The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 81, Number 96: I Have a Sword! [Seeking Monthly Tickets!]

There were indeed two Qingcheng disciples watching the excitement in the crowd.

When Lin Pingzhi, disguised as a hunchback, rushed out to kowtow, the two Qingcheng disciples did not recognize him.

It wasn't until Lin Pingzhi pleaded that the two realized the hunchback was actually Lin Pingzhi.

Then, upon hearing Lu Chen accept Lin Pingzhi's plea, the two Qingcheng disciples were immediately alarmed and tried to shrink back into the crowd to quickly find Yu Canghai to deliver the message.

Before they could even hide in the crowd, they were kicked in the butt and sent flying out of the crowd, landing face-first in front of Lu Chen.

Lu Chen looked up into the crowd and saw a girl in a green dress, about thirteen or fourteen years old, tilt her head at him and giggle. Her quirky and mischievous demeanor was just like Huang Rong when she was playing pranks.

Qu Feiyan?

What are you laughing at? You and your grandpa should kowtow to me and Rong'er too.

Lu Chen muttered to himself.

Just as the two Qingcheng disciples who had been lying on the ground in a sorry state got up, a long whip flew from the side, twisting and tripping their ankles. The two Qingcheng disciples fell to the ground again with a thud.

This time, it was Huang Rong who took action.

Lu Chen turned his head and smiled slightly at Huang Rong, then looked at the two Qingcheng disciples and said calmly:

Where is Yu Canghai?

The two Qingcheng disciples stiffened their necks:
"My sect leader is currently at Master Liu's residence. Do you dare to go there?"

Although they were wary of Lu Chen's martial arts skills, they were very confident in their own sect leader's skills. Last winter, Linghu Chong, the eldest disciple of the Huashan Sect, beat Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong, two of the "Four Heroes of Qingcheng," in Hanzhong. The sect leader sent a letter to Huashan, and as a result, Yue Buqun severely punished Linghu Chong with thirty strokes of the cane and sent his second disciple, Lao Denuo, to Qingcheng Mountain to deliver a letter of apology.

What does this mean?
This shows that even Yue Buqun, the famous "Gentleman Sword" of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, is wary of his own sect leader!
Although Lu Chen has become quite famous in Hengshan City these past few days, all he did was kill a lecherous thief named Tian Boguang and fight to a draw with Tian Song Daoren and He Sanqi.
Tian Boguang is famous, but his nickname "Lone Ranger" only applies to his speed. Does he have any record of fighting against experts? Every time he encounters a master chasing him, he makes a quick getaway. His true strength is probably quite illusory.

Although Tian Song is a member of the Tian generation of Mount Tai, his swordsmanship is mediocre. He Sanqi of Yandang Mountain has never killed any masters; he is just a freelancer who sells wontons full-time and travels the world part-time.

He only managed to draw with these two so-called "senior masters" and never even challenged a leader of one of the Five Mountains Sects. What's so great about Lu Chen, the "Draw Sword"?
Because of the annihilation of the entire Fuwei Escort Agency, the crushing defeat of the "Seventy-Two Styles of Evil-Repelling Sword Technique" which was once invincible in the underworld, and Yue Buqun's sending Lao Denuo to Qingcheng Mountain last year to send a letter of apology, the disciples of Qingcheng have recently become somewhat arrogant. Many disciples even have the illusion that they can stand on equal footing with the Five Mountains Sword Sects, and they even look down on the Huashan Sect.

In any case, they didn't think that Lu Chen, the "Flat-Handed Swordsman," was capable of causing a ruckus in front of the sect leader.

"At Master Liu's residence?"

Lu Chen nodded and scooped up Lin Pingzhi, who was still kneeling on the ground:

"Let's go and meet Yu Canghai."

Lin Pingzhi wiped away the blood and tears from his face, nodded forcefully, and staggered after Lu Chen.

