Chapter 85 The Number One Under Heaven
Ning Jue originally did not want to tell Bai Hua about the twists and turns of revenge, as it would only cause her worry and would not do any good.
If it weren't for the sudden news of her marriage to Rong Linyan that disturbed his mind, he wouldn't have shown himself in front of her so early according to his original plan.
He thought that the best time to meet her would be when everything had settled down and he was sure that getting close to her wouldn't cause her any trouble.
However, reality often falls short of expectations.
His sudden appearance left Bai Hua unaware of the situation, which only increased her anxiety.
After much hesitation, Ning Jue finally relented and, under Bai Hua's persistent questioning, frankly recounted all his experiences since parting ways with her.
In fact, on the eve of leaving Ye City, he unexpectedly received a secret letter from the Umbrella Immortal Jiang Shen'er. The letter contained a vague reminder: If all the clues point to one place, then keep investigating in that direction, even if it seems impossible on the surface.
Like the moon reflected in water or a flower in a mirror, this letter feels ethereal and unreal, unlike the truth.
Logically speaking, the duel between the two had been over for several days, and Jiang Shen'er had already revealed everything he could and was willing to say. However, this secret letter, which was sent neither earlier nor later, arrived late on the eve of his departure from Ye City, as if he had hesitated for a long time before finally making up his mind.
Ning Jue pondered the letter repeatedly, and then thought of Jiang Shen'er's special feelings for her master that had been buried for many years, and she began to take it more seriously.
Back then, my master died suddenly at a banquet at the residence of General Wang of Jingqi. There were two people present who had the power to persecute my master. One was Jiang Shen'er, who came to the capital with the Southern Fujian delegation, and the other was Xie Tan, a martial arts figure who was also invited to the banquet. Both of them, like my master, were among the four great masters of the martial arts world, and their martial arts skills were quite good, enough to fight my master.
However, after Ning Jue investigated them one by one, both of them were ruled out as suspects. But if it wasn't them, who else in the entire martial arts world could have the ability to poison the Sword Saint?
The four greatest masters in the martial arts world: Sword Saint, Umbrella Immortal, Whip Demon, and Mad Fist.
Only Kuang Quan Dan remained out of Ning Jue's sight. It wasn't that he had overlooked him, but rather that this person had passed away and entered the monastery five years ago, resting peacefully underground.
How can a dead person harm others? Can they possibly rise from the dead?
Because of this thought, Ning Jue initially did not intend to waste too much energy on a dead person, but with the arrival of Jiang Shen'er's secret letter, his mind was slightly moved and he changed his mind.
The least likely direction... might just lead to a brighter future.
So, after parting ways with Bai Hua, he took Chen Fu and others on a special trip to Jiaozhou, the hometown of Mad Fist Dou Zheng.
Things didn't start off smoothly; they stayed in Jiaozhou for a while but didn't get any useful information.
Dou Zheng was a renowned figure in Jiaozhou City. After news of his death spread, almost everyone who had ever been in contact with him spontaneously participated in the funeral procession. All of them witnessed his body being placed in the coffin and the coffin being buried. It was impossible for Dou Zheng to have faked his death.
Ning Jue's conjecture proved unworkable, and the group had no choice but to return empty-handed.
However, a coincidence happened at that moment. Chen Fu suggested that since they were already there, they should go to the grave of the deceased to offer a jar of wine. They felt that inquiring about the deceased's name every day in the city was a kind of disturbance.
Ning Jue agreed and went with him. It was originally just a token gesture, but unexpectedly they encountered a familiar face in front of the tombstone—Song Tongsheng, known as the "Jianghu Deceptive Hand."
He happened to be there to pay respects to Dou Zheng, and the three of them met unexpectedly.
To earn such a terrifying title as "Deceptive Hand," Song Tongsheng must have possessed extraordinary martial arts skills. He gained fame at a young age, making him seem unparalleled among his peers, which in turn fostered arrogance in his personality. However, his arrogance went too far, and fate had its way of punishing him. In his youthful arrogance, he was ignorant of his own limitations and once publicly boasted that he would defeat four of the greatest martial arts masters in one fell swoop and reshape the martial arts world.
