They continued their journey to Yiling District. Han Budian separated himself and only followed from afar, deliberately making Jinshui have to be on the lookout for his whereabouts at all times. Jinshui shouldn't really worry because he knew his abilities were far above Han Budian, and he knew that the young bangzhu Jianyin Bang was only messing with him. But he was jealous, and he considered Han Budian as his love rival.
That day they spent the night in an inn at the foot of the mountain, at midnight Jinshui found Han Budian sitting alone on the roof of the building, drinking wine while looking at the empty sky. He jumped to that roof and stood beside him.
"I didn't know Han Shaobangzhu also likes to get himself drunk," Jinshui said, then sat down not far away.
"I'm not drunk," said Han Budian calmly, "I don't like drinking wine either, just need a little to accompany me to enjoy the moon."
"Enjoying the moon?" Jinshui asked, looking at the dark and empty sky. "I don't see any moon."
"The moon has gone with Hua Jiaozhu," Han Budian replied bitterly, speaking like a drunken man. "I also can't take it back, forced to only stare at the sky without light."
"You really like Qiao-er," Jinshui sighed.
"Her father and my master once talked about getting the two of us together, but because she was too young at the time, they decided to discuss it later," said Han Budian, "never occurred to anyone, she would fall for the son of the late leader Yumen, a demon chief, not even the slightest bit ever looked at me."
Jinshui didn't give him any reply, just looking up at the empty sky.
"My grandmaster caused your father's death, but I know he knew he'd made a mistake," Han Budian suddenly said. "Yumen was the protector of the martial world from the true demon sect, it should not be exterminated. It's just that, at that time it was also powerless to block the alliance of the three parties that wanted the destruction of your Yumen."
Jinshui glanced at him, paying attention to the words he had just heard. Some time ago in Anning Hegu, the one-legged Lao Guishou was also there saying that Yumen in his father's era was formed to face the cruelty of the real demonic sect. He didn't know how much Han Budian would tell.
"The three alliances were Yongjun Hui, Haitang Jian Pai, and Wuyuan Dian (Hall of No Revenge) led by Banye Xiake Lin Tongtian, Lin Daren," said Han Budian again. "The leader of Yongjun Hui at that time harbored discontent with Yumen because he had been defeated by one of the hall masters, this was known by the entire martial world and was a very embarrassing incident for him."
"The leader of Yongjun Hui is Hei Bao Jiangjun (Panther General) Huan Jiaozheng. I heard he always prided himself on being the direct descendant of a reputable wulin qianbei (a respected figure in the martial world)," Jinshui said. "Apparently he was once defeated by one of our hall masters and held a deep grudge."
"Yuan Wancui, Yuan Zhangmen, as far as I know, is a woman who is narrow-minded, can easily be influenced by Huan Jiaozheng, then just take her female disciples to join the attack on Yumen's headquarters," continued Han Budian. "As for Lin Tongtian, I don't know why he hates Yumen, but I think someone made him believe that Yumen's existence will be a threat to the country."
"The three alliances that destroyed Yumen's headquarters were apparently all the work of Huan Jiaozheng," Jinshui said quietly. "Perhaps, later I will visit him and ask some explanation."
"Huan Jiaozheng has many friends in the martial world who later joined him in hunting and killing Yumen members," continued Han Budian. "We from Jianyin Bang, we never agreed with that. But my master couldn't do much, he only asked us not to get involved."
"I know," replied Jinshui.
"I don't support you, I never expect Yumen Jiao to rise again, but I also don't want to oppose you," Han Budian said again, quite sober because he wasn't actually drunk. "Your father had his part too. He ordered his men to kidnap talented children and caused discord, letting his followers do as they pleased to show Yumen's power and domination. Now, I hope you don't make the same mistake. I really hope that Xu Guniang can convince you not to imitate your father's cruelty."
"I killed nine elders of Haitang Jian Pai three years ago," Jinshui confessed, "over the past few years, I have also taken many innocent lives."
Jinshui really did kill a lot of men when he was suffering from zixie and zhaobai poison, mostly because of Huang Yu's method of transferring the poison to those innocent beings.
"Every time I remember all this, I really don't know how to deal with Qiao-er," continued Jinshui. "If it wasn't for her to stay by my side, I don't know what kind of demon I would become."
"Xu Guniang really does make a difference person of you, the son of a demon leader, I can clearly see this too," said Han Budian. "Hua Jinshui, for the sake of world peace in the future, I guess I Han Budian can only bless you two."
Jinshui nodded once to thank him.
"Take good care of her," Han Budian said as he stood up, "if you ever hurt her, then I will take her from your side. I know I don't have the ability to overpower you, but I swear I will make you feel the loss of someone you love so much that the desire to live is also taken from you."
Han Budian darted down from the roof, scurrying off into the darkness of the night. Jinshui didn't follow, he remained sitting on the roof and for a while looked around. Only a moment later, he saw Han Budian jumping back up onto the roof, standing on top of another building, the sword in his hand was drawn, and he was fighting two men in gray clothes with shiny sabers in their hands. Those men wore the typical clothing of the men of Wansui Gu, the followers of Zhou Sangong.