Seeing this, the onlookers on the street swarmed after them, and the disciples of the Huashan Sect naturally followed suit.

Huang Rong and Qu Feiyan walked through the crowd, looking around and counting heads. They were satisfied with the number of enthusiastic spectators—she loved such lively scenes, especially Lu Chen showing off in front of everyone.

Last night, she regretted not having an audience when she killed the Songshan Sect members, but today is much better. So many people went to watch Lu Chen cause trouble for Yu Canghai, and there were also many guests at Liu Zhengfeng's mansion. This scene suited her just the way she wanted.

Qu Feiyan followed beside Huang Rong, muttering under her breath with a resentful expression:
"I just helped him drag out the Qingcheng disciples and even smiled at him, but he gave me the cold shoulder. Why should I?"

Huang Rong, with her hands behind her back, comforted him with a smile:
"In public, under the watchful eyes of everyone, and with you being a young girl he doesn't even know, it's not appropriate for him to be too overly friendly with you. Otherwise, wouldn't it seem too frivolous?"

"But he smiled at you."

"I am his fiancée."

"Uh……"

As Lu Chen led Lin Pingzhi and a large crowd of enthusiastic people toward Liu Zhengfeng's residence.

Inside the Liu residence.

Liu Zhengfeng, Tianmen Daoren, Tiansong Daoren, Dingyi Shitai, and other masters from the Five Mountains Sword Sect were looking solemnly at the corpses that were densely packed all over the courtyard.

These were clearly the corpses of Ding Mian and other members of the Songshan School.

The atmosphere in the room was very heavy, and no one spoke for a long time.

After a long while, Liu Zhengfeng finally managed a smile and said:

"Let us discuss this matter. Who exactly is responsible for this?"

"Ding Mian, Lu Bai, and Fei Bin are the top three masters among the Thirteen Protectors of the Songshan Sect. The other disciples of Songshan are also well-known elites of Songshan..."

Tianmen Daoist said in a deep voice:
"The one who could kill Ding Mian and the other three great protectors, along with dozens of elite disciples of the Songshan Sect, without letting a single one escape, is probably..."

He looked around the room and said, "None of you here can do that."

Not only is no one able to do it, but it's also impossible.

Given the strength of the Songshan Sect, anyone present who faced them individually would surely die.

Even if two or three people were to fight together, it would be considered a stroke of luck to escape with one's life.

As for killing all of these people... well, those of us here can only try that in our dreams.

"Could we have fallen into an ambush?" Daoist Tiansong asked.

“No.” Abbess Dingyi shook her head and said, “Except for Lu Bai, whose neck seemed to have been broken by the whip, the rest all died from sword wounds. Judging from the wounds of the dead, they were all killed by the same sword. There were only two people who made the move. This was probably a fair fight… no, that’s not right.”

Her expression was slightly strange:
"The Songshan Sect... doesn't seem to be all that honorable."

The three corpses, Ding Mian, Lu Bai, and Fei Bin, were all dressed in black, with face masks tucked into their waistbands.

When the bodies of the other Songshan disciples were first discovered, most of them were still wearing black veils covering their faces.

Therefore, Ding Mian and the others were actually dressed as masked men in black at the beginning.

The dignified leader of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance could have made a grand and open appearance in Hengshan City, the territory of their allied forces, but instead, dressed in black and masked, he went to the riverside woods ten miles east of Hengshan City...

And before today, no one knew that so many masters from Songshan had come to Hengshan, and that so many people had traveled from Songshan to Hengshan without a single word leaking out...

What exactly are Ding Mian and his gang doing, hiding their heads and acting suspiciously?
A moment of silence fell over the arena, and the expressions of the experts were somewhat strange.

Liu Zhengfeng, who had a guilty conscience, seemed to sense something and his heart trembled slightly.

With this lineup from the Songshan Sect, wiping out the entire Hengshan Sect would be a stretch, but destroying Liu Zhengfeng's sect would be a piece of cake...

