood pierce into his eye, instinctively retreating rapidly.

But Lu Zheng also crawled out, hand and foot together, swinging the firewood horizontally—a piece of hard wood struck his temple.

"Bang!"

A loud crash followed by an expression of disbelief in the leader’s remaining intact eye; then he swiftly lost consciousness, eyes rolling back, collapsing onto the ground in a faint.

On the other side, in Lu Zheng’s perception...

At the moment he thrust the firewood, the old man’s ox also moved; as the man rose to kick, the old ox suddenly swung its head, colliding with the man’s crotch.

"Ow!!!"

A scream just as pitiful rang out—even though the man had a steady lower stance, he hadn’t trained his vital area, nor mastered the art of retracting into the abdomen. Struck by the ox’s head, he cried out, losing his balance, tumbling to the ground and clutching his privates in convulsions.

Seeing his leader and comrade scream almost simultaneously, the last man couldn’t help but be taken aback.

At this point, unable to see the leader’s situation, he only witnessed his comrade being accidentally knocked down by the ox, so he hurried forward to help.

As he passed by, maybe frightened by the old ox, its hind legs suddenly kicked.

"Bang!"

A loud sound echoed as the man was struck in the chest by the ox’s hind hooves, accompanied by a "crack" of light noise, and he flew two yards, crashing into a roadside tree, and passed out.

Then, the old ox retracted its hooves, incidentally delivering another kick to the head of the man clutching his privates.

"Urgh!"

His eyes rolled back, he rolled on the ground for a few spins, and also lost consciousness.

At this point, the old man, apparently out of strength, slid down from the ox, collapsing at the front of the cart, panting heavily.

"What... What just happened?"

"Amazin’! Old man, your ox is quite formidable!"

Lu Zheng tossed the broken piece of firewood back onto the ox cart.

"One headbutt and one kick settled two robbers."

"Is that so?"

The old man looked around, nervously patting his old ox’s rump, "My old ox is indeed powerful!"

"Moo!"

Old Huang, the ox, lowed softly, then surprisingly took a step forward, continuing onward.

"Young man! Get on the cart quickly, before others report us to the government!" the old man hurriedly instructed.

Lu Zheng darted forward, catching up to the front side of the ox cart and jumped up onto it, "Aren’t you taking these robbers to the government?"

The old man waved dismissively, "Take what, there is no reward for commonplace robbers, not even a single coin—what would I gain, praises from officials?"

"Moreover, what if they have relatives in town who come after us; wouldn’t the old man be asking for trouble?"

"Makes sense!" Lu Zheng nodded.

"You’re quite capable yourself, young man! You took down a thief too!" the old man praised.

Lu Zheng raised his arm, made a fist, "Indeed, I have trained; ordinary folk, two or three at a time, can hardly come near. That guy underestimated me and got poked in the eye with a stick!"

"Impressive! Impressive!"

The old man and Lu Zheng exchanged a look, sharing a cheeky grin, and tacitly dropped the subject, shifting to idle talk about farming.

For the rest of the journey, no other incidents occurred, and the pair smoothly arrived outside Lianzhou Prefecture by near noon.

"Thanks, elder. That relative lives outside the city, so I won’t be going into town," Lu Zheng clasped his hands in gratitude, then jumped off the ox cart.

"All right, young master, take care on the road. The old man is leaving." The old man waved his hand, driving the cart away.

Lu Zheng watched the old man leave, silently letting out a breath, "A true master!"

As the old man drove away from Lu Zheng, he too let out a silent sigh, "A true master!"