Chapter 160 Persuasion

Chapter 160 Persuasion

Chapter 160 Persuasion
In a cave about fifty miles northwest of Yulun Mountain, there were still some embers from the campfire, warming a little water in half a pottery jar.

Zeng Jianqiu stood at the entrance of the cave and observed the green smoke floating out for a while, then looked at the gloomy sky and walked back into the cave.

"It's foggy, good news. This little smoke won't cause any problems." He looked at the three swordsmen leaning against the stone wall in the cave, "Drink some water. I'll go out and get some food later. After we're full, we can think about what to do in the next few days."

All three swordsmen were seriously injured. One had his left arm completely severed from the shoulder, and the clothes on his body were no longer the original color, only black and red. One had both legs cut off, his face was pale, and he just leaned against the stone wall and stared at the sparks in the campfire. Another had half of his face covered with stone shells, which had merged with his flesh and blood. The remaining eye was also mixed with stone chips, so he must be blind.

But after hearing what Zeng Jianqiu said, Qi Sheng, whose arm was broken, just opened his mouth expressionlessly: "We are not thirsty."

Zeng Jianqiu spread his hands and said, "Why, I passed on the Dharma to Li Wuxiang, and now I am not a good person either?"

Qi Sheng turned his head away.

Zeng Jianqiu sighed: "Master Cui also said that Li Wuxiang might have been harmed by someone——"

Qi Sheng sneered: "Master Jiang and the lives of more than a dozen fellow disciples. You say it's possible? Since you say it's possible, we can't trust him, nor can we trust your lineage."

He was silent for a moment after saying this, then sighed, "Brother Zeng, don't blame me for speaking harshly. It's not that we don't trust you, but, forget it, we're not thirsty, thank you for saving us."

Zeng Jianqiu stood and watched them for a while, then picked up a clay pot from the bonfire. The bottom of the pot was extremely hot, and as soon as he touched it, a smell of burning flesh and flesh rose up, and it sizzled in his palm.

He walked in front of the three people and squatted, holding the pottery jar and looking at Qi Sheng. Qi Sheng turned his head and looked at him. After a while, he smelled the burning smell getting stronger and stronger. Finally, he sighed, took the pottery jar, drank some water, and handed it to the two people beside him: "Drink it."

The two swordsmen didn't care about the heat and immediately drank it in big gulps, choking on a few mouthfuls of blood foam.

Zeng Jianqiu stood up and walked back to the other side of the cave - Cheng Shengfei looked at them in a daze.

He sat down next to Cheng Shengfei and whispered, "Eating and drinking won't work. They need pills and medicines, otherwise within three days, all three of them will die. Junior Sister Cheng, have you thought it through?"

Cheng Shengfei turned around and stared at him blankly for a while, then shook his head: "I regret bringing you here. I...can't go find my mother."

Zeng Jianqiu just looked at her. Cheng Shengfei bit his lip and said, "I've thought about it again and again. My mother...may do something stupid. She will save me, but she will definitely not save you...In fact, I don't know if the way she wants to save me will hurt me instead. Senior Brother Zeng, let's think of another way, shall we?"

Zeng Jianqiu was silent for a moment, raised his hand and patted her shoulder gently: "Okay, since you said so, try to take me to Tianxin Sect, we can find a way to steal something - you said you stayed there for five years? You should be familiar with it, right?"

Cheng Shengfei nodded and lowered his head again.

Zeng Jianqiu smiled and said, "You don't have to be upset with yourself. Who can choose who gave birth to them? Besides... people, living in this world, will plan for themselves. You said your mother wanted you to be a swordsman to find a backer for herself. Now that she feels that this backer has fallen, she may look for someone else. There's nothing to say. You don't have to bother with others. Just do what you have a clear conscience. It's not you who brought us to Yulun Mountain. We were also chased here."

Cheng Shengfei's voice choked, and he only said, "Yeah."

"Rest a little longer and wait until night." Zeng Jianqiu said, "The people from the Xuan Sect will definitely be in Yulun Mountain. By then -"

Halfway through his words, he suddenly stopped talking, turned his head to look outside and raised one hand.

Cheng Shengfei immediately picked up the unsheathed sword in front of him, and the three swordsmen opposite pushed each other and held the flying swords in their hands.

Zeng Jianqiu released the flying sword and walked to the cave entrance along the wall.

He had just heard a sound, very scattered footsteps, not like those of a wild animal. Now that the footsteps had stopped, he could not tell how far away from the cave the person was, but he felt that if it was a person, there should be only one person.

After a few more breaths, a voice came from outside: "Fei'er?"