At this moment, the Taoist priest suddenly remembered something and asked:

"Master Dingyi, does the wound on Ding Mian's throat resemble Tian Boguang's fatal wound?"

"This……"

Master Dingyi hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said:
"The old nun couldn't tell."

She did indeed personally see Tian Boguang's body that day.

However, as a nun, she could not stare at a man's corpse closely; a single glance to confirm that the man was indeed Tian Boguang was enough.

Therefore, she truly couldn't recall the details of Tian Boguang's throat wound and had no way of knowing whether it was similar to Ding Mian's throat wound.

However, she understood what the Taoist Tianmen meant and said:
“Brother Tianmen, this matter is of great importance. Without evidence, we cannot make unfounded speculations.”

The Taoist priest at Tianmen shook his head:
"Please forgive me, nun; I was just guessing."

Despite this, Liu Zhengfeng and the others couldn't help but think of the young swordsman who had recently made a name for himself in Hengshan City after he said that, and the atmosphere at the scene fell into an eerie silence.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose outside, so loud that it seemed hundreds of people were making a ruckus.

Liu Zhengfeng frowned slightly, and was about to send a disciple out to check the situation when his disciple Mi Weiyi rushed in, sweating profusely, and said:

"Master, something terrible has happened! That young hero Lu Chen has led several hundred men to attack our gate!"

"What?" Liu Zhengfeng was stunned: "Young Master Lu led hundreds of men to attack our door? This... when did I offend him?"

Tianmen Daoist and the others were also taken aback.

Wasn't Lu Chen always kind to everyone, and always ended in a draw no matter who he fought with, maintaining harmony?
Why did he do this for no reason...?

There must be some misunderstanding.

Master Dingyi, however, knew Lu Chen's habits and said with a smile:

"Perhaps Young Master Lu has only come to learn swordsmanship from Master Liu, while the others are just here to watch the fun."

When Lu Chen was in Hengshan, he went to Jianxing Peak every day to ask for advice on swordsmanship, and they fought for quite a few days.

Now that he has defeated all the ordinary swordsmen in Hengshan City, he probably can't find a good opponent. It is only reasonable for him to challenge Liu Zhengfeng's Hengshan swordsmanship before he retires from the world.

Liu Zhengfeng nodded, about to speak, when another disciple ran over and said:

"Young Master Lu specifically requested to see Sect Leader Yu of the Qingcheng Sect!"

"Looking for Sect Leader Yu?" Liu Zhengfeng was taken aback again.

Yu Canghai was indeed a guest at his residence at the moment, but since the deaths of the Songshan Sect members were an internal matter of the Five Mountains Sword Sects, he was not invited to come and discuss the matter.

"Go and see!"

Hearing that Lu Chen specifically sought out Yu Canghai, Abbess Dingyi felt that today's matter was probably not just a simple swordsmanship challenge.

In recent days, news of the massacre of the Fuwei Escort Agency has gradually spread throughout Hengshan City.

Since Abbess Dingyi and her entourage were staying at the Liu residence and were Buddhist nuns, no one went out of their way to spread rumors about them.

However, when Yihe and other disciples occasionally went out to buy things, they also heard some rumors.

Despite not knowing the details or the extent of Qingcheng Sect's achievements, Abbess Dingyi couldn't help but feel a strong aversion to Yu Canghai.

If Yu Canghai hadn't insisted on the reason of "avenging his son's death," and hadn't used the pretense of coming to congratulate Liu Zhengfeng on his retirement from the martial arts world, claiming to be Liu Zhengfeng's guest, Abbess Dingyi might have already fallen out with Yu Canghai. Now, hearing that Lu Chen had come to see Yu Canghai, Abbess Dingyi felt a little hopeful.

She wanted to see how this young swordsman, who had killed Tian Boguang with a single sword strike and had a strong sense of justice, would treat Yu Canghai.

