Chapter 310 The truth comes out
Chapter 310 The truth comes out
The thirty-six tables inside and outside the flower hall of Liu's house were all full.
There are still three days before the Jinpan Retirement Conference. The many heroes attending the banquet are unnamed and there is a lot of chaos. They just wanted to have a free meal, but didn't expect to get into such a big mess. All their eyes were fixed on the show in the hall.
"Interesting, when did he get in? He's quite courageous."
Zhang Yu picked up the wine glass and accidentally saw a familiar face. Although the face was deliberately defaced, he still noticed something strange.
At the table near the corridor sat a young man with disheveled hair, a dark face, and a plaster on his left cheek. There were so many delicacies on the table, but he preferred fish. He grabbed the squirrel mandarin fish and ate it from head to tail, looking very ferocious as he ate it.
Someone nearby was dissatisfied.
"Who is it? Did a beggar sneak into Liu's house?"
An older person reminded: "Keep your voice down!"
The man was not convinced and raised his neck and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Did you see the fly eggs on his head? Did you see the green bamboo stick at his waist? Did you see the worn-out shoes with open toes on his feet?"
"I saw it all, what's the matter?"
"Standard Beggars' Sect disciple attire!"
"A disciple of the Beggars' Sect?"
"If you offend them, they won't fight you. Instead, they find a bunch of beggars and beg for food outside your house. Can you bear it?"
"Aren't the Beggars sitting in the hall with Zhang Jin'ao?"
"Those are the Eight Bags disciples, the leaders of the various branches of the Beggars' Sect. Naturally, they have different identities. This one looks young, so he should be a new member of the sect."
"I see. Since they are from the Beggars' Sect, we really can't afford to offend them. Thanks for the reminder, brother."
The two men spoke in a moderate voice. The young beggar looked over and they quickly bowed to show their respect.
Lin Pingzhi glanced at the two of them and turned away expressionlessly.
In the first twenty years, he had done nothing except being the young leader of the Fuwei Escort Agency. Since he came to Hunan from Jiangxi, in order to avoid the eyes and ears of the Qingcheng Sect and to get information more easily, he had to dress up as a beggar. He was quite good at this and had quite a talent.
He looked towards the flower hall, where Zhang Jinao and a group of beggars of status were sitting at the top seats. He couldn't help but sneer in his heart as he thought of his father Lin Zhennan, who had been disappointed for a long time because Liu Zhengfeng did not send an invitation to his retirement party.
"What the hell is this world!"
"My Fuwei Escort Agency has been established for three generations and covers ten provinces. We usually do good deeds in the countryside, donate money to repair bridges and roads, and do a lot of good deeds. No one in the martial arts world comes to respect us. When we encountered a disaster for no reason, those famous and upright sects didn't even verbally condemn the Qingcheng Sect!"
"And these beggars who make a living by begging can actually sit at the table. Is this the rule of the martial arts world?"
"The powerful confuse right and wrong, manipulate public opinion, and do whatever they want!"
Lin Pingzhi ate the only fish on the table and stared at the remaining dishes, but he couldn't muster any appetite.
In order to vent their anger over Ji Renxiang's death, the Qingcheng Sect spread rumors all the way from Nanchang to Hengyang about the glorious deeds of Lin Pingzhi, the young escort chief of the Fuwei Escort Agency, who ate dog shit and crawled through dog holes in order to survive.
Since that day, Lin Pingzhi had not eaten for three days and three nights. He even vomited out all his bitter gall. After that, everything he ate seemed to taste like dog shit.
In addition to eating fish, the hatred for Yu Canghai can cover up the smell of dog shit.
“Yu Canghai! I, Lin Pingzhi, swear to repay the humiliation I suffered that day a hundredfold!”
In the flower hall.
Hong Renying sat next to Yu Canghai and asked in a low voice.
"Master, are we not coming out yet?"
"No hurry, Dingyi, you stupid ox, wait until the feud between the two factions gets bigger before you do anything."
"Hehe, Master is really wise. This move really kills two birds with one stone. It can not only completely discredit the Fuwei Escort Agency, but also let the Five Mountains Sword Sects fight among themselves. Let's see who will still care about our Qingcheng Sect's affairs?"
"No need to say more, just sit back and watch what happens."
Yu Canghai stroked his long beard and smiled slightly, already having a plan in mind.
At this moment, a loud shout came from the flower hall, instantly penetrating the noisy discussions.
