The one that appeared a second after was a young man dressed in all white, darting from the top of the trees north side of them, then running on the roofs of the surrounding buildings, his movements were very light. Jinshui and the others watched him. The young man in white was carrying a folding fan in his hand, functioning as a weapon. He attacked Jinshui with that weapon.
The bamboo hut was cramped, the two of them lunged out, and broke the door on the way. Two shadowy figures chased each other around the street, attacking and dodging each other, their energy was covering the surrounding.
Jinshui used the energy given by Moying to counterbalance the young man that attacked him, leaving the two thieves in the cage equally gaping as in their life had never seen two young figures of such high ability. The branches of the trees around the hut fluttered, dry leaves swirling. Those who were fighting were like two shadows pressing against each other, even Xu Qiao couldn't clearly see their motions.
"Moying's descendant has actually managed to master the fourth level of wuqing xue!" heard the voice of the young man attacking Jinshui. His voice was smooth and childish, similar to Huang Yu three years ago.
"You are the descendant of Xiezhang," said Jinshui.
"You remember me," the young man replied.
The two youth men floated down lightly. Xie Zhang's descendant was the same age as Huang Yu. He was the first son of the Lin Family from Wuling City. His father Lin Tong Tian who was famous for his beifeng qi (north wind power) was once a palace guard, quite famous in various regions. His reputation was still widely talked about after his retirement. This first son's gestures and appearance were more like a son of a literate family, but just now he had fought with Jinshui, it was clear that his abilities could not be underestimated. The fan in his hand could cut hard rocks to pieces even though it looked soft.
"No wonder you can create this kind of energy," Jinshui said to him. "You merged the technique of shen zhang kai tian with the power beifeng qi your father taught you."
"You're right," Lin Jixuan smilingly replied. "The Lin family only has one son only, and that's me. If Beifeng qi is not passed on to me, who will it be taught to? However, I only merge the technique and the power for fun. Showing it off in front of Moying's descendant would only be laughed at."
Jinshui didn't answer. Had his condition been completely healed, of course, a Lin Jixuan was nothing to him. He will easily be able to teach a lesson to the young master who likes to mess around and annoy girls.
"I believe you must have been talking about my reputation just now," Lin Jixuan said again. "Don't worry, Xiezhang Shifu taught me well. At least until now, no girls have been harmed by me. I'm only messing around with them, teaching them a lesson about the real world."
"Lin Jixuan, long time no see, you have advanced tremendously," Huang Yu approached with words of praise. He didn't want to discuss the reputation Lin Jixuan in front of him. "Looks like you've been training hard for the past few years."
"After our meeting at Zilan Huayuan that day, Xiezhang Shifu then took me back to the Lin Family, then I never saw him again," said Lin Jixuan. "He didn't even give me a chance to find out who he fought last time so I can get revenge."
"Chailang Shifu did the same," replied Huang Yu. "Ba Weishen didn't want their descendants to use our inner energy and all the outcomes of their teachings to increase enmity with anyone."
Lin Jixuan looked at him. "Huang Yu, Chailang Shibo chose the right descendant," he said after. "You are no longer the son of the Huang Family who prefers to be alone like when we last met, now you have turned into a mature young man full of confidence. Among us are eight descendants of your name to be reckoned with. I'm sure if the task as leader of us all rests on your shoulders, you can do well."
Huang Yu laughed briefly. "I was merely a child then, didn't understand much," he said. "Thanks to our brothers and sisters, there is only the current Huang Yu. But, there's one thing, I guess you've forgotten."
"What one thing?" asked Lin Jixuan.
"Jinshui is…." Huang Yu's didn't say further, he almost forgot that Xu Qiao was still there. "I am Chailang's descendant and I'm only a representative. My task is to find all eight. Our real leader is not me, but him." He pointed at Jinshui. "Moying Shibo was the head of the eight guardians, his descendant will naturally be the leader of us all."
Lin Jixuan turned and looked back at Jinshui. Jinshui looked cold and stiff with a sick body. Lin Jixuan was a little hesitant. The descendant of Moying he knew ten years ago was a child full of spirit, whose every action and word greatly influenced the others. He tried to remember the face behind that hideous appearance. Just now he found out that the sickly man was indeed Moying's descendant.