The members of the Five Mountains Sword Sect left the courtyard where the corpses were laid out and went to the front yard. Stepping out of the courtyard gate, they saw that in front of the main gate of the Liu Mansion, the spacious carriage and horse yard was already crowded with a huge crowd, numbering at least several hundred.

In the center of the arena stood a young swordsman with a sword in his arms and his back straight.

Beside the young swordsman stood a young hunchback whose face was covered in bloodstains, whose forehead was swollen and covered in blood.

The hunchback was glaring at the short Taoist priest opposite him, who was confronting the young swordsman, with gritted teeth.

The short Taoist priest was undoubtedly Yu Canghai, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect.

His prized disciples, the "Four Beauties of Qingcheng," and dozens of other Qingcheng disciples stood in a row behind him.

Because Linghu Chong did not engage in a life-or-death struggle with Luo Renjie, the "Heroes and Heroes, Four Heroes of Qingcheng" are still at full strength and look quite imposing.

At this moment, Liu Zhengfeng and his group of Five Mountains Sword Sect members arrived, and the onlookers immediately bowed to Liu Zhengfeng and his companions.

As Liu Zhengfeng returned the greeting, he walked to the center of the arena, cupped his hands in a salute to the sword-wielding youth, and smiled:
"Young Master Lu, what brings such a commotion today?"

Lu Chen returned Liu Zhengfeng's greeting and said calmly:
"At someone's request, I'm going to ask Sect Leader Yu for the person."

VIP?

Liu Zhengfeng was taken aback. Wasn't this a martial arts competition?

He hadn't initially taken today's events too seriously. He had planned to greet both sides and then leave to watch the sword fight, and he was even prepared for Lu Chen to challenge him to a duel.

Unexpectedly, today this young hero Lu is not going to compete in swordsmanship, but instead wants to help save people!

They're asking Yu Canghai for people... could it be...?

Liu Zhengfeng looked behind Lu Chen at the young hunchback glaring at Yu Canghai with hatred, and knew that today's events were unlikely to end well.

According to the rules, he should have tried to mediate the conflict. After all, Yu Canghai was a guest who came to offer congratulations, and Lu Chen was also a guest who came with Abbess Dingyi. As the host, he should have tried to mediate the conflict between the two guests, and at least not let them fight in front of him.

But thinking about Yu Canghai's actions, and then about the sneaky behavior of Ding Mian and others from the Songshan Sect, as well as the bizarre incident of everyone lying dead in the forest in the eastern suburbs...

Liu Zhengfeng shook his head and gave a wry smile. He said nothing and stepped aside to become a bystander.

Since Liu Zhengfeng, the host, didn't try to mediate, the other members of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, as well as the distinguished guests staying at Liu's residence, also kept quiet and watched. A few of them were even whispering and guessing how many moves Lu Chen would fight the Qingcheng Sect Leader.

"Three hundred moves, I suppose. Sect Leader Yu is a renowned figure..."

"Normally, a sword fight lasts three hundred moves, but today is different; it might draw blood."

"We can't just kill Sect Leader Yu with a single sword stroke like we killed Tian Boguang, can we?"

Although the elders kept their voices down and the scene was somewhat noisy, Yu Canghai was, after all, a master of the sect with profound skills and sharp hearing and eyesight. He overheard a few of their conversations and felt a surge of shame and annoyance.

To compare me to Tian Boguang?

Even Yue Buqun has to give me face, how dare you look down on me?

Enraged and humiliated, he glared at Lu Chen and shouted:
"We have no past grievances or recent enmity, so why do you come here to provoke me? Do you know that the person beside you has a blood feud with me for killing my son? It is only natural for me to seek revenge!"

Lu Chen did not speak.

Someone else will speak up for you.