"You are a sharp-tongued person who confuses right and wrong, and has no respect for elders. Is this how Yue Buqun usually teaches his disciples?"
There are five empty chairs above the flower hall. On the back of the second right chair is a pattern of the Jade Maiden Peak of Mount Huashan carved. You won’t be able to notice it if you are not careful. It is obvious that it was made by a master craftsman, and it shows a special thought.
"Oh!"
Ding Yi was filled with anger and without caring about Liu Zhengfeng's face, he swept the table with his sleeves filled with internal energy.
The small celadon cup flew out in an instant and smashed the "Jade Maiden Peak" on the second right chair, with wood chips flying everywhere. Xiang Da Nian, Mi Weiyi and other Hengshan School disciples were filled with shock and anger and looked at their master.
Liu Zhengfeng just waved his hand and asked the servant to take away the broken chair and replace it with a new one.
"Master, if you have anything to say, let's discuss it slowly. Why get angry?"
Ding Yi bowed and said, "Master Liu San, our two families have been friends for decades. Although Hengshan Ding Yi is arrogant, he is not an rude person. It's just that my disciple has been kidnapped, and the people from Huashan Sect are highly suspected. I have to ask where I have offended you. After I rescue my disciple, I will go to the Liu Mansion to apologize!"
After hearing her say this, Liu Zhengfeng didn't know what to say.
Linghu Chong admitted that he had drunk at the same table with the rapist Tian Boguang. His so-called explanation was one-sided and seemed extremely far-fetched to anyone who heard it. Not only could it not convince the Hengshan Sect, but even the unrelated people in the martial arts world present would inevitably be suspicious.
Yue Lingshan said helplessly: "Uncle Master, are you so sure that it was my senior brother who did it?"
"If I have wronged Linghu Chong, I can also apologize to the Huashan Sect in public!"
Ding Yi sneered, "Humph! Lingshan, I want to ask you, do you really trust your senior brother so much that drinking with the rapist and drawing swords against fellow disciples is the rule of your Huashan Sect and the chivalry of the chief disciple?"
Yue Lingshan looked towards Linghu Chong and saw that he looked calm, with only regret for not being able to capture Tian Boguang in his brows.
"Lingshan doesn't dare to be disrespectful to Uncle Dingyi, but Uncle Dingyi can't wrongly accuse someone without evidence. If it weren't for Senior Brother's intervention, I'm afraid... I'm afraid that Lian Yi and Senior Sister might not be able to come back."
"What did you say!"
Master Dingyi opened her eyes wide, then moved slightly, took two steps forward, and raised her hand to place it on Linghu Chong's throat.
Yue Lingshan quickly pressed the hilt of the sword and asked in surprise, "Uncle Master, what are you doing?"
Linghu Chong was an expert swordsman, but his internal strength was inferior to Ding Yi's. He already regretted that because of him, Tian Boguang escaped, and he also put Junior Sister Yi Lin from the Hengshan Sect in a desperate situation. She had no intention of guarding against him, and the old nun locked her throat with just one move.
Ding Yi sneered and asked, "What?"
"Linghu Chong, you said before that Yihe would be defeated by Tian Boguang in just five moves, and his life would be in danger. You had to help him. Is my Hengshan Sect's eldest disciple really so incompetent?"
"It seems that the martial arts skills of you, the chief disciple of Huashan Sect, are not that good at all!"
Linghu Chong shook his head slightly, looked at Yue Lingshan, and said, "Junior Sister, I would never collude with Tian Boguang, and I would never do anything to harm the Hengshan Sect's disciples. It's just...it's just that I didn't handle things clearly and didn't ask clearly, which caused Junior Sister Yihe to misunderstand. It's only right that Uncle Master wants to punish me..."
Liu Zhengfeng saw that both sides were fighting, and he didn't want to offend anyone, but now he couldn't do it. Just as he was about to come out to mediate, he saw the leader of the Qingcheng Sect, Yu Canghai, stand up and walk into the hall. Master Liu San was not tall to begin with, but when he looked at Taoist Yu, he could still look down on him.
"Wait a minute!"
Yu Canghai held his left hand over his right hand, put them together in front of his chest, and performed the yin-yang embrace ceremony.
Ding Yi said coldly: "Master Yu, do you want to stand up for Huashan Sect?"
"No!"
"Then why did you come out to cause trouble? Why don't you go back to your table and drink your wine?"
Yu Canghai was secretly annoyed. This evil woman spoke so harshly.
