Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 620 The Plans Have Changed (Part 1)

"Is this true?"

"really."

"really?"

"really."

These few sentences were Di Bujuan's initial reaction after hearing Hu Wenzhi's report.

The content that Lao Hu reported here was not only "two Koreans whom I suspect were sent by Wanyuan Sect to plot something in the inn", but also "the two followed Jiang Shouzheng out of the city early the next morning, and the three of them did not return until midnight".

Of course, that was all Hu Wenzhi could find out.

Since he did not follow the three out of the city, he was unaware of what happened to them after they left the city; in addition, he did not notice that Zheng Dongxi was following behind Zi and Bai.

What? You're asking why he didn't stick with it to the end?

It's simple, he doesn't dare.

As the saying goes, "A person can never be taught by a hundred people, but a demonstration can teach a person in one go."

Hu Wenzhi has suffered many great losses in his life, and these experiences have taught him at least one thing: the importance of being cautious and prudent.

Since he only came out to "test the waters," he could have completed his mission by observing the movements of those people in the county town and among the crowd. Why would he risk doing something like "following them out of town"?
In retrospect, it was fortunate that Hu Wenzhi did not act rashly in this matter; otherwise, he might have been captured by Zheng Dongxi shortly after leaving the city, and at that time, whether he would live or die would be hard to say.

"Hmm..." After confirming Old Hu's words several times, Di Bujuan pondered for a few seconds before saying, "If your guess is correct... those two are indeed disciples of the Wanyuan Sect. What do you think they are doing following Jiang Shouzheng?"

"What else can we do? We just want to win him over or get rid of him..." In this setting where there were only two of them, Hu Wenzhi spoke to Di Bujuan in a rather casual manner.

“But…someone like Jiang Shouzhen…” Di Bujuan clearly didn’t mind Hu Wenzhi’s attitude, but he thought to himself, “…is he worth it?” He paused, “If it were me, let alone trying to win him over, even killing him wouldn’t be worth the trip.”

"Sigh...that's because you understand Jiang Shouzheng and know he's unworthy, but what do those people from the Wanyuan Sect know?" Hu Wenzhi curled his lip. "Let's not even talk about them. Even in our Central Plains martial arts world...there are plenty of people who don't know Jiang Shouzheng's true colors. In my opinion...these two Koreans are mostly deceived by Jiang Shouzheng's superficial reputation, thinking that he is a real hero. Well, that 'hero'...killing him can establish authority, and uniting with him can also be very worthwhile."

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Di Bujuan seemed to have a new idea. "So... for now, it would be better if we pretended not to know anything about this?"

“That’s right.” Hu Wenzhi understood what he meant, so he went along with him and said, “If they want to win over Jiang Shouzheng, then we can take precautions since we already know that Jiang Shouzheng has been in contact with them. At the critical moment, we can even turn the tables on them and use this to our advantage. But if they want to get rid of Jiang Shouzheng… well, then we should thank them on behalf of the Central Plains martial arts world.”

They were quite efficient at calculating, but unfortunately, due to incomplete information, their conclusions were far from the truth.

First of all, the Wanyuan Sect has already colluded with the young master and Yuxiu Manor, so if Zi and Bai really want to know Jiang Shouzhen's true colors, they can still find out.

Secondly, it doesn't really matter whether Zi and Bai know Jiang Shouzheng's true colors or not, because their motive for attacking Jiang Shouzheng this time is to "frame" him. In other words, killing Jiang Shouzheng is just a means in their plan, not the end. Whether Jiang Shouzheng is a true hero or a hypocrite makes no difference to them, as long as his reputation is good enough.

Thirdly, due to the existence of Zheng Dongxi and the emergence of the force that abducted Jiang Shouzheng and Zi Yi, things did not develop in the direction of "winning over or eliminating" as Di and Hu had assumed.

Fortunately... the two of them didn't get lost in this flawed reasoning for too long.

Because at this very moment, right here, while they were discussing this matter with great enthusiasm, the force that had taken Jiang Shouzhen away had already come knocking on their door.

clap clap-

A sudden knocking on the door interrupted Di and Hu's conversation.

Before the noise subsided, the two people inside immediately became alert... because they hadn't noticed a single footstep or breath before the person knocking made the noise.

We don't need to elaborate on Hu Wenzhi's hearing skills. Di Bujuan is also one of the more powerful masters among the sect leaders. Anyone who can get close to this distance without their notice must at least have a lightness skill that is no less than theirs.

"May I ask... which hero is outside the door? What brings you here in this dark night?" After a moment, Di Bujuan spoke first, asking the door in a neither humble nor arrogant tone.

Under these circumstances, there was no need for him to pretend to be ignorant, such as asking if the other party was a waiter or something... If he did that, it would make him seem a bit petty.

“No problem…” the person outside the door answered readily. “I am Qing Feiyun. I have come here to have a chat with Chief Di.”

Ladies and gentlemen, a person's name is like the shadow of a tree... This person's name is renowned not only in the martial arts world and among outlaws, but also in the imperial court and before the emperor.

As we mentioned earlier, in the past twenty years, there have been three doctors in the medical field who have been called "miracle doctors". The first one is the "Medical Sage" Qing Feiyun.

Moreover, his first place is a groundbreaking one, with a significant gap between him and the second-ranked "Evil Doctor" Yue Qicheng and the third-ranked "Miraculous Healer" Hu Ning'er.