Huang Rong, who mingled in the crowd as an audience member and sometimes even served as a commentator, stepped out of the crowd, smiled slightly, and said in a crisp voice:

"The hatred of killing one's son should indeed be avenged. Sect Leader Yu can kill Lin Pingzhi, or even charge his parents with failing to properly educate their son and kill them as well."

"But he didn't leave a single ordinary bodyguard or porter alive; he killed them all. He wiped out all the branches of Fuwei, and burned down dozens of civilian houses around the Nanchang branch, implicating hundreds of innocent people. Calling him a demon wouldn't be an exaggeration, would it?"

These details were what Lin Pingzhi told Lu Chen on the way, which Huang Rong overheard and carefully noted down. Now she could use them to shut Yu Canghai up.

Upon hearing her words, the crowd erupted in an uproar.

Although the news of the massacre of the Fuwei Escort Agency had spread far and wide, the specific details were not clear to most people.

After all, the Qingcheng Sect wouldn't publicize the massacre, and Lin Pingzhi, the only survivor who was stranded outside, couldn't find an opportunity or way to publicize it. Instead, he had to carefully disguise himself and hide to avoid being caught by the Qingcheng Sect.

Therefore, it was only at this moment that everyone realized that the Qingcheng Sect had committed such atrocities, even burning down the houses of ordinary people who lived near the branch of the Fuwei Escort Agency and had nothing to do with it!

Master Dingyi's brows furrowed, her anger rising. Looking at Yu Canghai again, she no longer just felt he was despicable, but that he deserved to die a thousand deaths. Feuds in the martial world are hard to stop, and even the righteous path will kill out of hatred. But there should be limits and rules to feuds, such as the most basic rule of not harming innocent civilians.

If even completely innocent ordinary people are dragged into this, then that person is a demon.

Yu Canghai clung to the reason of "avenging his son," killing Lin Pingzhi and even Lin Pingzhi's parents, and no one could refute him.

However, the escort agency is not a sect.

In a sect, the master and disciple system is passed down from generation to generation. Disciples rely on their masters, receive their protection and skills, and must treat their masters as fathers.

A master has responsibilities towards his disciples. If a disciple encounters a problem that he cannot solve, the master must step in to resolve it. If a disciple suffers a great injustice, the master must step in to protect him. Even the disciple's weddings and funerals are matters of concern and responsibility for the master. However, with so many responsibilities, the master also has the power of life and death over his disciples.

Therefore, it is not surprising that sect feuds can implicate the entire sect.

However, the镖师 (bodyguards) and 趟子手 (escorts) of the镖局 (escort agencies) were just paid employees who did their jobs. Their relationship with the chief镖头 (chief镖头) was only one of employment, not one of personal dependence.

Killing even ordinary employees in revenge is already extremely excessive, let alone burning down dozens of civilian houses around the Nanchang branch.

The Qingcheng Sect claims to be the righteous path, but its actions are truly no different from those of the demonic path!

Given Master Dingyi's temperament, she was already furious when she learned that the Qingcheng Sect had done such a thing. However, since Lu Chen was going to stand up for her, she suppressed her temper and waited to see how Lu Chen would handle the situation.

Seeing that the wind direction seemed a bit off, Yu Canghai naturally refused to accept it and said sternly:
"Where did this witch come from? That's utter nonsense, pure slander!"

Huang Rong chuckled:
"Whether what I say is true or not, Sect Leader Yu knows perfectly well. The Fuwei Escort Agency has its headquarters and branches all over the place, and the massacres and arson are all clear facts. If you don't believe me, you can investigate yourself or send someone to investigate. Even if Sect Leader Yu tries to argue, he can't argue with the facts."

Yu Canghai was not good-looking and was also irritable and stingy, so his reputation was already mediocre. Many people had also heard about the Qingcheng Sect's massacre of the Fuwei Escort Agency.

Huang Rong is beautiful and has a sweet voice. Moreover, as she said, whether it is true or not can be found out by visiting the branches in various places and the main branch in Fuzhou. There is no way she can lie.