There are always some people who claim to be honest, but in fact they have never learned to speak normally since they were born. If it weren't for her head sister Ding Xian Shen Ni, Yu Canghai would have wanted to take off his shoes and slap her fifty times. Yu Canghai smiled lightly: "Master Ding Yi, Young Master Linghu, you all misunderstood."
Ding Yi sneered: "What's the misunderstanding?"
Yu Canghai said in a deep voice: "I may know the whereabouts of the missing disciple of Master Tai."
"What did you say?"
Ding Yi let go of Linghu Chong and walked quickly to Yu Canghai.
"Master Yu, please don't joke with me. Since you know the whereabouts of my disciple, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Yu Canghai sneered in his heart. If he had told you earlier, how could you two families still have a rift? He glanced at Hong Renying and said, "I just received the news from my disciple."
Ding Yi was extremely worried and asked hurriedly, "Master Yu, what's going on?"
The Huashan Sect inside the flower hall and the heroes outside the flower hall all looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering how the disappearance of a young disciple from the Hengshan Sect could cause such a big commotion. Now, even the Qingcheng Sect had inexplicably taken the initiative to get involved.
"I just received the news, so let that disciple talk to the nun in person."
Yu Canghai glanced at Hong Renying, who understood and hurried out. After a moment, he came back from the corridor, followed by two ordinary disciples of Qingcheng Sect. They were carrying a stretcher with a person lying on it, with his buttocks wrapped in thick gauze.
"Qingcheng Sect disciple Jia Renda, meeting... meeting Master Dingyi."
"No need to be polite. Have you met my disciple Yilin? What does she look like?"
Ding Yi lowered his eyes slightly and glanced at the man, wondering in his heart, Yi Lin has been practicing in Hengshan since she was a child. This is her first time leaving the mountain gate. She has been staying with her senior sister, so how could she get to know a strange man?
"That young master claimed to be a disciple of Hengshan Sect. He was about sixteen or seventeen years old. He wore a snow-white monk's robe and spoke softly. He had bright eyes and beautiful eyebrows. He was extremely beautiful, and his skin was as white as snow..."
Ding Yi interrupted him and said, "No need to say more! That's Yi Lin, where did you meet her?"
Jia Renda raised his head, glanced at his master Yu Canghai and senior brother Hong Renying, and sighed deeply.
"Master Dingyi, it's all my fault for being incompetent!"
Seeing him like this, Dingyi felt a little depressed, wondering if something had happened to Yilin.
"Jia, what happened to Yilin?"
"I met her last night in Baitang Town at the foot of Hengshan Mountain. At that time, Junior Sister Yilin was captured by a rapist, and was raped in the street. She took off her shoes and socks. I saw that she was wearing monk's clothes and she claimed to be a disciple of Hengshan Mountain, so I wanted to help her. Alas... I didn't expect that the rapist was very powerful in martial arts. My butt was injured by him."
"What about Yilin?"
Master Dingyi didn't care at all about Jia Renda's butt and continued to ask.
Jia Dada said dejectedly, "I am incompetent. Junior Sister Yilin was kidnapped by that rapist. I don't know where she went. I am not good at learning, and I am ashamed of Master's teachings!"
Yu Canghai said sternly: "Your martial arts skills are not as good as the rapist, but you have a heart that helps the poor and the needy, punishes evil and promotes good, which is already a thousand times better than him!"
Jia Renda forced himself to stand up, and said with a saluted hand: "Master, I will never forget your teachings until I die!"
After hearing this, everyone outside the flower hall gave a thumbs up. The Qingcheng Sect was indeed a famous and upright sect. Even though they were seriously injured, they still remembered to practice chivalry. After this incident, in addition to the four beauties, there would be another famous disciple of the Qingcheng Sect, Jia Renda.
Lin Pingzhi recognized that Jia Renda was the man who escaped from Cai's tavern that day. Seeing that such a vicious gang like the Qingcheng Sect had won the praise of many heroes in the martial arts world, he was extremely indignant. He put down his wine glass heavily and cursed in his heart.
"Bullshit chivalry!"
Zhang Yu gently put down the wine glass, feeling both angry and amused. He didn't know whether Yu Canghai didn't know the truth and let his disciples deceive him, or whether they were in cahoots with each other and turned black into white. In any case, shamelessness was engraved in his bones.
Dingyi sighed. Jia Renda was indeed seriously injured. No matter how arrogant she was, she could not blame the other party for not trying her best to rescue him. Instead, Hengshan Sect owed Qingcheng Sect a favor.