"What happened to him?" Lin Jixuan asked.
"It won't be long before he can recover and will be better than all of us," Huang Yu replied. "His weakness is none other than our Miss Xu, daughter of Huofeng Lou's master. Jinshui became like this because of that girl. But Miss Xu will also join us, there's nothing to worry about."
"Miss Xu from Huofeng Lou?" Lin Jixuan knew a lot about Huofeng Lou. "The late owner of Huofeng Lou had five daughters in total, only the youngest daughter is left. The one you are talking about for sure is Wuguniang, Xu Qiao."
Xu Qiao was already approaching Jinshui's side, Huang Yu pointed at her with a hand, introducing her first before Jinshui said anything. Lin Jixuan fanned himself for a while, watching the young girl beside Jinshui without hesitation, his smile looking even stranger than Huang Yu's.
"The Xu Family daughters are all not only beautiful but also intelligent and talented," Lin Jixuan raved. "Jinshui has a good eye. This fifth daughter is said to be the most talented. Xu Qiao Guniang can be our Jinshui companion, what an honor."
"Don't tell me you ever caused trouble with the Xu Family," Huang Yu said to him.
"I don't have that much luck," said Lin Jixuan. "Jinshui, if you ask for her hand, I will definitely drink your wedding wine."
Jinshui didn't answer, just stood in his place like a corpse. Huang Yu stepped aside, not wanting to represent Jinshui giving any explanation regarding his current physical condition.
"You are the son of Lin Tongtian, Lin Dabo from Wuling City?" Xu Qiao asked Lin Jixuan. "How can you be one of them?"
"Ah, Xu Guniang already knows about us Yumen descendants," said Lin Jixuan. "That's right, among the eight descendants there are five sons and daughters of well-known families. One of the sons is me, Lin Jixuan."
"If I remember correctly, your father was one of the leaders of the three alliances that carried out the attack on Yumen's headquarters years ago," Xu Qiao told him. "How could a guardian of Yumen even choose you as one of the descendants? What if your father finds out about this?"
"Nearly thirteen years ago, when Yumen Jiao was destroyed by the alliances of three major parties, my father was indeed one of the leaders of the alliances," said Lin Jixuan again. "He didn't know I was studying wuqing xue all this time. If he knew I was chosen as one of Yumen's descendants, he would not hesitate to get rid of me first."
He told her the irony of his life easily, not fearing his father or anything. Huang Yu looked at him.
"You are really going to resurrect a demonic sect that was already destroyed?" Lin Jixuan asked.
"Sure," said Huang Yu. "Although I still don't know exactly which path to take, later after we have gathered all eight descendants, we will definitely know how to start everything. If you want to back off now, you can just tell me. Just transfer Xiezhang Shishu's energy to someone else."
Huang Yu had his own ambitions regarding Yumen. Jinshui took a quick glance, once again finding the deep hatred hidden in his eyes.
"I'm in, have no doubt about it," Lin Jixuan replied quickly. "I want to see how my father will react if he finds out about all this."
It seemed that he had already caused too much trouble with his father so that the matter of becoming the descendant of the sect that his father had destroyed would not make his father die of rage once again.
"I also want to quickly meet the other brothers and sisters, and fight with you all," added Lin Jixuan. "Regarding my father, we can talk about it more later."
"In the next few days Jinshui and I will meet the descendant of Menggui Shishu," Huang Yu said again, "I've found traces of him. He's not what he used to be, but it won't be hard to find him."
They entered the courtyard of the hut, finding Xiaoshan and Xiaohu who were still there with the two thieves they had caught. The two thieves seemed to recognize Lin Jixuan as a young man who had come to their master's house and caused trouble, they looked scared.
"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao touched Jinshui's hand, and asked him to release the two thieves since they already given all the required information.
"Xu Guniang, we are the descendants of Yumen, not any kind of hero," Huang Yu told her. "These two thieves are still useful to us. We cannot let them go."
