Chapter 128: The Moon Locking Sect Incident
Chapter 128: The Moon Locking Sect Incident (Part )
To the southwest of Luyang City, there are continuous mountains with rich iron ore deposits.
After hundreds of years of mining, countless new and old mines have been dug. Today, most of the mineral veins have been exhausted, and only the Shenyue Valley sandwiched between two Black Stone Mountains still has some operating mines.
3:45 pm
More than 300 men got water and sat under the cliff to enjoy the cool air.
Five disciples of the Suo Yue Sect walked up to them, called out to a man, and escorted him out.
"Where are you taking me?"
"The Second Young Master wants to see you."
"Liu Pan? You're still not giving up after trying to visit me three times?"
The man in the middle was extremely strong, with curly hair and beard and dark skin. Unlike most miners, he had shackles on his feet and his ankles were covered in blood, but he still walked as agilely as a flying bird. People who saw him couldn't help but call him a good man.
The leading Suoyue Sect disciple laughed and said, "Master Cai, a man who knows the current situation is a hero. The Second Young Master is willing to show respect to the wise and humble. What else do you have to wait and see? If you really want to die at the bottom of the mine and turn into a pile of rotten meat, that would suit your wishes?"
Cai Zhongwen licked his cracked lips and asked with a smile, "Second Young Master, what conditions are you going to offer me this time?"
The man was surprised and asked, "Has Banner Master Cai changed his mind? Go ask the Second Young Master when you see him."
There are two rows of houses at the entrance of Chenyue Valley, with more than sixty guards stationed there, only half of whom are disciples of the Suoyue Sect, and the others are fugitives secretly recruited by the Second Young Master.
Liu Xuan, the young leader of the Suoyue Sect, is Liu Pan's half brother, and the two have long been at odds with each other.
The group walked further forward and found a pavilion in the shade of the mountain, named "Moon Rising".
In the pavilion, there was a stone table with a pretty maid standing beside them, and two people were playing chess.
The young man was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, handsome with a black mole between his eyebrows.
The man sitting opposite him was dressed in shorts, with a long scimitar-beaked sword hanging from his waist. When he moved the chess pieces, his right hand had some inconvenience.
"Zhao Zhuang, is the wound on your hand still not healed?"
"Thank you for the golden wound medicine sent by the Second Young Master. After using it, I feel much better now. However, the injuries are in my tendons and bones, and I have internal injuries, so there are still some effects. I should be able to recover as before after another half a month of recuperation."
Liu Pan smiled and said, "So, Nangong Cang is really amazing? If you lose in a fight with him, it won't be considered a disgrace to the Suoyue Sect."
The second young master's words seemed to be comforting, but Zhao Zhuang still looked ashamed. This could not be considered a defeat. Nangong Cang showed no mercy and chopped him off the stone platform with one sword. The Suoyue Sect also lost face.
Sect Leader Liu didn't say anything, but he seemed to be indifferent.
The chess piece in Zhao Zhuang's hand slowly fell down. He said dejectedly, "At the Huashan Heroes Conference, Linghu Chong and Nangong Cang overwhelmed all the other heroes. Their martial arts skills were so exquisite and their internal strength was so powerful that they far surpassed their peers. They were definitely not something I could defeat."
Liu Pan said with a smile: "Brother Zhao, don't be discouraged. A victory or defeat at a certain moment cannot determine whether a hero is a hero."
"The Huashan Sect was originally very powerful, and everyone thought that Yue Buqun would definitely be the leader of the Guanzhong martial arts world. But what happened? The leader was seriously injured, and the entire sect closed down."
"The Nangong family defeated the Huashan Sect. I heard that before they even left Huazhou, they were chased by a mysterious master and suffered heavy casualties. Nangong Huang had no choice but to retreat back to Longxi. In the end, neither side got anything good."
Liu Pan really enjoyed the pleasure of sitting in the mountain pavilion and watching the ups and downs of the world.