Zeng Jianqiu turned around and saw Cheng Shengfei covering his mouth and waving his hands to say no.

Zeng Jianqiu also remained silent.

After a while, the voice came again: "If you are in there, don't be afraid. When you were a child, you liked to come here and thought I didn't know... Mom followed you all the time. Fei'er, you can't trust anyone else in the world, and you can't trust Mom?"

Cheng Shengfei gripped the hilt of the knife tightly and a few tears fell.

"If your swordsman friend is in there too, don't be afraid. For the past two months, I've been doing odd jobs in the sect and have suffered all kinds of humiliation. Now I'm going to join the Five Mountains True Form Sect. Only the Sword Sect can avenge us. I don't want to be a swordsman anymore. I just want you to take me away. We must die together. I've had enough of this world... I'm coming in now to see if you're there, you..."

When Cheng Peixin heard the last few words, she burst into tears. Zeng Jianqiu looked at Cheng Shengfei who was still silent, then looked outside the cave and took two steps back.

The sound of dead branches and rotten leaves being crushed was heard outside the cave, getting closer and closer. After a while, Cheng Peixin appeared at the entrance of the cave with a package in her hand.

She saw Zeng Jianqiu and the three swordsmen in the cave, but her eyes immediately fell on Cheng Shengfei. When the mother and daughter looked at each other, Cheng Peixin immediately dropped the package in her hand, ran over quickly, and hugged Cheng Shengfei.

Zeng Jianqiu walked out of the cave holding the flying sword in his hand, took a deep breath and jumped a few times, then reached the cliff at the top of the cave and looked around.

The surroundings were all covered by a layer of dense forest covered by a thin layer of mist, and no trace of others could be seen. He waited for a while, and no one suddenly attacked, so he jumped down and walked back into the cave. Both of them had tear marks on their faces, but Cheng Shengfei had put down the knife in his hand.

Cheng Peixin unwrapped the package, revealing the contents - some food, powders and the like. She seemed to want to hand them to the three swordsmen over there, but the three of them just stared at her without saying a word.

Seeing Zeng Jianqiu coming over, she turned around and said, "I can't get much from the sect. You can use these for emergency use first. We will find a way to deal with it later—"

Zeng Jianqiu nodded: "Okay, Master Cheng, thank you very much."

He nodded to the three swordsmen and said, "You use it first." Cheng Peixin handed it to them again, and they took it.

Zeng Jianqiu helped the three people apply medicine while listening to Cheng Peixin and Cheng Shengfei talking.

"…I didn't know what happened at that time, but the sect suddenly didn't want me to do anything, and two people followed me to inquire about you. A few days ago, a guard of the True Form Sect named Miao Yi came to the sect, and then I learned about your You Jiuyuan."

"That night Zhou Ruixin came to see me in person and asked me about you. He also told me some things about my past as a temple master. After he left, I knew something was wrong. Zhou Ruixin must be planning to join the True Form Sect and get me out."

When Cheng Peixin said this, she touched Cheng Shengfei's hair and helped her remove the dead leaves and grass stems from her hair bit by bit. She sighed, as if she didn't want to say the next words: "But the day before yesterday, Zhou Ruixin's attitude towards the True Form Sect changed again, and he also asked the people in the sect not to have too much contact with them for the time being--"

She paused, looked at Cheng Shengfei's face, and wiped her eyes: "Why are you so thin?"

Cheng Shengfei grabbed her hand and said, "Mom, why? Did the leader change his mind?"

Cheng Peixin lowered her head slightly, thought for a moment, then turned to look at Zeng Jianqiu and the other three swordsmen: "It's because of Li Wuxiang."

Cheng Shengfei was stunned, the other three frowned, and Zeng Jianqiu remained silent.

"You all don't know yet, right? Li Wuxiang showed up on the plain a few days ago, killed three True Form Sect cultivators and a dozen independent cultivators, and blinded a dozen more, asking them to spread the word that he has reached the Nascent Soul stage."

Now even Zeng Jianqiu couldn't remain calm anymore, and he stared with wide eyes: "Him? Yuanying?!"

"I also heard it from others. He also spread the word that he would kill any independent cultivator who wanted to surrender to the True Form Sect, and that he would hunt down and kill all the True Form Sect cultivators stationed on the plains one by one... I don't know if what he said was true, but Zhou Ruixin must have been scared because of this news, otherwise I wouldn't have found a chance to come out and tell you all these things."

"Then where is Li Wuxiang now?"

"I heard... he was going to Yulun Mountain. Miao Yi, the Deyang Guardian of the Zhenxing Sect, said that Li Wuxiang must have said this to help the Sword Sect distract the six Xuan Sects. The best way is to kill him, the Deyang Guardian." Cheng Peixin stared at her, "You want me to take you to find Li Wuxiang?"