Huang Yu asked Xiaohu to accompany Xu Qiao to go buy rice and other groceries for all of them, saying he would discuss cult matters with Jinshui as well as Lin Jixuan. Xu Qiao was forced to leave Jinshui and go with the two servants, not knowing what the three young Yumen descendants would do that she shouldn't know.
After the two girls left, Huang Yu then asked Xiaoshan to take out one of the thieves, the older one, tied him to the wall and gagged him in the mouth. Jinshui just stood there stiffly watching, Lin Jixuan looked interested.
"What are you doing?" Lin Jixuan asked, knowing there were atrocities going on. He knew that Yumen Jiao's followers who were actually used to being cruel, didn't expect Huang Weiqun's son to be an exception.
Huang Yu asked Xiaoshan to stand guard outside and block Xu Qiao's return, then took out thirty or so long silver needles, placing them on the table beside a burning stove. He took a stick and heated it. His face was calm as usual.
"These needles named baihua chen, once belonged to my mother's," Huang Yu explained coldly without any emotion in his tone. "Now they have other purposes than merely secret weapons."
He heated a few more needles on the same stove, and the man he held captive broke out in a cold sweat, not knowing what would happen.
"Relax, you will only feel a little pain, after that you will feel peace," Huang Yu said casually. He took a smoldering needle. "Jinshui, it's time."
"Time for what?" asked Lin Jixuan.
"You are already here, you can help me by using Xiezhang Shishu's inner energy, making this process faster," said Huang Yu. "Jinshui and I have done this several times, it's just that with my ability one can't dump that much poison."
"Dump what poison?" asked Lin Jixuan.
"Removing Jinshui's illness from his body to someone else," said Huang Yu.
Lin Jixuan stared at him. Huang Yu spoke very calmly as if it was as simple as eating rice. The prisoner saw Jinshui's terrible condition, he struggled with all his strength. Lin Jixuan also looked at Jinshui, he really wanted to know why Moying's descendant turned like a monster.
"Three years ago Jinshui received this disease from Xu Guniang, then he failed to get the antidote from Wansui Gu. We couldn't think of another way but to use our own ability to transfer the poison to someone else," Huang Yu explained, "it's just, this person is weak, unlike us who have the inner energy from Yumen guardians. If we transfer the poison to him just like that, he'll be dead within a minute. These needles' function is to maintain his life a little longer so that he can contain more poison."
Lin Jixuan saw the cruelty in his eyes. Huang Yu was overcome with vengeance. It was the revenge for the murder of the Huang Family three years ago. Three years ago, he was unable to prevent the disaster from happening. He could only harbor hatred in his heart, also trying to get his chance to avenge everything.
"This man has been poisoned, sooner or later will die, even die horribly." Huang Yu said. "We help him lessen his suffering, he should be grateful."
"Are you the one poisoning him?" Lin Jixuan asked.
"Is there any difference?" asked Huang Yu.
"Ah, Chailang Shibo chose well his descendant," Lin Jixuan finally laughed. "Yes, we want to restore the glory of Yumen, surely we must restore the glory along with the former reputation."
"This person is just a worthless petty criminal, killing him could save the lives of many people, then why don't we just do it right?" asked Huang Yu as well, aimed at Jinshui. "Get rid of your dirty clothes first. I will stick needles in thirty-six acupuncture points on this person's body, after which Lin Jixuan and I will help you transfer the poison into his body."
Jinshui didn't say a word. He took off his clothes, revealing the skin of his body that was far more terrible than the skin of his face. The prisoner struggled once more, his cold sweat pouring down even more profusely. Huang Yu started sticking smoldering needles in his body, he screamed in pain, only to be silent when Huang Yu stuck the last needle in his head.
--
They stayed in the hut in that peasant village for a few days, waiting for the time to meet Menggui's descendant as Huang Yu had said. They also used the time to get rid of the poison from Jinshui's body more, secretly without Xu Qiao knowing. Huang Yu used the two thieves as poison inhibitors, killing them horribly. Their bodies were buried behind the hut.
That morning Xiaoshan and Xiaohu brought Jinshui a new set of clothes as per their employer's orders, also helping him prepare warm water and some medicinal ingredients to clean himself and treat his damaged skin.