Therefore, it is self-evident who everyone believes.

Seeing that the onlookers, including members of the Five Mountains Sword Sect and guests from Liu Zhengfeng's residence, were looking at him with strange expressions, Yu Canghai's eyes twitched slightly. With a clang, he drew his longsword, pointed it at Huang Rong, and angrily said:

"What a sharp-tongued vixen you are! Who exactly are you? Who sent you to tarnish the reputation of my Qingcheng Sect?"

Huang Rong curled her lips:

"Isn't it you, Master Yu, who has tarnished the reputation of the Qingcheng Sect? As for me, I'm just an ordinary passerby who stood up for justice. Don't take your anger out on me; get past the Heavenly Divine Sword first."

As she spoke, she smiled and made a four-sided bow, then retreated back into the crowd, joining Qu Feiyan as part of the atmosphere-building group.

Yu Canghai knew that Lu Chen was the main character today, so he glared at Lu Chen and said sternly:

"You surnamed Lu, do you really intend to be an enemy of me, Yu Canghai, and my Qingcheng Sect?"

By invoking the name of the "Qingcheng Sect," he was undoubtedly trying to intimidate others with his influence.

Little did they know that Lu Chen was not afraid of even the Songshan Sect, let alone the Qingcheng Sect.

Lu Chen didn't ask where Lin Zhennan and his wife were, and even if he asked Yu Canghai, he wouldn't tell him.

But so many Qingcheng disciples, especially the "Four Beauties of Qingcheng," would surely find out.

Therefore, he simply said to Yu Canghai:
"I have a sword that I would like to ask Sect Leader Yu to appraise."

Upon hearing this, Qu Feiyan's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed:
"The betting has started! The Heavenly Sword versus the Qingcheng Sect Leader, let's bet on the winner!"

One busybody laughed and said:
"It's not enough to just bet on who wins; we also have to bet on who can use their skills. I bet that Young Master Lu of 'Heavenly Sword' will win by one move after three hundred moves!"

I bet two hundred moves!

"One hundred moves, I suppose."

"Hmph, if you're going to gamble, why not be bolder? The Heavenly Divine Sword killed Tian Boguang with a single strike, I'll bet ten moves!"

"Tian Boguang is just a lecherous thief who can run fast. The Qingcheng Sect Leader is a major sect leader, how could he not even last ten moves..."

Hearing that everyone was betting on him and that they all looked down on him, even comparing him to Tian Boguang, Yu Canghai, who hated being looked down upon more than anything, was furious. He cursed and leaped forward, his short figure moving like a gust of wind, quickly appearing in front of Lu Chen. His long sword flashed with light and shadow, like pine needles swept up by a strong wind, enveloping Lu Chen.

It was the Pine Wind Sword Technique of the Qingcheng School, known for its "swiftness like the wind and strength like the pine tree"!

Despite their disdain for Yu Canghai's character, the onlookers couldn't help but exclaim in admiration at his extraordinary lightness skill and swordsmanship.
"it is good……"

But before the echo of that "good" had faded, a dazzling sword light appeared before everyone's eyes.

The sword light was like lightning, like a white rainbow. It was clearly a straight thrust with a distinct sword path, yet it gave people an elusive and incomprehensible eerie feeling.

Then, the seemingly easy-to-parry and dodge straight sword light pierced through Yu Canghai's fierce and powerful sword light with unstoppable force, and gently touched Yu Canghai's brow in his astonished gaze.

The sword light flashed and then disappeared in an instant, as if it had only touched the target lightly.

Yu Canghai froze, rooted to the spot, and then a trace of blood slowly seeped from between his eyebrows, as if a red mole had been added to his brow.

And then……

The light in Yu Canghai's eyes dimmed rapidly, and the long sword in his hand clattered to the ground.

Poof!

With a muffled thud, Yu Canghai fell backward and lay flat on the ground.

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(End of this chapter)