Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 615 Choosing a Target
Meanwhile, on the other side of the story, just as Shuangxie and Chunkong were reunited, Di Bujuan also arrived in Zhuxi County, which was under the jurisdiction of Yunyang Prefecture (also one of the counties surrounding Wudang Mountain, but a bit far away) that evening.

Because Old Di, the head of the four sects and three gangs, had some connection with the Hunyuan Star Gate, he disguised himself and traveled in a low-key manner when he came to Wudang this time.

Of course, he was, after all, the leader of the Canal Gang, and with the Canal Gang's vast transportation network behind him, his actions were certainly much more convenient than Shuangxie's.

On this trip, Di Bujuan only brought one person with him—Hu Wenzhi.

This old friend of Chief Di, after returning from Japan with Shuang Xie, soon joined the Cao Gang and was immediately promoted by Di Bujuan to the fourth position in the Cao Gang.

Other high-ranking members of the Canal Gang, especially Di Bujuan's right-hand men Feng Shunfeng and Feng Shunshui, had many complaints about this.

Fortunately, as a local tyrant, Di Bujuan was able to keep things under control. After working for a while, everyone realized that Hu Wenzhi was indeed quite capable, so most people accepted this "fourth leader".

However, while others might be able to accept it, the Feng brothers could not.

They've loyally followed Di Bujuan, working tirelessly for so many years to build the Grand Canal Gang into what it is today. Where did you, surnamed Hu, come from? Are you just trying to steal the fruits of their labor?

This guy took the fourth seat right away. If the gang leader gets carried away and promotes him to vice gang leader or something, what will all these years of our lives amount to?
But actually, they were overthinking it.

Even if Di Bujuan truly had that intention, Hu Wenzhi lacked the ambition.

Having wandered in foreign lands for decades and only now returning to his roots in middle age, Hu Wenzhi had long lost the ambition to compete for fame and fortune. He came to find his old friend simply to find a place to settle down and make a living. Seeing that Di Bujuan treated him well, he did his best to help Di Bujuan with some things, nothing more.

Di Bujuan understood this as well, so on this trip to Wudang, he deliberately only brought Hu Wenzhi with him. Moreover, he had discussed with the latter that after they returned from this trip, he would not discuss any merits, let alone mention any rewards or promotions, as if everything was just a matter of course.

This serves two purposes: first, it prevents any conflicts between the Feng brothers and Lao Hu within the gang when the leader is absent; second, it conveys the message that "although this person is my confidant, his role ends here," putting the Feng brothers at ease.

It has to be said that Chief Di's life is really tiring... His body is already like this, but when he goes out to do something, he still has to consider the power struggles and people's hearts within the gang, and also play mind games with his subordinates.

In the past, he could use alcohol and women to numb himself and relieve stress, but that doesn't work anymore.

Right now, in this inn in Zhuxi County, Di Bujuan can only order some light porridge and side dishes to eat; and these are not cheap either, because if you only order these, the innkeeper will think you are poor or stingy and will not cook them properly for you... You have to spend some extra money and instruct them to make them clean and exquisite, so that they understand that you are not short of money, but just have different tastes, and only then will they take the time to prepare them properly for you.

Chief Di stayed at the inn in Zhuxi County for two days. Two days later, Hu Wenzhi, who had gone out to gather information, finally returned.

Besides getting a general idea of ​​how many martial arts figures had come to the counties surrounding Wudang Mountain, and which ones were more famous and who needed to be watched, just like during the "Six Kings' Contest," Old Hu's exceptional hearing once again caught up with some unexpected information.

Even the way he overheard it was similar: last time, Hu Wenzhi was eating stir-fried pig liver at the Shihe Inn in Taizhou when he overheard the conversation between Wuying Duzun and Chixiao and Bixiao upstairs; this time... Hu Wenzhi was at an inn in the neighboring Yunxi County, where he ordered a plate of stir-fried chicken with pickled chili peppers, a serving of Banqiao dried tofu, and a bowl of Yunyang Sanhe soup... He sat there eating and listening to the conversations of the guests in the inn's lobby, and then he overheard the conversations in the guest rooms upstairs.

