Volume 3: Qiongzhou ? Wu Xing Volume Chapter 17: Jianghu Xiun Wen Ding He Ru

  Lin Meng'er slowly stopped crying, and after thinking for a while with Chu Jiu, she first put away a pair of silver guns at her waist. Chu Jiu, who was exhausted and panting, then dragged the bodies and weapons of the Kongtong Sect members to the riverbank and threw them into the water one by one. This action would have taken less than a minute yesterday, but now, due to the severity of Chu Jiu's injuries, it took almost an hour for everything to be settled.

  However, he saw his master's sister's body still trembling and was unwilling for Lin Meng'er to be overworked again.

  The two of them knelt down and kowtowed three times to the Silver Spear Elder, Lin Ming'er said: "Elder, if you are watching from heaven, please bless our fellow disciples to safely reach that heavenly chasm!"

  The two reluctantly parted ways, and after bowing three times, they also threw the Silver Gun Old Man into the river. The two then simply tidied up their clothes, both taking off the clothes given to them by Mr. Chu Qi in the morning. Exhausted beyond measure, with no more strength left, they could only sit on the riverbank, panting and resting.

  Suddenly, the sound of wind blowing on high sails was heard from afar. Both Chu Jiu and Lin Ming'er were busy looking up to see a large ship sailing down the Yangtze River. The two were extremely delighted, and Lin Ming'er rarely smiled, saying: "The Silver Gun Old Man is indeed divine, with every request being answered!"

  Chu Jiu and Lin Meng'er hastily turned back to retrieve their luggage, re-packaging the pair of silver spears belonging to Silver Spear Old Man. They gazed longingly at the lifeless body of Lin Meng'er's horse, prompting another bout of painful crying from Lin Meng'er. She then led away the horse that Chu Jiu had ridden down from Diancang Mountain, still alive, and drove off all the other horses belonging to the Kongtong Sect. In a hurry, she stood by the riverbank, waving her hands vigorously as she waited for a boat.

  Before long, the boat arrived. Although this was not a ferry terminal, many people in Shu had an old-fashioned habit of hitching rides mid-journey, which was quite common. Lin Meng'er paid the boat owner a silver ingot and they boarded the boat. They told the boatman to be careful on the road and headed straight for the Heavenly Pit's Sky Crack upstream.

  The old captain was a straightforward person and saw no objection when he led his horse onto the boat on the ninth day.

  On the ninth day, I was with Lin Meng'er on Mount Diancang. With many masters and fellow disciples taking care of us, we secretly went down the mountain for over a dozen days, traveling and playing everywhere, and it was also very delightful.

  Lin Meng'er thought: "These past few days, I've had the care of my senior brother on the ninth day of the new year, and I was even lucky enough to meet Mr. Chu Qi, who is always giving me guidance as the most mysterious predecessor in Jianghu. Everything has been going smoothly in life, but who would have thought that today I would witness a fierce battle between good and evil, with blood flowing everywhere? And in the end, it was even my own hands that were stained with fresh blood! How could this have been foreseen?"

  Earlier, the two men drew their swords and each killed one person in the first round, how could they not be nervous.

  Now, Chu Jiu led the horse and stood behind Lin Meng'er. Lin Meng'er sat stupidly at the bow of the boat, wearing men's clothes. The green shirt had been thrown into the river and replaced with a turquoise one. Her hair was still styled like a man's, but her clothes didn't match, and she was crying softly.

  She would occasionally stretch out a pair of white and clean hands into the river, ceaselessly scrubbing with great force. In an instant, her hands were bright red all over, but Lin Meng'er still didn't stop, as if there was still a trace of blood on her hands that could never be cleaned off.

  "Sister, I've never seen such a bloody scene before. This martial world is indeed treacherous!" Chu Jiu sighed and sat down, his injuries were severe, his back felt like ants crawling, his face turned pale, even his dark complexion couldn't hide the pallor. He continued to meditate and practice his inner energy, but he secretly smiled wryly, the notorious "Red Palm" was indeed formidable!

  "Senior brother, why can't the Emei Sect and Wudang Sect openly challenge the Demon Cult, but instead launch a surprise attack? What's the point of being a prestigious sect if you do this?" Lin Meng'er still held a grudge against the death of Silver Spear Old Man. She had a bad impression of the Emei Sect disciples from their encounter on Mount Diancang and in the small teahouse, and later hearing Silver Spear Old Man reveal the despicable and sinister deeds of the Emei Sect's elders and disciples only made her angrier.

  On the ninth day, looking back, the people in the cabin were drinking and chatting among themselves, without any Jianghu figures. They were talking and laughing, admiring the scenery. Fortunately, no one noticed Lin Meng's previous words, but she was still startled and said: "Sister, this matter cannot be mentioned to outsiders, otherwise, Fifth Master will scold us for being unrighteous!"

