Wang Ruanya had forty-eight bodyguards, of them, six had been killed by Huang Yu and his two servants, and dozens were injured. When Jinshui stated that he was willing to replace Huang Yu to receive vengeance, the one-eyed and one-legged men only asked to be allowed to bury their friend well and treat the injured.
The one-eyed man was called Lao Diaoyan or the eagle eye, while the one-legged was Lao Guishou or the devil hand. Lao Diaoyan was the former head of a band of robbers, while Lao Guishou was an accomplished pickpocket. However, as they said, their herd had always had its own code of ethics such as a strong sense of brotherhood, not carelessly injuring or killing the innocents, and several other rules that show that they are basically warrior-spirited people.
After the dead were buried and the trace of fighting was cleaned up, Huang Yu asked Xiaoshan and Xiaohu to pick Xu Qiao and Liuxin and escort them into the building. A room was prepared for the girls to have some rest.
Xu Qiao couldn't sleep that night, she sensed that something wasn't quite right with the Wang Family Residence. Huang Yu said he was going to visit a friend of his father's, but Xu Qiao wasn't sure he was telling the truth. Xiaoshan and Xiaohu asked Xu Qiao and Liuxin to stay in their rooms and she had not seen Jinshui or Huang Yu since entering the building, this was another oddity too. In addition, the servants didn't say much and looked frightened, really making Xu Qiao worried that something had happened.
Xu Qiao then asked Xiaohu to tell Jinshui that she wanted to meet him, but Xiaohu asked her to wait until tomorrow. Xu Qiao waited for Liuxin to fall asleep, then sneaked out of the room. She went alone to the main hall, the only place in the building that seemed to be still light.
She saw a number of men going in and out of the main room, only she didn't immediately come closer because she knew that if Jinshui was inside, he could hear her arrival. She saw several men bring in a number of wooden crates to the main hall.
A minute after, she also saw two men carrying a stretcher covered with a white cloth, it was clear that the cloth was covering a human corpse. The view surprised her. Worrying something happened to Jinshui, she decided to enter the main hall, ignoring the guards who wanted to stay in her way.
She saw dozens of wooden chests inside the main hall, most of which were opened and revealed their contents in the form of gold and silver coins, and even jewelry, some also contained valuable objects and even works of high-value arts. Two disabled men, Lao Guishou and Lao Diaoyan, were watching their followers count the contents of each chest and match it to the existing records. Huang Yu stood aside accompanied by his two loyal servants, monitoring everything. Jinshui sat on the main seat, his face was cold.
"Jiaozhu, it's all here," the one-legged Lao Guishou said to Jinshui.
"Jiaozhu?" Xu Qiao asked as she approached Jinshui. "Jinshui Gege, what are you doing?"
"Qiao-er," Jinshui greeted her calmly. "Why haven't you had some rest yet?"
"What are you doing here?" asked Xu Qiao again. "Why did he call you jiaozhu?"
"Just taking back Yumen's belongings," Jinshui replied softly. "I'll explain everything to you later."
"I saw someone carrying a body out of this place," Xu Qiao said again. "Who was killed?"
"Only the son of a traitor," said Jinshui, "he killed himself, we didn't have time to get in the way either."
"Traitor?" asked Xu Qiao.
"If you don't mind waiting here, just have a seat," Jinshui said to her, pulling her hand to sit by his side. Xu Qiao stepped aside and took another seat. Jinshui didn't say anything, his expression was rather flat.
"Share the contents of this chest with everyone," Huang Yu said to the one-eyed and one-legged, pointing to one of the chests filled with gold coins. "Send some people out of the valley, spread the word that the descendants of Yumen Jiao have started gathering people and making moves. Also, let people know that Hua Jinshui has already been appointed the twelfth-generation leader. No need to mention this place, and try to start all these rumors in Nanyang City. Make sure Huan Jiaozheng of Yongjun Hui heard this rumor."
