Chapter 208
After Afu tied Fu Xiang up, she had Wen Chaoyu tie her up as well. Ji Wanshu captured her, and the group went to the city gate together. Afu shouted, "Stop fighting! Stop fighting! My senior sister and I have been captured alive. If you keep fighting, we will both die here!"
Upon hearing her words, the disciples of Mingyue Tower were all surprised and stopped what they were doing. However, the disciples of Jiuxian Hall had no intention of letting the matter rest. One of them replied, "Do you think we're blind? You two clearly offered yourselves willingly! Before we came here, our hall master specifically instructed us that she had long anticipated that you might turn against us at the last minute. Therefore, she told us not to worry about your lives or deaths, and Yunhua Palace would not really kill you. Miss Afu, we have no past relationship with Tower Master Fu, so we will not care about her. But you have been with us in Jiuxian Hall day and night. Now that you want to betray our hall master, have you thought it through?"
How could Afu have imagined that Meng Wugui had already anticipated her and Fu Xiang's possible actions? She choked for a moment, then retorted, "This concerns lives, you should think it through! Mingyue Tower can't just abandon my senior sister, they definitely won't fight anymore. Our Nine Immortals Hall only sent so few people, and now we have more people than Yunhua Palace. You should know when to stop, why are you still fighting?!"
Meng Wugui was only one of the leaders of the Nine Immortals Hall, and the people she brought were only a portion of her subordinates, not all the disciples of the Nine Immortals Hall. In today's battle to breach the city, she relied more on the Bright Moon Pavilion. Now that Fu Xiang had been captured alive, the Bright Moon Pavilion naturally dared not act rashly for her sake. Therefore, the remaining disciples of the Nine Immortals Hall were insufficient in number, and they would face a situation where they would be counterbalanced by the Cloud Flower Palace.
The person who spoke was the one who, besides Afu, was most often by Meng Wugui's side. Seeing this, he angrily said, "You traitor! How dare you shout like that? The Hall Master's plan has fallen through. It doesn't matter that we did our best, and the Hall Master won't blame us! But now that you want to be a traitor who tries to smooth things over, and a hypocrite who is all righteous and awe-inspiring, just wait for the Hall Master to deal with you!"
Before Afu could continue, Ji Wanshu had lost his patience and said, "Enough with the nonsense! Since Mingyue Tower is willing to back down, then kill these people from Jiuxiantang! Attack!"
She took the lead and rushed into the crowd to join Bai Ling. The Mingyue Tower disciples, fearing her presence, quickly retreated. The Yunhua disciples then approached and fought with the Jiuxian Hall again. Afu, being a member of the Jiuxian Hall, could only try to persuade them with earnest words and desperate cries, but none of them would listen to her.
Seeing the alliance and Yunhua Palace locked in a fierce battle, the disciples of Mingyue Tower exchanged bewildered glances, all looking at Fu Xiang from afar, at a loss for what to do. Fu Xiang looked back at them, but having already had her acupoints pressed and unable to move, she could only pretend not to see them and remain silent.
Wen Chaoyu didn't make any more moves, staying at the door to guard Afu and Fu Xiang. Yin Qiu, carrying Zhu Bing, followed Ji Wanshu and Bai Ling. The group led their disciples to force the Nine Immortals Hall back one after another, and their momentum was growing stronger. Suddenly, a group of figures rushed out of the woods on the north side.
The young man at the very front, with a commanding presence, rode a reddish-brown horse and galloped like the wind to Yin Qiu, leading his men to squeeze into the battle line between the two sides.
"Miss Yin!" Shen Wang called out from horseback, "My godfather specifically ordered me to come here to help!"
Yin Qiu was slightly surprised and asked, "Young Master Shen... you've also heard the news?"
Shen Wang immediately dismounted and replied, "I apologize, Miss Yin. The letter I had someone deliver to you last time actually contained falsehoods. After I went to Jin Huai City, I met with Master Meng, but she demanded to meet my adoptive father in person and wouldn't let me tell you the truth. Later, my adoptive father met with her in person and reached an agreement. Our Fanxin Valley also knew that Master Meng would attack Yunhua Palace, so we followed her."
What he said was something that Man Jiangxue had already guessed after Yin Qiu first went to the perfume shop, so Yin Qiu was not surprised at the time.
Ji Wanshu frowned upon hearing this. Qin Zheng had previously told her that Meng Wugui might have others helping him, and now, hearing this young man say so, Ji Wanshu naturally questioned, "What kind of cooperation have you reached? Helping Meng Wugui against our Yunhua?" After speaking, she looked at Yin Qiu, "How come you also have dealings with the people of Fanxin Valley?"
