Two days ago.
At the Guanshan Pasture.
Qiu Yin had learned about the death of his master, Li Poyue, on his way back. At that piece of news, he almost lost his mind and immediately hurtled back to Guanshan City to see the body of his master. He had been told that although on the day of that duel, Li Poyue and Dao Chongyang died together with the raiders, parts of the body of his master were found and delivered back to the Guanshan Pasture before being enshrined as a halidom.
Huang Shengyi, Deputy Head of the Pasture, who was also known as the Fire Devil, came to the gate of Guanshan City to welcome Qiu Yin in person.
“Before Head took off, he left an order which says you should take over his position if anything happens to him. Half a year has passed. Finally, you are back. Our brothers are all dying to tear down Mount Qingcheng to avenge our Head. Now, they are just waiting for you to take the lead!” Said the Fire Devil with an indignant look.
Behind him stood dozens of martial arts experts from the Guanshan Pasture.
Qiu Yin said, “Where is master’s body lying?”
Huang Shengyi answered, “Fragments of the body have been brought back by Xu Sheng, the Sky-cracking Punch from the Yue Mountain Faction. They haven’t been identified yet. As you were closest to Head and he had taken you as his adopted son, we hope you can do the identifying procedure. If they are truly Head’s body, we should have them buried and laid to rest as soon as possible.”
Moments later, Qiu Yin sped into the grand hall at the center of Guanshan City.
Qiu Yin’s grief was about to reach the bursting point. When he stepped into the hall draped with mourning apparels, the smell of incense and candles enveloped him. Then, he saw in a cluster of flowers at the center of a high table made of ancient ice lay several burnt fragments of limbs. Although their original appearances were indiscernible, shreds of martial art aura were emanating from those seemingly scorched remains.
Given Li Poyue’s high cultivation that allowed him to be one of the Nine Superbs, his body would not decay but remain unbreakable like a divine weapon even after he died. However, at his last moments, he joined hands with Dao Chongyang to perish with the raiders and the Extra-terrestrial Devils through self-destructive detonation. Therefore, there was hardly an unscathed piece left of him.
Qiu Yin dashed to the high table made of ancient ice. Tears ran down his chin despite himself.
As a true man who frequently ventured in the northwest, he would rather bleed than shed tears. Nevertheless, at that moment, he could hardly stop the tears streaming down.
After he carefully examined those fragmented limbs, the last part of him counting on a bit of fluke gave it up.
Even though he could not recognize any of those limbs, he knew they belonged to his master because the aura was the one he was too familiar with. Nobody could fake that unique martial art aura in the bones. So, those fragments truly were his master’s. His master had really… gone.
Qiu Yin felt everything was suddenly engulfed by darkness and his knees gave way.
When he first heard the news on the death of his master, a small part of him still hoped people had been mistaken. After all, his master had powers nearly as miraculous as the immortals. How could he die so easily? He speculated that his master had faked his death so as to tackle something in the dark. But given the current situation… Qiu Yin realized that his master had truly left the world forever.
“What’s up? Are those Head’s remains?” Asked Huang Shengyi anxiously.
Qiu Yin looked rather pallid. His internal qi was in disorder. His legs began wobbling. All of a sudden, he opened his mouth and spilled a squirt of blood.
Upon seeing his behavior, Huang Shengyi and the others knew the body fragments on the high table were doubtlessly Li Poyue’s.
“The legendary figure who had maintained the martial fate of the Western Qin on his own from its beginning was truly lost just like that?”
The crowd found it rather surreal.
Huang Shengyi pressed, “Junior Head, now that the body has been identified, please issue your order. We’ll charge to Mount Qingcheng right off and avenge our old Head!”
“Right!”
“Avenge our Head!”
“Flatten Mount Qingcheng!”
The hall was filled with the aggrieved roars of the experts of the Guanshan Pasture.
