The Five Sons of Kaihong Mansion

In response to Jiang Chao's question, Jin Yu nodded.

With a gentle wave of her sleeve, she instantly enveloped the figures of the master and servant, along with the entire Chen Family Manor, in a thin mist.

"what?"

"I remember my uncle's house was in this area, so why did it suddenly disappear?"

Bi Sheng looked at the dark, dense jungle in the distance and asked with a hint of doubt in his voice.

This time, Bi Sheng traveled around with several friends. When they passed through a neighboring county, he planned to visit his uncle's family.

His uncle's family lived in Chenjia Village. He remembered visiting the village once with his parents when he was a child and had a deep impression of it.

Bi Sheng also remembered that there was a wealthy man named Chen in Chenjia Village who was kind-hearted and generous. He once held a grand banquet to invite his family to visit.

However, his father, who was escorting a shipment of goods at the time, politely declined.

Bi Sheng's family ran a security escort business. His father, Bi Hu, was highly skilled in martial arts, righteous, and extremely trustworthy. As a result, he had an excellent reputation and a good name in the martial arts circles around Kaihong Prefecture.

Although Bi Sheng did not follow in his father's footsteps to become a bodyguard, his martial arts skills were superb and his foundation was solid. He had already surpassed his father and possessed incomparably powerful internal energy. He was one of the best among the younger generation of Kaihong Mansion.

Having practiced martial arts since childhood, he was naturally free-spirited and longed for the joys and sorrows of the martial arts world.

If his father hadn't stopped him from attending the martial arts tournament held in Yunzhou not long ago, he would have gone long ago to join in the fun. Even if he couldn't stand out at that gathering of heroes, it would still be good to broaden his horizons and gain some knowledge.

Unfortunately, he ultimately failed to achieve his goal.

This time, he finally persuaded his father to let him go out and experience the world.

The price he paid was that after he returned from his travels, he would stay at home and help his elder brother Bi Cheng manage the Bi family's escort business.

That's how this trip of five came about.

"Brother Bi, are you sure we haven't gone to the wrong place?"

The young man who spoke was named Xiao Qiushui, nineteen years old, and the second young master of the Xiao family of Kaihong Prefecture.

The Xiao family was quite prestigious in Kaihong Prefecture. They were a family of scholars, with generations of officials and a large and prosperous family. Xiao Qiushui's uncle was the governor of Kaihong Prefecture, a man of great power and influence.

This young man is dashing and talented, skilled in both literature and martial arts. Although he comes from a prestigious family, he has no airs of arrogance. On the contrary, he is humble, polite, and sincere and warm to others.

"Yes, Brother Bi, this place is in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't look like anyone lives here."

Holding a torch, Dong Jiajia, a fair-skinned and pretty girl, looked into the distance and spoke in a clear and melodious voice.

Dong Jiajia, nineteen years old, is the eldest daughter of the Dong family of Kaihong Mansion. She has a lively and cheerful personality.

The Dong family is a martial arts family with a long history and profound heritage. His father, Dong Kaishan, is the number one martial artist in Kaihong Prefecture and a true fourth-rank grandmaster.

As Dong Kaishan's daughter, Dong Jiajia is naturally not bad either.

At only nineteen years old, she is a girl but has amazing talent. She is already a young master who has cultivated true qi and her strength should not be underestimated.

"This must be the right place, but..."

Bi Sheng hesitated, unsure how to explain, but he was certain he couldn't have led the wrong way.

When he arrived, it was still dark, and there were signs of cultivation around him. The landscape was exactly the same as he remembered, so there was no way he could have gone astray.

"It's getting late, why don't we spend the night here? Let's not go any further. We'll continue our search at dawn."

A cool, clear voice rang out as Li Qingyue, dressed in a blue robe, made her suggestion.

Li Qingyue, the twenty-year-old daughter of a blacksmith in Kaihong Mansion, is a close friend of Dong Jiajia. She is a thoughtful and meticulous girl from a family of blacksmiths, whose fathers were all blacksmiths. She knows a lot of strange and wonderful stories and is very knowledgeable. She is the wisest among the five.

"Yes, yes, Sister Qingyue is right. Let's camp here. I've heard that things are not peaceful in the world lately, and evil spirits are appearing in many desolate mountains and fields. If we encounter them, it will be troublesome."

As a timid female voice rang out, everyone turned to look at her.

"Sister Liu'er, you can't say that so late at night! It's scary!"

Xiao Qiushui said nervously.

Liu Yu'er stuck out her tongue, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Well, I, I just..."

"Shh!"

Just then, Bi Sheng, who had been looking around, suddenly made a shushing gesture and lowered his voice, saying:

Listen!

Xiao Qiushui was taken aback and immediately focused her attention.

After a moment, Xiao Qiushui said with a blank expression:

"I didn't hear anything."

Li Qingyue lowered her voice and said, "It's so quiet all around, there's not a sound at all."

Dong Jiajia's face was pale, and she said in a trembling voice, "I... I think I just saw a dark figure, right there..."

Although Dong Jiajia was skilled in martial arts, she was afraid of the dark, which is why she always carried a torch.

"Sister Jiajia, don't scare me..."

Liu Yu'er, who came from the Liu Family Martial Arts School, shrank her neck and said somewhat fearfully.

Bi Sheng said in a deep voice, "Don't wander around here. I'm going to check it out."

"Let's go together, let's go together."

Xiao Qiushui was unwilling for Bi Sheng to take the risk alone.

The five of them had formed a deep friendship during their two-week trip together, and there was no barrier between them because of their gender or background.

After a moment's thought, Bi Sheng nodded. "Alright, let's go together."

Over the past two weeks, they encountered several dangers on the road. Once, they were attacked by dozens of bandits, and another time, they met a group of displaced refugees. Although they survived both encounters without serious harm, they learned that the outside world was not peaceful.

The group cautiously made their way in the opposite direction from Chenjia Village, where Jin Yu had used his illusion technique.

Jiang Chao, who had been observing the five people, followed them at a leisurely pace, a few feet behind them, with great interest.

He found this group of five—three women and two men—quite interesting. Along the way, they had met many people from the martial arts world, but without exception, they were either all women or all men.

This was the first time he had ever seen a mixed-gender martial arts team like this.

Moreover, judging from their attire, these five people must be of noble birth, either wealthy or of high social standing.

More importantly, these five people were full of vital energy, and their bodies were filled with fluctuations of true energy, indicating that they were all martial artists, and their martial arts cultivation was not low, far exceeding that of ordinary people in the martial arts world.

Martial arts are divided into nine ranks, with the first rank being the Grandmaster of Martial Arts, one in ten thousand, extremely rare.

The ranks from second to fourth are all considered the Grandmaster realm, divided into three stages: early, middle, and late. Most martial arts masters are at the early Grandmaster stage, which is the fourth rank.

Martial artists who reach this realm can split mountains and shatter rocks with a mere gesture. They can not only release their inner energy to injure people from a distance, but also briefly fly by relying on their profound inner energy and the martial arts intent they resonate with.

Of the five people in front of him, two of them, in Jiang Chao’s view, had already touched the threshold of the fourth-grade grandmaster. They were just one step away from breaking through the bottleneck and entering the fourth-grade grandmaster realm.