At this point, some of you might be thinking, "Why are you going to talk so detailed about what Hu Wenzhi ate? Are you craving something or something?"
Actually, it wasn't me who was craving it, but Hu Wenzhi who was craving it.

As we mentioned in the previous paragraph, even when Chief Di is traveling, he can only eat some simple porridge and side dishes. Hu Wenzhi, who has been eating at the same table with him almost the whole way, can only eat like that as well. It can't be that your boss sits there eating vegetables and drinking porridge while you, his follower, are eating beef, mutton, and roast chicken in front of him, can it?
So, during the two days that Lao Hu was out gathering information on his own, he also took advantage of his official duties to indulge himself and experience a lot of local delicacies. Several times, he was so focused on the food that he almost forgot about his real business of "eavesdropping".

Fortunately, his "unexpected gain" this time was the kind of content that wouldn't have much of an impact even if he heard a few less words, because this time he heard... Korean.

I couldn't understand it anyway, so a few more or less words don't really matter.

However, even though he couldn't understand the language, Hu Wenzhi could still recognize that "this is Korean".

As for why he could tell the difference, it's quite simple. He had met some Koreans when he was in Japan. Although he didn't learn their language, he could still figure out some pronunciation and rhythm patterns from listening to them a lot. Anyway, he still remembered the habit of saying "Sop Neda" at the end of sentences from time to time.

Once it was confirmed that it was Korean, both Hu Wenzhi at the time and Di Bujuan who heard the news now couldn't help but think about "that sect".

After all, in this vast universe during the Yongtai era, although it cannot be said that there were no Koreans at all, they were indeed very few. Apart from the official missions that came to pay tribute from time to time, there were almost no war or trade migrations among the common people. Merchants who engaged in "cross-border smuggling" mostly appeared in the border areas between the two countries.

The only name that could appear in such a gathering place in the heart of the Central Plains, where martial arts practitioners gather, is probably the Wanyuan Sect.

And their association was indeed correct. Here, we subtly reveal in the book that the two people Hu Wenzhi encountered who spoke in Korean were the "purple-robed masked man" and the "white-robed masked man" who rescued Wu Mingzi in the previous chapter.

Of course, I know that just by saying this, I guess many readers won't be able to remember who is who for a moment.

Let's put it another way...

The man in the purple-robed mask was the one whose face was smeared with "stinky powder" by Huang Donglai, causing him to vomit projectilely inside the mask.

The white-robed, masked man was the one whose hand had been shattered by Sun Yixie's "Door-Pounding Fist" and who wielded the strange sword.

These two are indeed from the Wanyuan Sect, but they are currently working under Meng Qi. They were both present when the attack on Shaoshi Mountain occurred, and the one in white even exchanged a move with Elder Jifu.

They have come to this area near Wudang Mountain with a mission.

The task wasn't complicated. First, they had to lie in wait near Wudang Mountain to see how many martial arts practitioners from the Central Plains would be attracted by the message "First kill Shaolin, then destroy Wudang." Then, they had to wait until these people had stayed for a long time and their guard had relaxed. Then, they would launch a surprise attack, targeting a few great heroes or famous figures, and carry out several decapitation strikes. And when they did it, they would still pretend to be people from the "Hunyuan Star Gate".

In this way, the strength of the Central Plains martial arts world can be weakened, and the situation can be further muddied, causing the entire martial arts world to continue to speculate on the fictional sect of Shuangxie, thus diverting everyone's attention.

But... this time, these two guys clearly miscalculated.

It wasn't just that Hu Wenzhi accidentally "heard" their existence—that was a miscalculation.

To make matters worse, on that very day, the two men in purple and white robes chose their first two targets—Zheng Dongxi and Jiang Shouzheng.