Yin Qiu had no time to explain to her at this moment, so she could only temporarily evade the question by saying, "It can't be explained in a few words. I'll talk to my senior sister about it later." She looked at Chen Wang and said, "Then why did you only come now? If you had brought people earlier, so many people wouldn't have died here."
Shen Wang sighed, "What Master Meng meant was that Mingyue Tower and Jiuxian Hall would take the lead first, and if they couldn't take Yunhua Palace, then we, Fanxin Valley, would come to our aid. But today they came here in secret, without any communication from us. My godfather was being watched by Master Meng, which is why I arrived late."
"Your timing is quite convenient," Ji Wanshu said, her face as cold as ice, her heavy aura making Shen Wang feel somewhat unable to lift his head in front of her. "We had such a big commotion when we fought with the men in black in the city, even Meng Wugui knew about it, how could your Valley Master, Young Master Fan, not know? Do you think the people of Yunhua Palace are easy to fool!"
He was momentarily speechless, lost in thought.
He did lie; Gongzi Fan had been standing by when Meng Wugui learned of the chaos in Shangyuan City. However, Meng Wugui hadn't asked the people from Fanxin Valley to come along, and she had indeed told them to be her substitutes. Gongzi Fan had a verbal agreement with her, and it wouldn't be good to break the agreement in person, so he couldn't come along either.
Like Meng Wugui, Gongzi Fan had long suspected that Fu Xiang might change her mind. She lacked fighting spirit and felt guilty towards Yin Qiu, so she might back down at the last minute. However, Gongzi Fan couldn't be entirely sure, so he just watched from the sidelines. Only after seeing that Fu Xiang had indeed been captured and that Mingyue Tower had lost its leader and didn't know whether to continue fighting did Gongzi Fan call Shen Wang out to help out and try to protect Jiuxian Hall.
If Fu Xiang hadn't been in trouble, then if he saw the city gate about to be breached, Gongzi Fan would have also ordered Shen Wang to bring people out to protect Yunhua Palace. He wanted to minimize casualties as much as possible under any circumstances, and didn't want the matter to escalate to the point where either side was at a dead end.
"Why did you have to come at this crucial moment, right after Mingyue Tower withdrew and Jiuxian Hall was at a disadvantage?" Ji Wanshu's gaze was sharp and aggressive. "You said you came here specifically to help, but who are you helping? Do you think we don't know?"
Shen Wang stammered, "This..." He looked at Yin Qiu, and seeing that Yin Qiu remained silent, he continued, "Young Master is meticulous and nothing can be hidden from you. That's right, my Valley Master sent me here to mediate the conflict, not to help anyone kill anyone. Now that your sect has captured Master Fu alive, Mingyue Tower dares not act rashly again, and the remaining disciples of Jiuxian Hall can't cause any trouble. Young Master is benevolent, so why not let them go? With our Fanxin Valley by their side, they won't cause any more trouble. I beg Young Master to show mercy and call a truce."
"What a fine promise of mercy!" Ji Wanshu said coldly. "You want me to cease hostilities, but it wasn't Yunhua who started this war! When these two sects joined forces to attack, you didn't come out to persuade them to show mercy. Now that they're about to suffer a defeat, you're using some bullshit talk of benevolence to ask me to let them off the hook. Do you really think you have that kind of influence, or do you think Yunhua is some kind of spineless coward who's willing to be beaten and taken advantage of? Don't tell me that I don't care about Mingyue Tower and Jiuxian Hall. May I ask what kind of thing your Fanxin Valley is? You have no right to speak here!"
Shen Wang said, "Young Sect Leader—"
"All disciples, listen to my command!" Ji Wanshu ignored Shen Wang and raised her voice, "Eliminate these villains from the Nine Immortals Hall!"
In this battle, so many Yunhua disciples died tragically, their corpses still lying before us. To order them to stop fighting now, when we have such a good opportunity to press our advantage, would be tantamount to chilling their hearts. Even Lu Huaiwei and the others would not agree to that. As soon as Ji Wanshu gave the order, the disciples surged forward, surrounding the Nine Immortals Hall disciples.
"What goes around comes around. If you do evil, you will have to pay the price!"
"My senior brother died at your hands, and I will avenge him!"
"Why did they choose to come to Yunhua to seek their death instead of staying at the perfectly good Jiuxiantang? Don't let them get away with this!"
...
Witnessing the group from the Nine Immortals Hall being gradually surrounded and killed, Shen Wang could only sigh and look at Yin Qiu, saying, "Miss, won't you try to persuade them?"
Yin Qiu said, "What am I supposed to advise?" Her expression was unusually cold as she said, "The lives of the people in their Nine Immortals Hall are precious, but aren't the lives of us Yunhua disciples precious? Besides, Senior Sister Ji is the young sect leader, and now that her identity as sect leader is clear, we naturally follow her decision. Moreover, I don't think there's anything wrong with her decision. In the end, we're just trying to protect ourselves. Someone is so brazenly bullying us and has killed so many of our fellow disciples. Am I supposed to politely ask them to leave? Even if Meng Wugui is related to me by blood, I can't disregard the safety of the palace because of that relationship."