Cheng Shengfei looked at her with eyes wide open: "Mom, can you find it?!"

"Miao Yi will send someone to look for him. The True Form Sect's people will bring people from the sect with them, and your Uncle Qu is also among them. She told me all this. If she finds Li Wuxiang, I'll tell her to send me a message."

Hearing this, Zeng Jianqiu couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Like his three fellow apprentices, he did not believe that Li Wuxiang had really reached the Nascent Soul stage. He knew that Li Wuxiang had many ideas and might have used some tricks.

But what he really cared about was not his realm, but the words he said when he spread the word!
He is definitely not a spy!
The swordsmen were in a bad situation now, and they didn't know what the future would hold. But Zeng Jianqiu felt that if he could join forces with Li Wuxiang, he would feel more at ease even in such a situation. In recent days, people in the sect have been complaining about his lineage, thinking that he was unpredictable and impulsive, which was a very restless and unstable factor.

But he felt that in such dangerous times, only people like his own lineage could find a way out!
He immediately bowed to Cheng Peixin and said, "Master Cheng, if you can really help us find Li Wuxiang, then everything you said before - whether you want to go to the Sword Sect or find a secluded paradise - is no problem..."

Cheng Peixin smiled at Zeng Jianqiu with red eyes: "Daoyou, I know that there is no distinction between superiors and inferiors in your Sword Sect, but since it is wartime now, will there be the same rules as other sects?"

Zeng Jianqiu nodded: "Yes. It is also based on the level of cultivation. Among the five of us, my cultivation is the highest. I can meet all your requests."

"Okay. If I know Li Wuxiang's whereabouts, I can take you to see him. I don't ask for any secluded paradise, gold, silver, treasures, elixirs or magic weapons. I only have one request." Cheng Peixin looked into Zeng Jianqiu's eyes, "I can take you there, but I can't take Fei'er with me. If I leave after this, I have to take her with me."

Cheng Shengfei was stunned: "Mom?!"

Cheng Peixin didn't look at her, she just said to Zeng Jianqiu: "I've dealt with Li Wuxiang before, I know who he is, and I also know who you swordsmen are. If I take you to see him, you will definitely go to Yulun Mountain - to kill Miao Yi, so that the other fellow disciples can get away, right?"

"You are great, and I admire you very much. But as a mother, I also have selfish motives. I don't want my daughter to be like that. Miao Yi and his men have already set an ambush on Yulun Mountain. Li Wuxiang may be able to escape alive, and you, Brother Zeng, may be able to as well, but Fei'er has only been in the Sword Sect for a month or two. I don't think she can escape."

Zeng Jianqiu frowned and said, "Master Cheng, if you can find Li Wuxiang... you may have some opinions about him because of the past, but I guarantee that he will not bring Junior Sister Cheng with him even if he wants to go to Yulun Mountain."

Cheng Peixin sighed: "I may not know who Li Wuxiang is, but I know who my daughter is. Unless you tie her up, she will definitely go!"

Zeng Jianqiu was silent for a moment, then looked at Cheng Shengfei: "I can't make the decision on this matter, you have to ask Junior Sister Cheng."

Cheng Shengfei stood up and said, "Mom, I know you are doing this for my own good...but I need to discuss this with Senior Brother Zeng."

Cheng Peixin sighed and nodded.

Cheng Shengfei walked out of the cave and Zeng Jianqiu followed him out.

"Brother Zeng, if you can't agree to this, neither can I."

Zeng Jianqiu shook his head: "Your mother is right. At this moment, I have the final say on these matters. I know Li Wuxiang is the one who introduced you, but to be honest, if we really plan to go to Yulun Mountain and you really go with us, you may not only be unable to help, but also cause trouble."

Cheng Shengfei took another step to the side, looked inside the cave, and bit his lip: "That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm saying is that if I don't go... I think she will kill you."

Zeng Jianqiu was stunned for a moment, and also looked into the cave: "Junior Sister Cheng, why are you here?"

"Because she said she was my mother. Do you know when she claimed to be my mother in the past? When she sent me to have Uncle Qu take my pulse, when she asked me to go into the miasma cave at the back of Yulun Mountain to collect herbs, when she wanted to plot against Li Wuxiang." Cheng Shengfei closed his eyes and opened them again, wiping his face. "She likes me and loves me, I know. But, Brother Zeng, she..."

Cheng Shengfei gritted his teeth and said, "She's not smart. She always makes the worst choice. If we really want to find Li Wuxiang, let her take me there!"

(End of this chapter)