Qiu Yin slowly reached out for the edge of the high table and pulled himself up to full height. His eyes swept across those people in the hall and he remarked, “Attack Mount Qingcheng? What for? The duel between master and Dao Chongyang was a fair and square fight they had voluntarily. Even if Master was killed by the opponent during the duel, Mount Qingcheng would not be the one to blame. And those terms have been publicized before the duel. Plus, as far as I know, if some sects had not colluded with the Extra-terrestrial Devils in launching a sneak attack at the end of the duel, master would not have died on the scene…”
“Junior Head, what do you mean by that?” Huang Shengyi demanded, his expression altered. “Are you telling us no one should go to avenge our Head?”
Qiu Yin opened his mouth to say something. But he abruptly knitted his brows, for a faint smell of blood just fluttered in from the outside.
Growls and cries suddenly rang at the square in front of the hall.
“My dear Nephew Qiu, run for it! Huang Shengyi has teamed up with the Extra-terrestrial Devils and betrayed us…” The voice of Xu Sheng, the Sky-cracking Punch, carried into the hall.
Qiu Yin’s face hardened.
Huang Shengyi swiftly backed off. The experts of the Guanshan Pasture in the hall closed in on him from both sides. Deputy Head of the Pasture gave a cold laugh and snapped, “Qiu Yin, as the successor appointed by our old Head, you are unwilling to seek revenge for him. After Head was killed, you dawdled half a year before showing up here. Tell us, is it you who have sided with the Extra-terrestrial Devils and sold our old Head out so that you could usurp the throne of our Guanshan Pasture?”
Qiu Yin closed his hand around the long broadsword hanging on his back and snarled, “Huang Shengyi, how dare you commit such treason?”
He had been too grievous to notice that all those experts in the hall were Huang Shengyi’s cronies and none of the other leaders and members of the Guanshan Pasture had shown their faces since he arrived there. But when he finally registered that, it was a little too late.
The roars outside grew louder and fiercer.
A tall and sturdy man drenched in blood threw a series of glowing punches at the opponents and forced his way into the hall with scores of men at his heels. He bellowed, “Nephew Qiu, you can’t stay here. The entire Guanshan City has fallen to the hands of that Traitor Huang. All the people who were loyal to your old Head have been wiped out by the Extra-terrestrial Devils he colluded with. Hurry up! Get out of here with us…” Sure enough, that man was Xu Sheng.
He was followed by disciples of the Yue Mountain Faction, experts from various sects who hurried there at the news to mourn for the deceased, and a group of experts loyal to Li Poyue, the Guanshan Master. Every one of them was sporting all sorts of wounds. Some were still wearing shackles. Evidently, they had just broken out from prison.
“Humph! Xu Sheng has ganged up with Qiu Yin and sold our old Head out. The crime they’ve committed can only be atoned for through the death penalty. Guys, kill them!” Huang Shengyi sneered and beckoned the experts forward. Next second, his cronies flung themselves at the targets like torrents.
Qiu Yin swept the fragments of his master’s body on the high table into his storage space in no time. Then, he drew the broadsword out and growled, “Kill!”
A jet of broadsword light smooth as silk charged at Huang Shengyi.
But in a trice, an expert standing by Huang Shengyi deflected it.
From that instant, a brutal battle was on.
Wisps of demonic aura began to flow in and out of the hall.
“Haha, the rebels are all here. How convenient! I can catch you all in one shot. Kill them all! Don’t spare anyone!” Huang Shengyi burst into a roar of laughter.
Judging by the overall situation, he had definitely taken the upper hand. So, he did not take part in the fight himself.
At first, the Guanshan Pasture had four Semi-Sages. One of them had been killed by the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire; one had been constantly traveling; one was finished off by the Extra-terrestrial Devils about six months ago. Therefore, as the only Semi-Sage in the faction, Huang Shengyi had become the most powerful man there. Adding that he also had some Extra-terrestrial Devils help him in secret, in the past half a year, almost all the practitioners faithful to the Guanshan Pasture had been murdered and the faction had practically been rendered an empty city. So, as long as he took Qiu Yin out, he would have the full control over the entire Guanshan Pasture.
…
…
Two days later.
“I’m at… Yue Mountain Faction.”