The two men agreed, then asked one of their followers to carry away the designated wooden chest. Another bodyguard came into the room carrying a smaller wooden chest and immediately handed it to Lao Diaoyan.
"We found this chest in the third madam's room, hidden in a secret compartment behind the wall," the guard said.
"What's in it?" asked Lao Diaoyan, but he did not wait for an answer and immediately opened the chest himself. He handed it to Huang Yu after. "Huang Gongzi, we found it."
Huang Yu received the chest and passed it to Jinshui. Jinshui took out a black metal plate from the chest. The plate was made of special material and very finely carved. On one side was engraved the letters Yumen, and on the other side was engraved a command mark, it seemed like a very important command plate.
"Unbelievable, that traitor also took the leader's command plate and dared to keep it here." Huang Yu said. "Did anyone find any other command plates?" he asked the guard who brought the chest.
"The command plates of the two deputy chiefs, the four hall masters, the five element leaders, and the six division elders are all in the vault over there," Lao Guishou answered. "Only the command plates of the eight descendants are not here."
"The command plates of the eight guardians were also in their hands and now held by us the descendants," Huang Yu said.
"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao talked to Jinshui. "You… are you really going to resurrect Yumen Jiao?"
Jinshui nodded his head. "We found the leader's command plate," he said as he observed the command plate in his hand, not looking at Xu Qiao. "We only need to find two more descendants. Everything can be started now."
"We still have time," said Huang Yu. "We can stay here for a few days, then go to Mangren Gong to meet Liao Xian. Xu Guniang, everyone here is our own, and you have also heard them call Jinshui our new jiaozhu. If you don't mind becoming our jiaozhu furen, I will help arrange everything."
Xu Qiao stood up and immediately stepped out, not wanting to hear his ramblings. Jinshui followed her, accompanied her for a walk around the valley, and then sat on a branch of a large, dead tree, looking up at the stars in the sky. Jinshui then explained to her that their visit to Anning Hegu was actually to find a traitor of Yumen, and that the traitor was already eliminated.
Xu Qiao just half listened to him, her mind was a little confused as she realized that the Yumen descendants were no longer a group of young people who were close friends and formed a brotherhood, but rather a number of people who really wanted to do something and could bring about a big change in the world.
"Jinshui Gege, why did you never tell me about your parents?" Xu Qiao suddenly asked, she was curious about Jinshui's origin since Yuan Wancui mentioned him as the illegitimate son of the former Yumen leader. She had been wanting to ask but didn't know how to start until today the words just slipped out.
"I've never met them," said Jinshui. "My mother died giving birth to me, so she never told me who my father was either."
"Yuan Wancui, Yuan Zhangmen told me, that your father was the former supreme leader of Yumen, Tongjian Leishen Wu Youwei," said Xu Qiao again. "Is that right?"
"When I was a child, I remember there was only my grandfather." Jinshui didn't answer her question right away. "Then I met Moying Shifu, learned martial arts from him, until then we ran away from the people I don't even know who, then we went to Xuanwu Lake and that day I met Huang Yu and the other for the first time."
He told Xu Qiao as far as he could remember. The first meeting with the other descendants really changed his life, and also how Moying later informed him of his future task of reviving Yumen Jiao.
"After Moying Shifu transferred his inner energy to me, only then did he tell me, that my mother was the servant of the wife of the former leader of Yumen. She gave birth to me because of the arrangement of her master," Jinshui explained according to what he knew from Moying. "I don't know much more, never told you either because I never met my birth parents, don't know what they look like, and it's still very strange to me to even mention my father."
"Moying Shifu didn't tell you why you weren't raised by your father, instead living with only your grandfather, in such a faraway place?" asked Xu Qiao.