Right now, the world in Guanzhong is surprisingly peaceful.
"Reporting to the young master, the person has been brought here." Cai Zhongwen stood in front of the pavilion, grabbing the lice in his hair and squeezing them until they made a crackling sound. He glanced at the people in the pavilion.
"Master Liu Pan, long time no see."
Liu Pan asked the maid to remove the chessboard, took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and placed them on the stone table. He smiled and said, "Master Cai, please sit down. It's a rare opportunity for us to have some free time today. We can have a chat."
"It seems that Master Pan has come prepared?"
Cai Zhongwen dragged his shackles and sat on a stone bench. He looked at the pot of tea and swallowed hard. The miners had daily quotas for food and water, which they could only barely maintain.
"Xiaohong, pour tea for Banner Master Cai."
"Do not bother."
Cai Zhongwen grabbed the pot of tea, put his hand close to the mouth of the pot, and drank it all in one gulp.
A flash of disgust flashed across Liu Pan's eyes.
"Brother Cai, after the defeat at Hengshan, the Yunshui Hall was destroyed, and the Demon Cult was driven out of Guanzhong. Many of the Demon Cult's great figures died or fled. You are just a small flag master in the cult, earning a salary of more than ten taels of silver every month. Why do you have to work so hard for them?"
Cai Zhongwen looked at the black mole between Liu Pan's eyebrows and said, "I've heard that Master Pan has great ambitions. I didn't expect that he would dare to employ a remnant of the Demon Sect like me. Aren't you afraid that people in the Orthodox Sect will talk about the Suoyue Sect?"
"Well, I've already thought about it for my brother."
Liu Pan pushed the pen and paper on the table in front of him and opened a document of several hundred words.
"Brother Cai, just copy this 'Letter of Confession for Abandoning Evil and Returning to Goodness', sign and seal it, and have the Suoyue Sect spread the news to the martial arts world in Guanzhong. From now on, you will have nothing to do with the Demon Sect and can start a new life."
Cai Zhongwen glanced at the document on the table and an inexplicable smile appeared on his face.
Liu Pan smiled and asked, "What do you think, Brother Cai?"
Cai Zhongwen smiled and stood up: "I'll have a cup of tea. Thank you, Master Pan. Please take me back."
Liu Pan's face darkened. "Brother Cai, think it over. This is my last chance for you. Do you really want to be a diehard member of the Demon Cult? Or do you hope that the Demon Cult can return to Guanzhong?"
Cai Zhongwen glanced at him and walked out of the pavilion.
Liu Pan's face was as gloomy as water. He glanced at the disciples of Suoyue Sect, and the leading one nodded in understanding.
After the group left, the maid put the chessboard back on, but Liu Pan had no intention of playing anymore. He really didn't understand why a small leader of a demon cult could be so stubborn and act more righteous than the righteous people.
Zhao Zhuang asked curiously, "This Cai Zhongwen is just an ordinary flag master. Even if he has some martial arts skills, it is nothing special. Why does the second young master think so highly of him? Is there any hidden reason?"
This was the secret in Liu Pan's heart, and he didn't want to say much. However, Zhao Zhuang was someone he had recently won over, so in order to show his trust, he had to tell him everything.
"Cai Zhongwen is a native of Luyang. His family originally made a living by mining. I heard that he has inherited his family's knowledge. On the eve of the fall of the Guanzhong Demon Sect, they discovered a gold vein in the mountains near the Shenyue Valley. If he is willing to give it up, the Suoyue Sect will have more gold and silver to recruit martial arts masters."
Zhao Zhuang nodded slightly. The second son said that it was to expand the power of the Suo Yue Sect, but in fact it was for his own benefit, so that he could have enough money to recruit desperate criminals and compete with the eldest son for the position of the leader.
Liu Pan dropped a chess piece, murderous intent flashing in his eyes: "Hiding someone from the Demon Cult is risky after all. Since he is unwilling to cooperate, I won't force him!"
(End of this chapter)