That was all the bloodstained letter said.
Li Mu sensed that the blood carried Qiu Yin’s exclusive martial art aura and the spiritual force. No one else could replicate those traits.
“Didn’t Second Brother go back to Guanshan Pasture?”
“Why is he at Yue Mountain Faction now?”
Staring at the bloodstained letter, Li Mu furrowed his brows as he started to contemplate the whole thing.
Lately, he had received numerous messages and news from assorted sources and so was well aware that the current world was in mayhem. Particularly, when Dao Chongyang, the Taoism Master, passed away, internal strife broke out in Mount Qingcheng, one of the top nine Holy Clans. Surely, troubles tended to start from the inside. Since then, conflicts among the internal parties had never stopped. Dao Zhen, the one Dao Chongyang appointed to replace him as the head of the faction, was chased to the remotest corner of the world by Dao Lingyi, Deputy Head. And that made Mount Qingcheng the first Holy Clan in several thousand years that broke up due to power struggle.
“But now… is there also internal strife in Guanshan Pasture?”
“If that’s the case, then, my second brother is in a dire situation.”
“I must hurry to the Yue Mountain Faction at once.”
Li Mu quickly made up his mind.
Despite his many faults and his discreditable image he put up in Taibai County, he could not just stand back and watch his brother suffer. That was not the thing a human should do, was it?
Li Mu immediately summoned Feng Yuanxing, Ma Junwu, Qing Feng to his room. He told them his arrangements and asked them to take care of the government affairs for him. Then, he made explanations to the Goddess of Martial Arts and Liu Zhiyuan, his sister-in-law, that he had to reschedule their journey to the vast pasture. Also, he sent a man to the vast pasture to inform Guo Yuqing of the necessary postponement.
“Brother, don’t mind us. Go to his rescue now.” After Li Mu told them the reason, Liu Zhiyuan, the gentle and considerate woman, certainly did not raise any objection.
“Young Master Li, I’ll go with you,” volunteered Guo Qingyan, the Goddess of Martial Arts.
In terms of seniority in the clan, she should call Guo Yuqing uncle. As Guo Yuqing’s sworn brother, Li Mu was her uncle, too. But that never crossed the mind of the Goddess of Martial Arts, so she still addressed Li Mu as Young Master Li.
Li Mu deliberated it for a while and shook his head. “You should stay in the county. I will let Yuan Hou tag along.”
Considering that Liu Zhiyuan was a powerful female practitioner with remarkable strength and tons of experience after she had been through countless dangerous combat, even though she had not been involved in Jianghu for years, she could operate the Dragon-assembling Pattern well to fend off any attackers from the outside as well as keeping an eye on the flighty Bai Mochou. With the sister-in-law taking care of the county, Li Mu felt he had nothing to worry about.
This time, he was rushing to Qiu Yin’s rescue.
The circumstance that caused Qiu Yin to be so miserable as to send him the bloodstained letter was perhaps highly dangerous.
Although the Yue Mountain Faction was a large one, it might not be long before it was taken by the enemies.
Li Mu planned to get Qiu Yin out and take him to Taibai County.
Once he was within the Taibai Mountain, who else in the world could lay a finger on Qiu Yin?
He was not going to battle, to fight the enemies head-on. Instead, he wanted to outwit them. For that reason, taking other people along would, in turn, be a burden to him.
Yuan Hou, the golden ape, was good at deceptive magic and moving fast. Since it had a tough body and practiced the Ultimate Yin and Yang Cultivation Method, Li Mu believed it could serve as a good assistant.
After everything was settled, with a stir of Li Mu’s mind, 20 flying broadswords whizzed to one place and merged into a giant Samsara Knife. Li Mu cast his Broadsword-commanding Skill. As his body slightly shivered, he disappeared before the other people along with Yuan Hou. Circles of air suddenly rippled from the place where he was one second before, as though something had penetrated it. It was not until a while later that a rasping sound was heard. Indeed, Li Mu’s speed had way outstripped the speed of sound.
At that scene, Bai Mochou was also quite staggered.