"No, he didn't," Jinshui said honestly. "I'm guessing, the former leader of Yumen, and all their members, no one knows of my existence except that jiaozhu furen and Moying Shifu. I know Moying Shifu then informed the other guardians so that their descendants, Huang Yu and the others also know. But I don't know if Moying Shifu had time to tell the Yumen leader, my… father."
"The previous leader of Yumen, Tongjian Leishen Wu Youwei, Wu Jiaozhu had no legitimate son nor daughter," said Xu Qiao. "You take Hua as your surname, is it your mother's?"
"Yes, I take my grandfather and my mother's surname," Jinshui said, "nor do I know why in the first place no one asked me to use the surname Wu. I'm also not quite sure to change my surname. Qiao-er, regarding my biological father, really I'm not completely sure either."
"However, you will still take Moying Shifu's orders, and will automatically become the twelfth-generation of Yumen leader."
"Yes." He looked at Xu Qiao more firmly. "You already know Yumen's reputation, and you can't ignore it. Qiao-er, if in the future you prefer to be part of the Xu Family who doesn't have anything to do with heretic people, then... then you may leave me at any time."
His words were very clear and sharp, carrying a great influence on Xu Qiao. Her little feeling said these words will bring no small amount of trouble in the future.
"Jinshui Gege...."
"All right, you don't have to overthink it," Jinshui grabbed her hand again, trying to keep a smile on his face. "I didn't expect you to be troubled by this matter. Just one day at a time. You don't have to decide now or tomorrow, I'm not giving you a time limit either."
Two days later, Jinshui and friends continued their journey and let Lao Diaoyan and Lao Guishou both take care of Wang Ruanya's residence in Anning Hegu, preparing it to be the first base for the new Yumen sect.
The next destination was Mangren Gong, the residence of Baigu's descendant, Liao Xian. Huang Yu mentioned that Mangren Gong was somewhere around Wushan, and it was as hidden as Wang Ruanya's residence in Anning Hegu.
--
That night they made a stop and had some rest in a fisherman's village on the banks of the Yangzi River. Xiaoshan and Xiaohu had arranged for them to stay in a house of a tea-picking middle-aged woman. The house owner was even willing to help Xiaoshan and Xiaohu buy some new outfits and disguises.
In the morning Xu Qiao and Liuxin changed clothes and disguised themselves as village girls. Xiaoshan and Xiaohu also put on their makeup to look more natural. Jinshui was simple in appearance and often wore rough clothes, he didn't need to change. Huang Yu was not willing to change his trademark long blue robes, he only watched those who had just changed while sitting on a wooden bench in the yard, playing with the chess pieces in his hands.
"Yu Gege, why don't you change your clothes?" Liuxin asked him. "Didn't you say that we all need to disguise ourselves to avoid the ladies of Haitang Jian Pai?"
"I don't think I have to," Huang Yu said, handing Jinshui a long piece of cloth. "Jinshui, the xuanlong sword is recognizable, you should wrap it up like before."
Jinshui grabbed the long cloth and wrapped his sword carefully, just like when Moying had wrapped it years ago. The cloth wrapping the previous sword had already been torn off during the fight with the two mysterious men in Wuzhang a while ago, and it was only this time that Jinshui wrapped it up properly again.
The middle-aged woman who owned the house came with freshly brewed tea for them, kindly asked them to drink it while it was still warm, then left them. The smell of tea was very fragrant. Liuxin poured a cup for herself and Xu Qiao, and the two girls drank it together.
"Jinshui Gege, this tea is very fragrant and fresh," Xu Qiao said. "You too have a cup."
Jinshui received the cup from her hand and only took a sip. Huang Yu asked Xiaoshan and Xiaohu to prepare a horse carriage. In a moment they had all left the fisherman's village and were going through the streets along the long river, towards Wushan.
After noon Liuxin suddenly felt dizzy, Xu Qiao also experienced the same symptoms, making them stop the carriage. Huang Yu quickly realized that the tea Liuxin and Xu Qiao drank in the morning contained poison.
