Chapter 49 Returning to Changjin Mountain (Part Two)
"Sect Leader... are you still thinking about him?" Chu Jianshan asked hesitantly.
Jiang Yan lowered her eyes and stroked the chess manual in her hand: "Over the years, I have come here to sit almost every day. I always think that if I had been able to persuade him a little more back then, would the outcome have been different?"
His words were like a sharp knife, piercing Chu Jianshan's heart and making it hard to breathe. He himself was the one who couldn't get over what happened back then. His impulsive act caused a disaster, but it was those around him who were hurt the most.
Those memories were like a whirlpool, pulling him tightly, then sinking him to the bottom, trying to drown him. An overwhelming sense of self-blame washed over him, making him wish he could immediately kill himself to atone for his sins.
He couldn't remember how he left the Sleepless Abode, nor when he said goodbye to Jiang Yan. He drifted slowly like a lost soul. Although it was a place he had lived in for more than ten years, it felt so unfamiliar. It was as if this place no longer belonged to him.
As if guided by some strange force, he wandered to the entrance of Tinglan Pavilion. Outside the pavilion was a blue pond, in which exotic lotus flowers were planted. Because Chu Qinglan liked them, they were nourished by Jiang Yan with spiritual power and bloomed beautifully even in winter.
Chu Jianshan sat by the pool, reaching out to touch the water. The biting coldness traveled from his fingertips to his body, making one instinctively pull their hand back. But Chu Jianshan did the opposite, immersing his entire hand in the water, feeling the needle-like sting until his hand turned red, numb, and he could no longer feel the pain.
"How dare you!" A disciple appeared in the distance, followed by two or three followers, and shouted angrily at Chu Jianshan, "Who gave you permission to touch that pool!"
Chu Jianshan regained his senses and looked up to see the man strode over aggressively, shouting, "These are all precious flower varieties in this pond! If you damage them, can you afford to pay for them with your frail bones?!"
"Who are you...?" Chu Jianshan looked at him for a long time but couldn't recognize who he was. He guessed that he must be a new disciple who had joined when Chu Jianshan left.
When the man heard him ask who he was, he looked incredulous, as if he were laughing in anger: "Even I don't know! Tell him who I am!"
He nudged the big, clumsy guy next to him, who, as if granted permission, strode towards him with an arrogant expression and explained, word by word, "This is Mei Haoshi, the chief disciple of our sect leader, the eldest son of the Mei family at the foot of the mountain! Dare to offend us? Unless you don't want to live!"
Mei Haoshi? Chu Jianshan's lips twitched. What a name! Running into him was definitely no good. But he hadn't expected Jiang Yan to take on such a disciple after he left; his judgment was truly questionable.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you scared?" Mei Haoshi looked Chu Jianshan up and down. Seeing that he wasn't wearing a disciple's robe, he guessed that Chu Jianshan was just some lowly servant from a small sect and didn't take him seriously at all.
Chu Jianshan raised his head and asked in the same tone, "Then do you know who I am?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Haoshi felt a little guilty, thinking that he was short-sighted and hadn't recognized any distinguished guest. He stammered, "Who...who is it?"
"I am..." Chu Jianshan naturally couldn't say that he was Chu Qingyuan, so he gave himself a self-proclaimed identity: "I am your master's good friend."
Before the words were even finished, a burst of wild laughter erupted from Mei Haoshi and his men: "You? Hahahahahaha..."
Mei Haoshiqiang straightened up, laughing so hard he was bent over, and pointed at him, saying, "If you said you were some young master from a minor sect, I might have believed you. You said you're my master's good friend, hahahahaha... How could I not know my master's good friend?"
After laughing, he suddenly became serious: "Offending my master is an even greater crime. Guards, arrest him!"
Chu Jianshan subconsciously took a half step back, but there was the pool behind him. He had nowhere to retreat and sighed helplessly. He didn't expect that on his first day at Changjin Mountain, he would cause trouble for Cheng Yuan and the others.
Inside Tinglan Pavilion, because Chu Qinglan was sensitive to the cold, the charcoal fire burned extremely brightly, and Cheng Yuan sat beside her, pouring her tea.
Chu Qinglan's lips were pale. She took a sip of tea to recover and pulled down the blue cloak covering her body: "It's rare for me to be sober today, so don't blame me for dragging you here for questioning."
Cheng Yuanqian said, "How could that be? Madam must have something important to tell me."
“It’s nothing serious,” Chu Qinglan said with a gentle smile. “I just wanted to ask about your experiences down the mountain. If you encounter any difficulties, don’t be afraid. As long as it can help you, Changjin Mountain will always be your support.”
"And..." Chu Qinglan paused for a moment, "Does your master have any clues?"
Cheng Yuan didn't speak, but lowered his eyes and shook his head.
“It’s alright,” Chu Qinglan said, as if she had expected it all along. “It’s been so many years, it’s time for me to let go.”
She then asked, "When you came in, did you see the flowers in the pond by the door?"
Cheng Yuan nodded truthfully: "The flowers are blooming beautifully, so the sect leader must have taken good care of them. He cares a lot about his wife."
Chu Qinglan smiled and shook her head: "Don't be fooled by how well they're blooming now. It's only because they're supported by spiritual energy. When it's time for them to bloom in the summer, they'll wither and die."