At the time, many admired his fearless spirit, while others scorned and mocked him behind his back. The incident caused quite a stir in the martial arts world. Under the watchful eyes of the public, Song Tongsheng confidently went to Xiangcheng to challenge Xie Tan, the Whip Demon. In the end, he suffered a crushing defeat.
Song Tongsheng fell and got up again. After recovering from his injuries, he traveled a long way to Nanmin to challenge the umbrella fairy Jiang Shen'er, but he was defeated again.
The third time, he persevered and finally found the Sword Saint's trail, boldly challenged him to a duel, but was still utterly defeated.
After three defeats, Song Tongsheng's arrogant nature gradually lost its spirit. At first, he was full of fighting spirit, but later he slowly became like a wilted eggplant.
But having already made that boast, and having said he would challenge the four greatest masters of the martial arts world without missing a single one, Song Tongsheng stubbornly traveled to Jiaozhou and sought out Mad Fist Dou Zheng to settle the matter. As it turned out, he actually won.
Song Tongsheng was overjoyed. He, a martial arts newcomer in his early twenties, had actually defeated Mad Fist Dou Zheng, one of the four great masters of the martial arts world. This was going to change the landscape of the martial arts world. If the two of them could fight again in front of others, Mad Fist would no longer be one of the four great masters of the martial arts world, and only the newly promoted Deceptive Hand would remain.
Unfortunately, fate played a cruel joke on Song Tongsheng.
When he excitedly gathered nearly a hundred people to watch his second duel with Dou Zheng, he was utterly defeated by Dou Zheng. If it had been a close call, he could have been said to have won by luck last time, but now that he was completely crushed, who would believe that Song Tongsheng had ever defeated Dou Zheng?
For nearly ten years afterward, the four masters remained unchanged. New talents emerged in the martial arts world, but none of them could overcome the challenge of the Ghost Hand, let alone challenge the four masters. Thus, over time, Ghost Hand Song Tongsheng became a well-known obstacle. Only by defeating him could one be qualified to challenge the four senior masters. In fact, Song Tongsheng had saved them a lot of trouble.
The three met by chance in front of Dou Zheng's tomb. Ning Jue recognized Song Tongsheng, but Song Tongsheng did not recognize Ning Jue.
Song Tongsheng: "You look unfamiliar... What's your name? Introduce yourself."
Ning Jue: "Just a nobody, not as famous as Senior Gui Shou, who is known to everyone."
Song Tongsheng glanced at Dou Zheng's tombstone indifferently and said nonchalantly, "Are you deliberately making fun of me? What kind of reputation do I have in front of Old Master Dou's tomb?"
Ning Jue smiled but remained silent.
Song Tongsheng: "Are you relatives of Old Master Dou? Why are you coming to pay your respects at such an inopportune time?"
Ning Jue: "How dare we claim kinship? My brother and I are merely admirers of Senior Kuang Quan. We happened to be passing through Jiaozhou today and thought we'd bring some wine to pay our respects to him."
Upon noticing the two jars of wine in Chen Fu's hand, Song Tongsheng had no suspicions.
All of them were people from the martial arts world. Even if they didn't know each other before, it was normal for them to have a drink together since they happened to meet today.
In the midst of their drinking and revelry, Song Tongsheng casually remarked, "You two brothers are also from the martial world. Have you heard about what happened to me back then? Even after all these years, I still can't understand it… How come during our first duel, Old Master Dou was so weak and exhausted, but the second time, with more people around, he suddenly became incredibly strong and powerful, his punches landing with real force? His body hadn't changed, his appearance hadn't changed, but he just seemed like a completely different person, like a ghost. After that, I, Song Tongsheng, became the laughingstock of the entire martial world, an unforgettable memory!"
Ning Jue and Chen Fu exchanged a glance, neither of them speaking, and continued to pour wine for Song Tongsheng.
Song Tongsheng drank another cup, completely unaware that he was being deliberately made drunk. After finishing it, he continued to mutter, "But it doesn't matter. I, Song Tongsheng, am an open-minded person. If I lose, I lose. I accept it wholeheartedly. I just want to ask God if He can stop playing tricks on me like this in the future, first lifting me up high and then dropping me hard... Oh well, I'll never be among the four great masters of the martial arts world in this lifetime, but being a stumbling block in people's eyes is enough for me."