Before Shen Wang could finish speaking, Yin Qiu continued, "You should be glad that your godfather sent you to mediate the fight, not to help Meng Wugui. Otherwise, I would have killed you too. You may have different stances, but you have no right to advise us to be magnanimous. If it were a disciple of your Fanxin Valley who died today, I don't believe you would still be so aloof. Anyone can say sarcastic things, but not everyone likes to hear them."
Shen Wang was rendered speechless by her words.
"Is this all Meng Wugui is capable of? Yet she dares to act so presumptuously in our Yunhua," Ji Wanshu sneered. "In the end, it's because she didn't take good enough disciples. If she had found two ruthless ones, she could have indeed broken through this city gate today. Instead of being a good person, she could have sought revenge against the sect leader when the situation was clear. Instead, she chose to continue playing the villain and ambitiously wanted to overthrow our Yunhua. In the end, she had her subordinates wiped out instead. How laughable!"
Her words made Afu feel utterly ashamed, while Fu Xiang stared blankly, seemingly oblivious to whether she had heard them.
"Don't kill them, don't kill them..." Afu cried out in anguish, "I've already offered to help you, please... have mercy!"
Ji Wanshu turned to look at her, and said with disgust, "I have already shown enough mercy. Otherwise, you two sisters would never be alive. You wanted to end this, but Meng Wugui was wary of you. If these people had just retreated after you two were captured, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths to kill you. You three are truly something else. I've made a fool of myself!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Yin Qiu resolutely turned around and walked towards the city gate.
Seeing this, Ji Wanshu followed and said to Lu Huaiwei, "You stay here to clean up the mess and lock up Meng Wugui's two disciples. We'll go back to the palace first to check on the situation."
After saying that, he and Wen Chaoyu exchanged a glance, and the two of them took Afu and Fu Xiang up the city wall and threw them to Lu Huaiwei.
Bai Ling caught up with Yin Qiu and asked, "Xiao Qiu! If the sect leader is captured by your martial uncle, when you see her later, will you avenge your mother?"
Before Yin Qiu could answer, Wen Chaoyu and Ji Wanshu had already landed from mid-air. Wen Chaoyu said, "Why are you asking her that now? Aren't you just making things difficult for her?"
Bai Ling glanced at Yin Qiu: "But we'll have to face this sooner or later..."
“Don’t forget that the sect leader has a holy sword,” Ji Wanshu said. “We don’t know what power that sword has yet.”
Bai Ling said, "Didn't Uncle Wen grow up with Nangong Min? You must have seen the Holy Sword."
Wen Chaoyu's expression turned somewhat heavy as he sighed, "I have indeed seen that sword... Anyway, I'm not exaggerating when I say that unless Man Jiangxue is determined to kill Xie Yijun on the spot, even she might not be able to stop it."
Bai Ling exclaimed in surprise, "Is it really that powerful?"
“Otherwise, how could it be called the Holy Sword?” Wen Chaoyu said. “Once you are cut by the blade, not only will the blood flow endlessly, but the flesh will also rot. If there is no time to treat it, if you injure your hand, you will have to cut off your hand; if you injure your leg, you will have to dismember your leg. Otherwise, your whole body will rot and turn into a blood corpse. Moreover, the wound will feel as if it is covered by lightning. That is excruciating pain that few people can endure. In the early years, the Ziwei Sect was not actually a demonic sect, but with such divine weapons in their hands, how could other Jianghu sects tolerate it? Even if they did not want to be a demonic sect, they would still be pushed into the position of a demonic sect by the world.”
"So, does that mean no one can do anything to the sect leader?" Bai Ling said. "Then what should we do?"
Wen Chaoyu pondered, “It’s not that no one can do anything to her. Nangong Min practices the Ziwei Sect’s inner cultivation method. She can use her unique internal strength to resist the Holy Sword’s destructive power. But even if she arrives now, she will definitely be a step too late. If Meng Wugui, Man Jiangxue, and we all attack together and kill Yijun, then the Holy Sword will fall into our hands. Therefore, Nangong Min will definitely choose to help Yijun at this time. She will never let us get our hands on the Holy Sword.”
"Wouldn't that be even worse?" Bai Ling said. "If these two get involved, how are we supposed to deal with it?"
Wen Chaoyu spread his hands and said, "We can only take it one step at a time. Now we just need to see if Man Jiangxue has caught the person. If not, then there will be a fierce battle to be fought later."
Everyone couldn't help but feel worried. Bai Ling asked with concern, "Xiao Qiu, you..."