She glared at Linghu Chong.
"That rapist must be Tian Boguang, right? Linghu Chong, do you still dare to say that this matter has nothing to do with you?"
"No."
"No..., Master Yu, you are nothing?"
Ding Yi was stunned for a moment. She thought he was a disciple of Huashan Sect and was about to make excuses again. Unexpectedly, the one who said "no" this time was actually the leader of Qingcheng Sect.
Yu Canghai smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "Master, you misunderstood. I have already asked my disciples, and that person is not Tian Boguang."
Ding Yi frowned and asked, "Who is that?"
Not only Ding Yi felt strange, but even the Huashan Sect disciples, including Linghu Chong, were convinced that the person who kidnapped Yi Lin was the notorious rapist Tian Boguang. Linghu Chong should never have drank at the same table with Tian Boguang, and was secretly worrying about how to clear his name. But when they heard Yu Canghai say that the man was not Tian Boguang, they were immediately surprised and happy.
Yu Canghai stroked his long beard and uttered three words.
"Zhang Liyu!"
Some of the heroes present heard this name for the first time.
In addition to the Huashan Sect disciples, there was also Lin Pingzhi sitting outside the hall.
Ding Yi thought about it, but there seemed to be no such name in his mind, so he asked, "Master Yu, who is this person?"
"In fact, I don't know the origin of this rapist. I only know that he has a close relationship with the Fuwei Escort Agency. He was once a guest of Lin Zhennan and was hired as a guest official. Later... I don't know how he ended up in Hengyang."
What was the reason? Of course, it was well known in the martial arts world, but it was hard to explain. After all, it was a feud between the Qingcheng Sect and the Lin family for generations, and no one could tell who was right or wrong.
What's more, the Fuwei Escort Agency has been destroyed.
"At that time, my disciples were all in Fuzhou Prefecture. They met this thief once and even drew a picture of him."
Yu Canghai took out a piece of paper from his arms. It was a portrait of a man in a black robe with only half of his face exposed. His pair of phoenix eyes were extremely awe-inspiring. He unfolded the portrait and showed it to everyone to prove that what he said was true.
When Yue Lingshan saw the portrait, she immediately lowered her head, feeling mixed emotions.
Yihe suddenly said: "Master, I think we have seen this person before..."
Yiqing nodded and said, "Yes, I have seen it!"
Ding Yi frowned and said, "Yiqing, tell me, what's going on?"
Yiqing thought about it, and in order to avoid unnecessary rumors in front of people in the martial arts world, she did not mention the incident of rescuing the turtle at the Xiangjiang River ferry, as that would seem to indicate that Yilin had some relationship with the man. She only said that they met in the Hengshan Temple when they were taking shelter from the rain, and the man did not do anything impolite at the time.
Yu Canghai chuckled and said, "Yes, I guess at that time, he had set his sights on Master Dingyi's beloved disciple. You can only know a person's appearance but not his heart."
Ding Yi shook his head and sighed, "After all, you are inexperienced. How many men in this world are polite? When we met in the mountain temple, you should have been more careful and not let Yi Lin suffer."
Liu Zhengfeng, Yu Canghai and Zhang Jinao all looked surprised when they heard this. After all, they thought that she was a woman and a disciple of Buddhism, who didn't understand human nature, and she had just lost her beloved disciple, so they just pretended not to hear it and didn't take it to heart.
At this moment, Xiang Danian suddenly ran into the flower hall from outside, glanced at Ding Yi, and reported to Liu Zhengfeng.
"Master, there is someone outside who claims to be Yi Lin, a disciple of Hengshan Sect, and is here to look for Master Dingyi."
Master Dingyi was both surprised and delighted, and immediately asked Yihe and Yiqing to bring the little junior sister in.
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. The little nun actually came back by herself.
Yu Canghai's face changed slightly and he glanced at Hong Renying. After he learned the whole story this morning, in order to kill three birds with one stone, he clearly ordered the Qingcheng Sect disciples to secretly guard various places. As long as the little nun showed up, they would be captured immediately, and it would be best if there was no evidence to prove her wrong.
I don't know what went wrong, but I let her find it anyway.
Hong Renying asked in a low voice: "Master, what should we do?"
Yu Canghai glanced at Master Dingyi and said, "Let's muddy the water later. If anything changes, we'll be ready to take action!"
(End of this chapter)