Ning Jue interjected, "You said Dou Zheng was like a completely different person during your second match. In what ways did he change so much?"
When this is mentioned, Song Tongsheng gets really excited.
Over the years, when he mentioned it to others, no one believed him. Even when Dou Zheng later admitted that he had lost to him once, others teased him, saying, "Brother Dou, stop teasing the kids."
Over time, even Song Tongsheng himself began to doubt whether he had ever actually won against someone.
"To say he's completely a different person would be an exaggeration. His appearance hasn't changed at all; he still has gray hair and a face full of wrinkles. The only slight change is in his eyes. They're much brighter than before, the black pupils are deeper, and the whites of his eyes are less cloudy. He looks just like... just like..."
Just as they were getting to the crucial point, Song Tongsheng, feeling the effects of the alcohol, became drowsy and his speech became slurred.
Ning Jue certainly wouldn't let the clue he had obtained slip away. Seeing this, he simply picked up the wine pot, opened the spout, and forcefully poured half a pot of wine onto Song Tongsheng's face.
Caught off guard, he was momentarily dazed, staring blankly at Ning Jue, not quite understanding what was happening.
Ning Jue asked urgently, leading the question, "Like what?"
Song Tongsheng didn't quite understand and was led by the nose in a daze. Upon hearing this, he answered truthfully, "It's like... being more than ten years younger, with similar facial features, but a completely different person."
Ning Jue's heart skipped a beat, and he put down the wine pot, unable to calm down.
Song Tongsheng finally came to his senses, his drowsiness vanished, and he abruptly stood up, pointing at Ning Jue and demanding, "What's wrong with you? How dare you throw wine at me like that? Don't you know how to respect your seniors? I think you're asking for a beating."
Ning Jue had already heard the key information from Song Tongsheng, and he immediately lost patience, intending to leave the aftermath to Chen Fu.
He got up to leave, but Song Tongsheng stopped him, annoyed by his dismissive attitude.
"Why do you seem like a completely different person all of a sudden? You were just calling me brother a moment ago, toasting and pouring me drinks. Why are you suddenly turning on me? No way, I, the mighty Ghost Hand, can't stand your evil aura. Draw your sword, let's fight."
Ning Jue held Qingying in his hand and said truthfully, "Senior, you can't beat me."
Song Tongsheng almost fainted from a breath, and pointed at himself with a trembling hand: "Me, can't beat you? That's the funniest joke I've heard all year! Do you know? In the martial arts world, the last person who was this arrogant was me. In terms of arrogance, you're far inferior to me, but you're good at bragging."
Hearing this, Bai Hua couldn't help but smile, but quickly suppressed it, feeling that she should be more serious.
Ning Jue noticed her expression, so he stopped talking, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then asked her, "What are you laughing at?"
Bai Hua truthfully replied, "I was just thinking that this trickster is quite unlucky."
Ning Jue raised an eyebrow: "What makes you say that?"
Bai Hua: "He was so persistent, I think you must have fought him later. As for the result, it's obvious that he was no match for you. Back then, he was arrogant and conceited, and in the end, he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the four senior figures in the martial arts world. Over time, he could still manage to console himself. However, you, as an unknown nobody, defeated him. I think he must be in a deeper state of self-doubt now, and he probably won't be able to console himself for a while."
Ning Jue did recall that after the competition, when he and Chen Fu were about to leave, Song Tongsheng sat dejectedly on the ground, with an expression of utter despair on his face.
"Logically, since he helped me, I should leave him some leeway. But seeing how seriously he took the competition, I also wanted to take it seriously and at least show him the proper respect."
“That makes sense. Young master did the right thing.”
Ning Jue asked her again, "Are you so convinced that I can win?"
Bai Hua nodded, not as a flatterer, but because that was truly what she thought: "Of course I firmly believe that you, Young Master, have already defeated both the Whip Demon and the Umbrella Immortal, let alone the Ghost Hand who didn't even make it into the top four. In my heart, Young Master is the best in the world."
Ning Jue smiled gently, staring at Bai Hua, and repeated her words: "Number one in the world?"
"Yes." Bai Hua nodded affirmatively, her eyes shining.
Ning Jue raised his hand and gently stroked her hair, saying, "Alright, I will work hard from now on and strive to be Hua'er's number one in the world."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