However, as everyone knows, Qing Feiyun has been missing for about ten years. Even the intelligence organizations in the martial arts world cannot find his exact whereabouts. At most, they can only find some rumors about him practicing medicine and helping the world, which are hard to verify.

Many readers have probably noticed that this person's situation seems somewhat similar to Lin Dong's.

That's right, they are similar, so you should be able to guess that Qing Feiyun... is also a member of the True Hero Hall.

Of course, Qing Feiyun joined the True Hero Hall much earlier than Lin Dong, otherwise he wouldn't have his current martial arts skills.

What? You're asking if Zhenxia Hall teaches martial arts?
Well, you could say that, or you could say that it isn't.

Because at least half of the members of the True Hero Hall were already top-level masters when they joined, and at the very least, none were below the super-first-class level. In addition, they were all quite old, and many had master-disciple relationships in the martial arts world. Therefore, their members were basically in a teacher-student relationship, exchanging ideas and asking each other for advice. It was unlikely that two people would formally become master and disciple and have to argue about "who taught whom".

To put it bluntly, at their level and in that environment, martial arts are like academic materials. Rather than keeping them hidden, it's better to share them with everyone for research and discussion, and try to explore higher realms together.

However, Qing Feiyun was indeed an exception—when he entered the True Hero Hall, his martial arts skills were at best at the lowest level of second-rate.

But I don't think anyone would find it strange that Zhenxia Hall made an exception for him, after all, "medical skills" are the closest skill to immortality in this era.

Leaving aside true magical arts, even if "internal energy" exists in this universe and can assist in treatment to some extent, medical skills still have their irreplaceable value.

To put it more pragmatically, in this vast world, a martial artist with unparalleled skills may be one in ten thousand, but a doctor with exceptional medical skills is extremely rare.

As for Qing Feiyun, who entered the True Hero Hall through his medical skills, regardless of whether he himself was interested or not, everyone else would beg him to further improve his martial arts...

So, under the premise of having "a group of top instructors to choose from," Mr. Qing chose to practice "lightness skill" and "golden bell cover."

His thinking was also very clear: As a backline support, I don't need to learn anything about head-on combat. Let those things be done by those who are good at head-on combat. As long as I can dodge, run... and if I really can't run away, I can at least withstand a few hits. If I'm left with a breath left to save myself, then I've succeeded.

However, he still underestimated the importance of martial arts.

The human body has its limits. Just like how large muscles developed for bodybuilding competitions can actually cause a person to sink in the water if used for swimming... When you train your flexibility to improve your dodging ability, your physical strength will naturally decrease. To break through this biologically locked "six-dimensional limit," the only way is to go down the path of "not being human," like Gu Qiying...

Mr. Qing would definitely not do that, so in the end he simply gave up on defense and only learned martial arts related to dodging and escaping.

That's why he was able to arrive at the door of this house in a way that even Di and Hu couldn't detect.

"What? You..." Di Bujuan was about to question the other party's identity, but then he thought about it and realized that it was pointless to ask—he would find out whether it was true or false after he opened the door.

"Uh... please wait a moment, sir." He paused, then added this sentence.

While he remained polite, his body was not relaxed in the slightest. After saying this, Di Bujuan immediately exchanged glances with Hu Wenzhi. Once the latter understood and stood in the position Di Bujuan had indicated with his eyes, Di Bujuan stepped forward and, from a relatively safe angle that could deal with any attacks coming from outside, deftly opened the door.

This also shows that although Detective Dee sometimes likes to put on a show, he is a very practical person when faced with real danger.

Take the current situation for example. Logically speaking, Hu Wenzhi, as a subordinate, should be the one to open the door, while Di Bujuan should be standing further back in a safer place to wait for a counterattack... However, in reality, Chief Di made a more reasonable allocation based on his superior martial arts skills.

Furthermore, if you recall, during previous encounters at Wujian Manor and the Zhengxiong Cup, Di Bujuan always took the lead in battle.

Therefore, judging by actions rather than intentions, Lin Dong's promise to Chief Di that he would have a chance to join the True Hero Hall once his martial arts skills improved cannot be considered mere empty talk...

"Oh! It really is you, sir. This junior greets you, sir!"

When the door opened, Di Bujuan was taken aback when he saw the elderly man in his sixties standing outside. He quickly clasped his hands in a salute.

Clearly, Di Bujuan knew Qing Feiyun. His momentary pause was simply because when he last met the gentleman, the man was middle-aged, but now he was an elderly man, so he had to mentally reconcile his perception of him.

As for how they met... it was actually quite ordinary. Back when Qing Feiyun wasn't so elusive, she had treated a teenage Di Bujuan.

Of course, the "ordinary" here refers to Di Bujuan, a "second-generation martial artist," since even if Mr. Qing didn't disappear, he wouldn't be so easy to invite.

"Greetings, sir." Upon seeing this, Hu Wenzhi reacted quickly, immediately following suit and greeting him. He then took two steps forward, opened the door wide, and invited the gentleman into the room.

Qing Feiyun didn't stand on ceremony with the two younger men. He strode in, sat down casually, and after taking a sip of the tea that Di Bujuan had poured for him, he got down to business.

The reason he came today was undoubtedly related to "the impact of Jiang Shouzhen and 'Zi' falling into the hands of Zhenxia Hall," which simply means... the plan has changed.