Just as he was searching the scarred man’s body, he found a jade pendant of a vibrant green.
The reason he found it strange was because he felt Spiritual Qi fluctuations emanating from it.
Unlike the fluctuations from a Spirit Stone, the energy within this jade pendant seemed to circulate according to a certain pattern.
He tried to absorb it using his breathing and Qi circulation method, but he couldn't draw out the energy inside.
"What is this thing?"
Jiang Ping'an couldn't figure it out.
He took out a Spirit Stone to compare it with the jade pendant.
The moment the two touched, the energy from the Spirit Stone was rapidly drained, turning it into powder.
Jiang Ping'an was startled and, in a panic, instinctively threw the jade pendant away.
Looking at the shattered Spirit Stone, Jiang Ping'an felt a pang of heartache.
He could only duplicate ten a day, and now one was gone just like that?
What exactly was this jade pendant?
He squatted beside the jade pendant, poking it with a wooden stick, but nothing happened.
Picking up the jade pendant again, Jiang Ping'an noticed that the energy within it had increased significantly, and it was still circulating according to a specific pattern.
"What in the world is this?"
Jiang Ping'an wanted to ask someone, but there was no one around, only corpses.
Just then, he noticed three characters on the back of the jade pendant: "Protective Talisman."
"Could it also be an Immortal's Magic Treasure, capable of protecting the body?"
Considering the energy fluctuations and how the energy felt similar to his own, perhaps it really was some Immortal's Magic Treasure.
Jiang Ping'an felt he was on the right track.
"The reason it couldn't protect the scarred man earlier was likely because the energy within the Protective Talisman had been depleted."
Thinking that this item had a protective function, Jiang Ping'an gritted his teeth and placed two more Spirit Stones near it.
The Spirit Stones' energy was depleted, but the jade pendant still didn't seem to be full.
Jiang Ping'an didn't have many Spirit Stones left, so he began to inject his own energy into the jade pendant.
But even after pouring all the energy from his body into it, it still wasn't full.
"A bottomless pit!"
Jiang Ping'an felt extremely pained.
He decided to slowly absorb energy from the world and fill it up, as there was no rush anyway.
Just then, there was a sudden commotion outside.
Jiang Ping'an abruptly grabbed his saber and rushed out, seeing a figure fleeing at high speed.
He quickly raised his saber and gave chase.
It was likely an accomplice of the bandits!
He absolutely couldn't let them escape!
But after chasing for a while, Jiang Ping'an still lost them.
He leaned against a tree, gasping for breath.
He had poured all his Spiritual Qi into the jade pendant earlier, leaving him without strength; otherwise, he wouldn't have lost them.
From now on, no matter what, he must always keep a reserve.
Jiang Ping'an secretly reflected on his shortcomings and took out a Spirit Stone to restore his internal energy.
"The person who ran back was very likely a bandit. I killed five of their people, so that so-called 'King Mountain Bandit' group definitely won't let me go."
"Then let them come!"
With his only concern, Hu Niu, taken away by an Immortal, Jiang Ping'an had nothing left to worry about.
Even if the bandits didn't come for him, he would go for them.
With his current physical condition, even if he couldn't kill the bandits, he could easily escape.
As Jiang Ping'an returned to the village, he came face to face with ten soldiers.
Jiang Ping'an's pupils constricted violently.
Ten soldiers, but eleven horses!
Looking at the appearance of that one horse, Jiang Ping'an's heart almost stopped.
This horse was precisely the mount of the soldier he had killed earlier!
A phrase suddenly appeared in his mind—an old horse knows the way.
It must have been this horse that led them here!
At the same time, the ten soldiers also saw Jiang Ping'an.
Not only that, they saw the military saber in his hand and the bodies of the five bandits on the ground.
At this moment, time seemed to stand still, as if both sides had been paused.
"Whinny, whinny ~"
A horse suddenly neighed, breaking the equilibrium.
Jiang Ping'an turned and ran.
He had only recovered a little strength now and couldn't guarantee survival against ten battle-hardened soldiers.
"Chase! He must be the murderer!" the leading soldier roared.
Although it was somewhat unbelievable that a child was the murderer, this was the closest to the truth.
Jiang Ping'an had little Spiritual Qi left, and with the soldiers on warhorses, he couldn't outrun them.
In a short moment, they appeared behind Jiang Ping'an, and a soldier swung his saber at Jiang Ping'an's head.
Jiang Ping'an glimpsed the saber, but it was too late to dodge.
In that instant, the jade pendant at Jiang Ping'an's waist suddenly emitted a green light, and with a 'ding' sound, the soldier's saber was knocked away.
At this moment, both Jiang Ping'an and the pursuing soldiers stared at the green light on him, momentarily stunned.
What was happening?
What was this light?
Jiang Ping'an had a guess, but there was no time to verify it now.
Taking advantage of the moment the opponent's saber fell, he leaped high and swung his saber fiercely.
"Pfft ~"
A large head flew off.
"Ding ~"
Another soldier's saber struck the green light on Jiang Ping'an, not harming him in the slightest.
Jiang Ping'an injected the remaining Spiritual Qi into his arm and swung his saber back.
"Ah ~"
With a scream, the struck soldier fell from his horse.
Without the worry of being attacked, Jiang Ping'an frantically swung the saber in his hand, striking both soldiers and their mounts.
Blood splattered, warhorses neighed, and the seemingly defenseless youth transformed into a warrior.
"This kid is a Cultivator! He must be a Cultivator! That's a Magic Treasure on him! Run!"
One soldier recognized something, screaming in terror and turning to flee.
A fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy jumping higher than a horse was completely abnormal.
Moreover, the mysterious green light on him was likely emitted by a Magic Treasure.
Hearing this, the soldiers also panicked, no longer attacking Jiang Ping'an, and began to flee.
Jiang Ping'an couldn't let them go; he leaped onto a warhorse and rapidly pursued, attacking.
One by one, soldiers were cut down from their horses.
When only one soldier remained, Jiang Ping'an suddenly threw his saber, heavily piercing the soldier's body, and the soldier fell from his horse.
Jiang Ping'an dismounted from the horse and coldly looked down at the soldier.
The soldier clutched his wound, his face filled with terror and rage.
"You little bastard... dare to attack soldiers... Ping Shui County's four thousand iron cavalry... will... definitely not let you go..."
"Bang!"
Jiang Ping'an stomped on the soldier's neck, then turned to check if any other soldiers were still alive.
He delivered a final blow to the remaining soldiers, ensuring they were all dead, and then searched their bodies for valuables.
This time, he didn't find any Magic Treasures, only money and some dried rations.
Along the mountain path, he used the horses to transport the bodies of the officers and bandits to Wild Wolf Gully, five kilometers away.
It was called Wild Wolf Gully because it was full of wild wolves.
People were often attacked and killed by wolf packs here.
These bodies, left here, would soon be eaten by wild wolves.
The ten soldiers had found him using the 'old horse knows the way' characteristic, but this time he had killed all the horses; let's see how they would find him now.
Looking at the horse carcasses, Jiang Ping'an felt a bit sad; if these horses could be used for farming, his mother wouldn't have died from exhaustion.
At the very least, they could be killed for food.
But these warhorses were too conspicuous; there was nowhere to keep them, and keeping them at home would surely lead to discovery.
As he thought this, the Treasure Bowl suddenly emerged from his body, and a green light flashed, making all the killed horses disappear.
Jiang Ping'an's heart trembled. What was happening?