The effectiveness of the zhaobai poison had decreased in the past year and Jinshui had not felt the influence of the sun's rays for a long time. Jinshui's entire body was still bluish-black with horrible red spots only because the two types of poison in his body had not been cleared yet. The process of transferring the poison to the two thieves and the help from Lin Jixuan had already reduced most of the red spots, making Jinshui's condition much better.
Huang Yu knew that Xu Qiao was not supposed to watch Jinshui clean up and change clothes, so he invited her to have a sword fight in the yards. They didn't use real weapons, just two tree branches they picked earlier.
"Xu Guniang is said to have learned martial arts with the main disciple of Haitang Jian Pai, Xuehua Zhishou Bao Xinfei, Xu Erfuren," Huang Yu said as he played a simple-looking basic move. "I've been wanting to see san liu bao lian shu, maybe Xu Guniang can show off a little."
"Xiaomei show off a bit," replied Xu Qiao while holding up the branch in her hand, "Huang Erge, please don't laugh."
She jumped, intending to play the techniques from the san liu bao lian shu taught by Bao Xinfei. The branch in her hand stretched out, grabbing Huang Yu's side with a lithe. However, the moves she played did not resemble the character of the san liu bao lian shu that Bao Xinfei had taught her, as Xu Qiao's mind was filled with the theory taught by Jinshui three years ago.
She played the technique called tian ya liu shi (six moves of the end of the sky), imitating to what Huang Yu was playing. One move of wuqing xue with six styles of rapid and complex changes, it looked simple but not easy to imitate.
"Xu Guniang knows our wuqing xue," Lin Jixuan said at the edge of the fighting arena. "Who taught you?"
Xu Qiao put away the tree branch in her hand, using her original weapon which was a long silk scarf, tried to forget about wuqing xue, and put in a little bit of inner energy to play the techniques taught by her stepmother.
Huang Yu also threw the tree branch from his hand and used his bare hands, once again using the signature move of wuqing xue. Xu Qiao saw the opponent's moves, the lian hua man yuan (lotus fills the garden) move that she almost played correctly changed unintentionally into the xiaohun shu (spirit-dissolving technique) move from wuqing xue, frustrating her deeply.
Erniang must know about this matter every time we trained, Xu Qiao thought, but didn't say anything because she didn't want to mention Jinshui, then continued to teach patiently. Xu Qiao remembered the first time the move she played turned into a wuqing xue move, Bao Xinfei didn't show any surprise, instead correcting it calmly. In short, during these three years, Bao Xinfei had taken good care of her feelings.
"Do the descendants of Yumen only learn wuqing xue as fighting arts?" she asked Huang Yu impatiently. "Huang Erge, didn't your parents teach you each of their signature techniques?"
"Xu Guniang, Huang Yu just want to see how far you have learned our wuqing xue," Lin Jixuan was the one to reply. "You studied the fighting techniques of Haitang Jian Pai for three years, it seems not enough to forget what Jinshui once taught."
"No," Xu Qiao said, "I don't want to be one of you, I have to forget what Jinshui Gege taught me."
"Being one of us is not that bad," said Lin Jixuan again, approaching Xu Qiao, "in the future, maybe you will marry Jinshui and we will call you jiaozhu furen (wife of the sect leader)."
Xu Qiao's face immediately turned red, both uncomfortable and embarrassed. Of course, because she was a daughter of a reputable family who only knew that marriage was supposed to be arranged by parents. She was just about to turn around and enter the hut when Jinshui stepped out, already cleaned up and changed into his dirty beggar clothes with long dark silky clothes. Although the traces of the poison were still visible, they had been greatly reduced. Xu Qiao was stunned for a moment.
"Jiaozhu," Lin Jixuan greeted Jinshui while pretending to salute.
"Xu Guniang, we're about to go see the descendant of Menggui, it's best if you stay here waiting for us to return," Huang Yu said to Xu Qiao before Lin Jixuan teased more. "But if you want to know more about the true face of the descendants of Yumen, feel free to come with us."