  He paused, then continued: "The Jianghu has always said that good and evil can never coexist. The demonic sect will forever be the enemy of the Jianghu. Today's events were unavoidable, but in the future, who knows? We might encounter the demonic sect again, and we ourselves might become ghosts by the river!" His interest was completely gone, his heart aching once more, and his voice trailed off to a whisper.

  "Father knows right from wrong, and Master Shi is a great hero of the current era. I don't believe Father, and Master Shi is also such a hypocritical noble family. In the future when I meet Father, I will definitely ask him clearly!" Lin Meng'er cried with tears streaming down her face, but still spoke resentfully.

  "Absolutely... no... Disciple sister, today's matter must not be mentioned to anyone. That Cheng Wen is a famous elder of the first generation of Qingcheng Sect. If Qingcheng Sect finds out, how can they swallow this breath? They will definitely find us, Poyuan, to take revenge and stir up endless trouble!"

  After a long time, Lin Meng'er slowly turned her head. She was originally intelligent and not a stubborn person. Seeing the painful expression on Chujiu's face and hearing his reasonable words, she couldn't bear it anymore and no longer insisted. She said softly: "Master brother, whatever you say is what I'll do, I'll listen to you!"

  She gently lowered her head, as if dissolving directly into the air. For a moment, all the murderous aura of this day vanished without a trace.

  The Yangtze River's waters are still vast and rolling, with large ships sailing upstream. The scenery on both banks is breathtaking, but on the ninth day of the lunar month, Lin Ming'er and the others didn't have the heart to appreciate it.

  The two men sat for a while, and the boatman pointed to a small path on the south bank of the river in the distance, saying to Chu Jiu: "Two gentlemen, about thirty miles southwest from here is the Tiankeng Difeng you want to go to. You can get off the boat here and it's all downhill from there! However..."

  The boatman wanted to say something but stopped himself, and neither of them noticed on the ninth day.

  On the ninth day, they led their horses down and, along with Lin Daiyu, thanked the boatmen before heading southwest.

  The two of them had only one horse, and thinking that time was limited, while there were no markets around, nowhere to buy another horse, they both blushed.

  "Sister, you're too tired today, get on the horse!" Chu Jiu said.

  Lin Meng'er felt a surge of gratitude in her heart, but she knew that her senior brother's injuries were much more severe than hers. So she forced a smile and said: "Senior Brother, Master and Master's wife often warned us on the mountain that when one is in the jianghu, what they most dislike is being overly cautious and timid. The horse we're riding has extraordinary strength, so even if two people ride it together, it won't be a problem!" As she thought of this, her face turned red, and she continued: "Besides, today is an emergency, so let's not stand on ceremony. We've grown up together since childhood, why must we be so formal with each other?"

  On the ninth day, thinking about what Lin Meng'er had said was not false, he let his master's sister ride first and then got on himself. The two of them rode together towards the Tiankeng Dige.

  He held the reins, embracing Lin Meng'er, his ears filled with the fragrance of his fellow sister, like incense and musk, refreshing and unparalleled, unable to help but indulge for a moment, as if even the severe itching pain on his back was not worth mentioning.

  Lin Meng'er and her senior fellow disciple, Zhu Ma Qing Mei, had played together since childhood, but they always treated each other with courtesy. When they were young, they would often cut down a bamboo stick from the back mountain of Diancang and use it as a horse to ride together. Who would have thought that today it would actually come true? She was a pure and innocent girl, feeling only a hint of sweetness in her heart, with no other thoughts.

  There were many pedestrians and farmers on the road, who saw the green-clothed girl dressed as a young gentleman, while the black-faced youth behind her had blood at the corner of his mouth, all slightly surprised, discussing it, that good horse carried two people far away.

  Going straight for about thirty miles, at the beginning of the ninth hour, I got off my horse and saw that I was already close to the deep mountains. The residents in the mountains were getting fewer and fewer, and I was afraid that if I continued walking, there would be no human smoke. After much effort, I finally asked a passerby for directions.

  That man said, under the mountain in front, deep in the bamboo forest, is the Tiankeng Difeng. The traveler added that the terrain on that side is steep and generally people do not set foot there, it seems that the depths of the bamboo forest are desolate and uninhabited.

  On the ninth day, Lin Bei'er exchanged a glance with him, and they understood each other's intentions. Naturally, they had to accomplish what they promised Silver Spear Old Man.

  Then, after thanking the passerby on the ninth day of the new year, the two continued on their way into the depths of the bamboo forest.

  After walking for more than half a time, as expected, looking around, there is no longer any sign of human habitation in the surrounding area, it is indeed desolate.

  This hidden land, secretly existing in the world, has disappeared from human sight. So mysterious, where is it?