Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chai Hu received a signal from Gu Qingyue, gave her a reassuring look, and followed Song Ershan without hesitation.

That one glance warmed Gu Qingyue's heart.

An hour later, I came out of the room.

As soon as Gu Qingyue came out, she told Chai Hu to leave Uncle Song's house first, and the two returned to the courtyard on the mountain.

Leaving aside the matter between the two, the people who remained at Uncle Song's house began to discuss it, their expressions ranging from joy to sorrow, while some looked quite certain.

Uncle Song's eyes reddened as he watched his fellow apprentices, with whom he had known each other for many years, discussing amongst themselves in the courtyard.

"Everyone, everyone, please listen to me first," Uncle Song raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet for a moment.

"The matter of leaving the village that I just mentioned is voluntary. Of course, if anyone is willing to come with us, Dr. Gu and I would welcome them."

Uncle Song paused for a moment, then continued, "Although Doctor Gu is young, his medical skills are very high. Song San and the others are already recovering, and I believe Doctor Gu will cure them soon. Moreover, Doctor Gu is currently working for the Lizhou camp, serving our Great Chu army. We have also learned a lot about what has happened in the past two days, so we trust his character for now. As for what he said about us following him to secure a comfortable life and achieve long-term development, I, Song Ming, choose to believe him."

“Senior Brother Song, Gu Qingyue is too young. How can we trust him with peace of mind? There has to be some sincerity or explanation,” someone questioned, while others nodded in agreement.

Song Ming looked at everyone in the courtyard and said, "Doctor Gu said he would only take us out of these deep mountains to Lizhou Prefecture and provide us with the help he can. As for what to do after we get there, we can observe first and then consider it. He didn't force us. Besides, we have been living in these deep mountains for eleven years. Don't you want to go out and see the world? Now that Nanzhao has invaded our borders, don't you want to do something?"

Seeing everyone looking at each other in bewilderment, some people began to lower their heads and ponder.

Song Ming continued, "I know you've all been feeling stifled here for eleven years. Back then, we went into seclusion not only for our master, but also to escape our enemies and protect our children. Now that our master has passed away and our children have grown up, it's time for us to re-enter the world. Doctor Gu is our opportunity, and I hope you can seize it. Do you all want to stay here isolated from the world for the rest of your lives?"

"We'll give you a day to think it over. If you're willing to come with us to Lizhou, then we'll go together. If you want to stay or go somewhere else, that's also up to you."

Seeing everyone's fearful faces, Uncle Song spoke up: "If you are willing to find your own way out, we will decide to distribute some of the remaining assets of our Divine Weapon Tower to you. You are free to find your own way out, and we will not stop you."

At this moment, Uncle Zhao, who had been silent all along, looked at the hesitant and uneasy expressions of everyone and spoke up calmly: "But there is one condition. Although the Divine Weapon Tower has long been destroyed, unless the items from the Divine Weapon Tower are used for good purposes, if we find out who has used them to harm the people, we old folks will not show any mercy."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the courtyard fell silent.

Meanwhile, Gu Qingyue, who had returned to Chai Hu's house, could not calm down for a long time.

She had only just learned that the people living in seclusion in this small mountain village were actually descendants of the Divine Weapon Tower, a martial arts world that had dominated for a century!

Although she was far removed from the martial arts world, she had indeed heard about the legendary Divine Weapon Tower from her master.

Uncle Song's story today made her realize that this is a real phenomenon, not just a legend.

What incredible luck she has!

Ahhhhh!!! Gu Qingyue wanted to go for a run and shout.

But she had to hold back.

According to Uncle Song, the Divine Weapon Tower was built 153 years ago.

The first owner of the building came from the Divine Bow Bureau of the Great Chu Dynasty.

This is a secret agency of the imperial court, specializing in designing powerful weapons and overseeing their manufacture as national treasures.

At that time, the owner resigned with his apprentice for personal reasons, and was eventually wiped out by the imperial shadow guards, the Shenlong Guard, and barely escaped with his life.

Finally, he and his two apprentices traveled to various cities along the border of Nanzhao and established the Divine Weapon Tower.

After more than a hundred years of development, it became highly praised in the martial arts world and was passed down as a legend because of its outstanding designs of divine weapons, traps and hidden weapons.

However, the bigger the tree, the more the wind blows. Fifteen years ago, the Shenbing Tower caught the eye of the previous king of Nanzhao and several princes, all of whom wanted to take it for themselves.

Their current master is Song Yuexin.

Because he refused to comply, various factions in the Nanzhao Kingdom issued assassination orders against him.

Over three years, most of the people in the Divine Weapon Tower were assassinated, especially the craftsmen who specialized in designing and forging weapons; almost all of them were wiped out.

The original Shenbing Tower, which had six or seven hundred people, was reduced to only four people, including Song Ming and Song Sanshu.

The other fellow disciples were also hunted down and either died or scattered, until finally only a mere thirty-odd people remained.

Moreover, most of them were outer disciples or young disciples.

In order to save their master, who was seriously injured and poisoned, and in order to preserve the last strength of the Divine Weapon Tower, they chose to go deep into the Plum Valley Mountains eleven years ago and live in seclusion in this village, never to leave the mountains again.

In the eleven years that followed, only three people entered: Chai Hu and his apprentice, and Gu Qingyue.

Although many people wanted to kill Chai Hu and his apprentice to silence them when they arrived three years ago, they were ultimately spared because of their kindness, and Chai Hu was given a place to stay.

Gu Qingyue recalled the light in Song Ming's eyes when he talked about the Divine Weapon Tower. Gu Qingyue had reason to believe that if she could provide them with the conditions to rebuild the Divine Weapon Tower, it would surely regain its former glory!

The thought of this possibility made Gu Qingyue tremble with excitement.

She must keep them; they will be an invaluable asset! Her Moonshadow Pavilion will surely become an unshakeable force in the future!

Of course, Gu Qingyue also understood that Uncle Song and the others agreed to go to Lizhou with her not only out of gratitude for saving her life, but also because they didn't want to stay here any longer, isolated from the world and with no future in sight.

Everyone has aspirations, and Gu Qingyue completely understands that. She doesn't mind using it as an opportunity or a pretext for them to want to leave the mountains. She believes she will be able to persuade them to follow her.

After calming herself down, Gu Qingyue sat down by the bedside. Thinking of the old man who had passed away, she couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

May the old man who resembled my grandfather rest in peace. She will surely lead her disciples to rebuild the Divine Weapon Tower and avenge the former Divine Weapon Tower!

That evening, Song Ershan carried Song Ming on his back, followed by Song Sanshu and several others, and they went to Chai Hu's house.

As soon as they sat down in the main room, Song Ming said, "Young Master Gu, we've discussed it and we'll all go to Lizhou with you. We only ask for a place to stay and a job to make a living." He then turned to look at Uncle Song and the others and said, "If you can heal our junior brothers, we'll accept it even if we have to eat chaff and wild vegetables."

"Senior brother!" Uncle Song hurriedly stopped him.

"Our health is fine, but we can't be a burden to everyone anymore," Uncle Song said softly, while Uncle Zhao's eyes were already red.

Seeing their attitudes, Gu Qingyue understood. Although her healing energy might be able to heal their internal injuries, she couldn't say anything yet. She would wait until they arrived in Lizhou to see.

If the condition cannot be cured, and the person has given them great hope, only to be disappointed in the end, wouldn't that cause them even more pain?