Jinshui and Huang Yu helped Xu Qiao and Liuxin get off the horse carriage and sat down for cover under a large tree on the bank of the river. Jinshui checked Xu Qiao's condition and found the poison had spread quite far.
"Hua Gege, is that lady owner of the tea house the one poisoning us?" asked Liuxin. "Is she going to chase us here?"
"She gave a poison that only reacted after half day, if her goal was me, she should have arrived here and made sure I wouldn't see another sunrise," said Jinshui.
"There is no sign of anyone following us along the way," said Huang Yu.
"Could it be that someone is just being nosy?" asked Xu Qiao.
"No," Jinshui said. "Whatever the reason, the most important thing is to get rid of the poison first."
With no other choice, Jinshui immediately sat behind Xu Qiao, exerting his inner energy, just like three years ago, using it to get rid of the poison from Xu Qiao's body by sucking it into his own. Huang Yu gave orders to Xiaoshan and Xiaohu to stand guard, then used his energy to extract the poison from Liuxin's body.
The two main Yumen descendants struggled for two hours to get rid of the poison. It was lucky for them that no one else came. Xiaoshan and Xiaohu were on guard carefully and didn't even see any sign of someone stalking them.
Jinshui and Huang Yu then helped Xu Qiao and Liuxin lean against the tree trunk. Xiaoshan and Xiaohu share some dry food with them to speed up their recovery. Jinshui and Huang Yu meditated for a while and tried to get rid of the poison that had moved into their bodies. At that time, the two of them had already exhausted a lot of energy.
So far there was still no sign of someone following them or taking advantage of their weak moments, instead, a ship seemed to be moving between the streams on the river, and they recognized it as Lin Jixuan's. As far as they knew, the ship carrying Lin Jixuan with Li Jue was on its way to Wenhu District.
"Ershaoye, we will tell them to pick you up here," Xiaohu said to her master.
"I'll go," said Huang Yu. He had not yet finished recovering his energy, but knowing that his friend had arrived and worrying about the enemy's arrival made him a bit careless, then stepped to the bank of the river and tried to identify the ship more clearly. The Lin Family's flag was seen on the ship, making sure it was Lin Jixuan's ship.
Huang Yu tried to call out, but for a while, no one was seen above the deck. Jinshui approached him and jumped ahead of the ship, Huang Yu was too late to stop him, so he then darted through the river, and immediately set foot on the deck of the ship.
Jinshui had already reached the ship, landing on the deck before a member of the Lin Family who wasn't Lin Jixuan. Before he could recognize the owner of the ship, the floor beneath his feet opened, as a net descended from above and a kind of anesthetic smoke spread around. Jinshui had just used his inner energy to overcome the poison in Xu Qiao's body and the rest of the poison was still in his own bloodstream, he was helpless against the traps and the anesthetic smoke.
Huang Yu followed his step, still having time to watch Jinshui being pushed under the ship. He was just about to help and pull his friend, two blades had already aimed at him, forcing him to jump to his side. His body was hitting the ship's wall and it was almost too late to put up a fight. Just like Jinshui, his energy had not yet recovered, and he was forced to give up.
Xiaoshan and Xiaohu on the riverbank saw that their master was suddenly attacked, both of them thought fast and chose first to secure Xu Qiao and Liuxin who were still weak, immediately carrying them away, hiding in the nearby forest.
Two men carried Huang Yu into the ship's cabin. There was a dark room there, and the men tied Huang Yu to the wall using some strong chains. As Huang Yu's eyes began to adjust to the darkness, he found Jinshui also chained in the same room, still conscious but in a weakened state from the anesthetic smoke just now.
The two men who chained him left the room. It wasn't long before several other men stepped into the room, from their dark gray clothes they were clearly the men from Lin Family, some were actually the crew Lin Jixuan had brought over the other day, their faces were pale, almost refused when ordered to splash Jinshui's face with water.