Level Up in Martial World

328  Miss

The sword halted in place, the man's grip loosening slightly.

"Miss." The soldier turned back, a trace of panic on his face. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What?" the "miss" replied coldly, her expression stern as she looked at the tall "beggar" in front of her through the thin sheets of the luxurious carriage peering into him, her deep emerald eyes seemed to right see through Lu Zhen.

"This person is of unknown origin. We cannot let him go. What if he's one of the bandits from this forest?" the soldier said firmly.

"It's fine," a feminine voice from inside the carriage speaking with authority. "Let him join our caravan."

"What?"

All the soldiers stood frozen, eyes wide with surprise. Faint murmurs slowly spread among them.

"But... but..." The lead soldier, still holding his sword, stammered, wanting to protest.

"No buts," the voice from inside the carriage came again, colder this time.

"Sir, you may enter this carriage and travel with us."

Lu Zhen's eyes briefly took on a peculiar look before he returned to his clueless expression, staying near the campfire as if trying to warm his body.

"These bastards..."

The soldiers were instantly provoked by Lu Zhen's audacity. They could barely resist the urge to grab him by the collar and throw him to the ground, beating him senseless for daring to ignore their "miss".

"Hold yourself back. When we're out of sight and the miss isn't watching, we'll definitely beat the crap out of this bastard," the lead soldier muttered, convincing the others. Reluctantly, they still held back their anger.

"Hmm?" Lu Zhen remained by the warm fire, his clueless expression unchanged.

"These soldiers are almost all third-stage martial artists, and the leading soldier who pointed his sword at me is a second-stage martial artist. While they may be a formidable force compared to the casual soldiers in Phoenix City, I can't understand how they could have travelled through this terrifying jungle."

He was puzzled, unable to truly fathom how they had survived in such a place.

During his travels, avoiding first-stage martial beasts was manageable due to his capabilities, but second-stage martial beasts were so numerous that evading them all was nearly impossible.

With only a single second-stage martial artist in this party, it was natural for him to be confused about how they had managed to survive for so long because even if this second-stage martial artist, which had a very weak presence really had some capability, could he protect the entire party from a horde of second-stage martial beasts?

Lu Zhen, however, remained silent, his crimson eyes reflecting the glow of the bonfire.

Just like that, the silvery moon soon graced the forest, and everyone retreated to their camps to sleep.

Lu Zhen was assigned to a camp with a pair of beggars.

As he closed his eyes, he picked up whispers that were crystal clear to him.

"Hey, how about we kill this bastard?"

"We had to pay just to get into this caravan with labor, and this bastard got to stay here for free."

"The soldiers subtly indicated that we couldn't kill him because of that young miss's favor, but we can definitely torture him to make his life a living hell…"

"Hahaha…"

"Interesting," Lu Zhen thought with interest, listening to the voices. To him, these people were nothing more than insects that could be swatted away at will. He didn't need to care about their thoughts or opinions. If they actually made a move against him, he wouldn't mind killing them all.

As he pondered this, Lu Zhen silently used his five senses and the sixth sense granted by his mental power to discreetly survey the entire camp.

With only a single second-stage martial artist present, he had no need to conceal his power, as practically no one could sense him.

"I wonder what this 'miss' wants with me," he mused, sneering as he observed the main camp where she was located.

All he saw was a large bed and a woman with a thin veil covering her face. Despite the veil, her emerald eyes and blue hair tied in a bun, coupled with her curvaceous figure, sparked a burning desire in Lu Zhen's mind.

She exuded a mature presence that evoked an almost instinctive craving in him.

For a moment, Lu Zhen seemed to have fallen into a trance…

"Hmm?"

Her cherry lips, barely visible through the veil, slightly parted as her brows furrowed.

"There is someone spying…"

"Oh, shit." Lu Zhen quickly withdrew his mental power, his expression one of shock.

"She's an early first-stage martial artist."

His heart raced with surprise as he opened his eyes to see a group of people holding sticks, smirking at him.

"Brat, we're going to teach you a lesson today," one of them said.

Lu Zhen smiled, "Every day is a lesson; I enjoy learning."

He stood up and began dancing like a madman, laughing and grinning. With his hair scattered and the smear on his face, he really looked like a madman…

"This guy…" The onlookers were stunned, their faces a mix of disbelief and speechlessness.

"He must be a madman. Let's just beat him and get the favour from the soldiers already."

The first beggar who had spoken earlier raised his stick high in the air and brought it down onto Lu Zhen's head.

Lu Zhen didn't dodge, his expression remaining silly as he continued his dance.

Bang!

The stick struck his head, but Lu Zhen continued his ridiculous dance. The beggar, however, experienced a different fate: his hand shattered from the sheer vibration and nearly burst open on the spot.

"Ahhh—"

The beggar screamed in pain, blood splattering on the ground, his eyes wide with true horror.

He looked at Lu Zhen and managed to utter a single word:

"Monster!!!"

Then he fled as fast as he could, not daring to look back while clutching his hand tightly to stop bleeding.

Lu Zhen remained laughing and dancing as if nothing had happened.

A strange silence fell over the area as no one dared to speak.

The beggars glanced at each other and then—

Silently slipped away, minding their own business.