“I’m fine,” Yin Qiu said calmly. “Don’t worry about me.”
Seeing that she remained calm and showed no signs of panic, Bai Ling fell silent. The group left the north gate and used their lightness skills to head towards Yunhua Palace.
·
Meng Wugui stood in the mountain, facing Gongzi Fan. After a short while, a disciple of the Nine Immortals Hall leaped from the forest and whispered something in Meng Wugui's ear. Upon hearing this, Meng Wugui's expression immediately turned cold, his gaze sharp as torches, and he slapped Gongzi Fan hard across the face.
Birds in the forest were startled and took flight, fluttering about and dropping a few feathers and withered leaves.
Gongzi Fan took the slap squarely without flinching, and a clear five-finger mark immediately appeared on his pale cheek.
"Knowing that my two good-for-nothing disciples might cause trouble, I told your men to hold back, waiting for them to act like pushovers before sending you to take over," Meng Wugui said coldly, gritting his teeth. "But you, at this crucial moment, pulled this stunt!"
Gongzi Fan remained unmoved, showing no anger despite being hit, and said gently as always, "Xie Yijun will definitely flee upon hearing the news, but Man Jiangxue hasn't come down the mountain, so she might capture Xie Yijun. I promised Xiao Qiu before the New Year that I wouldn't help you deal with Yunhua Palace, and I can't break my promise. Manzhen... I'm sorry."
"What's the use of apologizing!" Meng Wugui gripped the sword hilt tightly. "You promised Yin Qiu, that's true, but you also promised me! You lied to Sister Dong back then, and now you're lying to me. You're quite the schemer, aren't you? You've completely manipulated the Shen family!"
Gongzi Fan said, "Xiao Qiu is also a member of the Shen family. Since I made a promise beforehand, I cannot break my word to her."
Meng Wugui scoffed: "Her surname isn't Shen."
“Stop, Manzhen,” Gongzi Fan sighed softly. “Every wrong has its perpetrator and its debtor. You should seek revenge on Xie Yijun. Why must you destroy Yunhua Palace? If you destroy Yunhua Palace today, someone else will destroy you in the future. When will this cycle of revenge end? You have committed a blood feud this time, and you will face all kinds of storms for the rest of your life. Why repeat the mistakes of others?”
"I'm not afraid!" Meng Wugui's words were firm and resolute. "I've come this far, long ago disregarding life and death. This has been my lifelong obsession, and you've destroyed everything I have!"
She managed to defend against Fu Xiang and Afu, but couldn't prevent Gongzi Fan from betraying her at the last minute. Even though these people were unreliable, as long as one of them could stick to her word, Yunhua Palace, even if it couldn't be destroyed, would be in grave danger. Once she stormed the palace gates, even if she couldn't kill everyone in Yunhua Palace, she could still cause the sect to decline and never regain its former glory.
"How pathetic... how truly pathetic!" Meng Wugui laughed bitterly. "I've eked out a living for so many years, finally reaching this point, only to find that not a single one of them truly follows me! The entire Shen family was brutally murdered, and Liucang Mountain remains a wasteland to this day. With such a deep-seated blood feud, you expect me to back down? I would rather die than do it!"
Gongzi Fan took two steps closer to her and sighed, "Manzhen..."
Meng Wugui then drew his sword and pressed it against his chest, saying viciously, "You should have died long ago. What right do you have to live to this day? Do you know how desperate Sister Dong was when she died? Do you know how my parents were tortured to death by Xie Yijun? You can take it all and leave it all. You are a saint, but I cannot!"
“After I kill Xie Yijun, my life will be yours,” Gongzi Fan said without flinching. “At that time, you can do whatever you want to me, and I will not resist.”
"You don't have the ability to resist!" Meng Wugui endured it all, then slashed Gongzi Fan's chest with his sword, drawing out a stream of blood. "You're sure I won't dare to lay a hand on you. If I really killed you, Yin Qiu would hate me to the core. You treacherous villain, why didn't you die in that fire too? Why didn't you die!"
Gongzi Fan's face grew paler and paler. He raised his hand to touch his chest and said through gritted teeth, "Don't worry, I won't show myself. If you don't tell me, Xiao Qiu won't know who I am. So you can kill me, just keep it from her."
Meng Wugui looked at him, her ferocious expression softening, but tears streamed down her face again. She stared at Gongzi Fan for a long time before finally backing down and saying, "Fine...fine, I can give up attacking Yunhua Palace, and I won't force you to send men to kill your way up the mountain, but Xie Yijun must die, she must die by my hand!"
After saying that, he chuckled twice, stared into Gongzi Fan's eyes, and said, "But you'd better remember what you said today. After Xie Yijun dies, you'll be the next one to die!"
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