She looked up at Cheng Yuan and said, "This shows that once they have tasted the nourishment of spiritual energy, they no longer want to be scorched by the sun. This is true for flowers, and even more so for people."
Cheng Yuan couldn't quite decipher the emotions in her eyes. He felt that there was something implied in her words, but he didn't know who she was referring to. He simply bowed and said, "Yes."
"ah--!!"
Suddenly, a scream came from outside. Chu Qinglan gestured for him to go out and see what was happening. Cheng Yuan obeyed and went out, only to find a group of people locked in a standoff with Chu Jianshan at the door.
The big, clumsy guy next to Mei Haoshi clutched his stomach and squatted down in pain, still pointing a trembling finger at Chu Jianshan: "You...you're insane! How dare you hurt someone in Changjin Mountain!"
Chu Jianshan waved his hand and said shamelessly, "I clearly used my feet."
"You!" Mei Haoshi was also furious. At this moment, he no longer cared about his demeanor as the chief disciple and drew his sword to rush forward.
Chu Jianshan was not afraid of him. Lin Mumu had helped him repair his spiritual core in Qingyao City. Although the effect was mediocre, he could at least use some spiritual power. It would be easy for him to deal with this half-baked chief disciple.
The instant the sword was thrust at him, Chu Jianshan struck Mei Haoshi's wrist with his palm. Mei Haoshi cried out in pain, and the sword flew out, bouncing twice on the ground.
Seeing that his sword technique was ineffective, Mei Haoshi changed his move, using all his strength to strike Chu Jianshan's chest with a palm. Chu Jianshan gathered his spiritual power to meet the palm strike, but just as they were about to collide, he caught a glimpse of Cheng Yuan at the doorway out of the corner of his eye.
Chu Jianshan immediately withdrew his hand, taking the blow head-on, but was knocked into the Azure Pool by Mei Haoshi. The icy water instantly soaked his clothes, enveloping his thin body.
"Chu Jianshan!"
Cheng Yuan quickly ran over and pulled him out of the pool, not caring that the water he brought with him had also soaked his own clothes.
"How are you?" Cheng Yuan squatted down next to him, wiping the water off his face and rubbing his body with his hands.
"No...it's nothing." Chu Jianshan's lips were pale, and his body was trembling. He had overestimated himself. In such cold weather, being soaked in sweat was almost killing him. He felt the cold penetrating his entire body, like being gnawed by ants, with a dense, tingling pain coursing through his body.
Upon seeing this, Cheng Yuan immediately took off his outer robe and put it on him, then used his spiritual power to protect his heart meridian to prevent the cold from penetrating too deeply. He turned his head and looked at Mei Haoshi and his group with fierce eyes, gritting his teeth and saying, "You're courting death."
Mei Haoshi hadn't expected his palm strike to have such power. Still immersed in the joy of his greatly increased cultivation, he naturally became fearless in front of Cheng Yuan, coldly snorting, "Who do we have here? Isn't this the abandoned disciple Cheng Yuan!"
"What," he slowly walked towards Cheng Yuan, his face full of provocation, "couldn't find your master after going down the mountain, so you've come to Changjin Mountain to cry again? Hahahaha..."
"You!" Cheng Yuan was furious and wanted to teach him a lesson. He used to give him some face because he was the sect leader's disciple, but did he really think he was someone important?
But just as he was about to get up, Chu Jianshan grabbed him and said, trembling, "Don't... don't be impulsive."
Cheng Yuan calmed down and saw that Chu Jianshan was freezing cold. The most urgent thing now was to help him change out of his wet clothes.
"Hey, what's going on here? Why such a big fuss?"
Bai Qianfan, who was ready to watch the show, slowly walked over. Seeing Chu Jianshan's drenched appearance and the ugly faces of Mei Haoshi and the other two, he roughly understood what had happened.
Bai Qianfan was known for his good relationships with people. Even though he had been gone for many years, when he first entered the mountain gate, many old friends were eager to tell him about the things that had happened in Changjin Mountain over the years.
Among them, the most famous were the three Mei Haoshi. Relying on being disciples of the sect leader and having powerful family backgrounds, they caused a lot of trouble in Changjin Mountain. Jiang Yan, mindful of his family's support for Changjin Mountain, mostly turned a blind eye.
But now that they're bullying their own people, there's no reason to let them get away with it. It's just a matter of family background, isn't it? Everyone has one. Before the Bai family suffered their misfortune, he was a notorious playboy in the surrounding area. When it comes to being arrogant, he's never lost!
"Hey! Who are you?"
Mei Haoshi turned around and looked Bai Qianfan up and down with a nonchalant air. When he entered Changjin Mountain, Bai Qianfan had already left, so he naturally had never heard of his name.
Bai Qianfan also looked him up and down, then pretended to be puzzled and frowned, saying, "Since when has Tinglan Pavilion been able to let just any beast in? And why not let people kick them out? We don't want to disturb the sect leader's wife."
"Who are you insulting!" Mei Haoshi immediately exploded.
Bai Qianfan shrugged: "Whoever replies gets insulted."
Cheng Yuan held the trembling Chu Jianshan tightly, not wanting to get entangled with them, and called out to Bai Qianfan, "I'll leave this to you, I'll take Chu Jianshan away first."
Bai Qianfan raised his chin and readily agreed; he was an expert at dealing with this kind of person.
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