Jinshui rose to his feet, hovering over. Along with the sound of a commotion, a human figure was thrown against the wall of the building he was on, hard enough that the wall of the building collapsed. He saw Han Budian jump down, followed by his two opponents. Jinshui also floated into the street, finding that there were already a dozen people in similar gray clothes, surrounding a woman.
The woman was dressed in all white, using a weapon in the form of two long pieces of cloth, every movement looked really gracefully, but was very deadly. Another man was thrown by her, hitting a stone statue on the side of the road until it fell apart. Jinshui immediately recognized the woman as Xu Qiao's second mother and Haitang Jian Pai's main disciple, Xuehua Zhishou Bao Xinfei.
Jinshui just watched from a distance for a while. He knew Bao Xinfei didn't like him, and would not be willing to accept any help from him. In addition to the presence of Han Budian, even the Wansui Gu men were starting to fall.
But the fight took place in a narrow street, it seemed that the Wansui Gu men had deliberately cornered Bao Xinfei there. Bao Xinfei was after all a woman, and being surrounded by so many armed men made her very uncomfortable. She also couldn't use her weapons properly in a narrow street. Jinshui could see the circumstances were unfavorable for her.
A minute later Bao Xinfei was about to jump onto the roof, but one other man was already there, and every time she was about to jump up, that man deliberately spread a number of secret needles, forcing Bai Xin Fei to go back down and engage in fight down the alley.
Jinshui saw the man on the roof was a middle-aged man dressed in dark gray, among the lantern light from the surroundings could be seen his horrible pockmarked face, gray hair, and broad body. He was really a very unsightly man. Jinshui recognized that man as Zeng Baifeng's second disciple and also Yanzi's father, Zhou Sangong.
Bao Xinfei managed to kick several men at once using the shui liu xue piao (spreading snow flowing water) technique from yu xue miao shu, the special fighting technique of the Haitang Jian Pai other than their signature san liu bao lian shu. Some of the men fell to the ground but quickly got back up as if they didn't feel any pain. Bao Xinfei thought the power of her kick just now was enough to at least break their bones, seeing things like this naturally shocked her.
At that time suddenly Zhou Sangong spread out another batch of secret needles from above. His movement was so fast that Bao Xinfei belatedly twisted the two pieces of cloth in his hands to parry. One of the needles hit her arm, penetrating all the way to the shoulder. Zhou Sangong's strength in using the needle was really precise, Bao Xinfei immediately felt tremendous pain in her arm.
Han Budian at that time had already managed to knock down three of his opponents at once, but these Wansui men people didn't seem to feel any pain, they couldn't be knocked unconscious. Han Budian didn't like to kill people, he was only been trying to immobilize his attackers, even the sword in his hand hadn't even been touched by a drop of blood.
Xu Qiao arrived there with Liuxin. She heard a commotion sound and thought Jinshui and Han Budian were fighting. Jinshui quickly approached the two and stood in front of them to protect.
"Hua Gege, what happened?" Liuxin asked him.
"Xu Furen is fighting with the Wansui Gu men, Zhou Sangong's followers," said Jinshui. "I don't know how it started."
"Zhou Sangong?" Xu Qiao had not forgotten what happened three years ago. "Jinshui Gege, don't you remember that three years ago I was exposed to the zixie poison, and then you had to transfer it to yourself? That Zhou Sangong was the one who gave me poison, you must avenge us."
Jinshui didn't say anything back, he quickly jumped onto the wall, striking at the pockmarked Zhou Sangong with his sword drawn. Zhou Sangong still had time to throw the secret needles that were already clutched in his hands at him, but Jinshui's wounds had completely healed after a few days rested in Mangren Gong, he could easily knock the secret needles out.
"Hua Jinshui! I don't need your…." Bao Xinfei saw someone coming to her aid and recognized him, she shouted in displeasure. However, she was still having trouble dealing with her attackers, plus her arm felt swollen from Zhou Sangong's secret needle just now, she couldn't curse Jinshui.
"Xu Furen, I don't intend to help you, but I personally have a problem with Zhou Sangong. I have a debt of revenge to be settled, sorry to have to precede you!" Jinshui exclaimed while swinging his sword at Zhou Sangong.
"Who are you?" Zhou Sangong asked, his attention fell on the xuanlong sword in Jinshui's hand only a second later. He recognized the famous sword as the belonging to the heretic sect. Three years ago Jinshui used it to kill many of his men in Wansui Gu. "You are that Yumen Mowang."
"Zhou Sangong, this is not our first meeting," said Jinshui again. "Three years ago I visited Wansui Gu, wanting to see your master Zeng Baifeng, Zeng Laoqianbei, and asked for guidance. But I had no luck meeting him. I met only you, but then you went into hiding and let your people get beat up by me. Today, you can't hide, you have to face me, Hua Jinshui."
"Hua Jinshui," Zhou Sangong repeated this name in a fierce tone, "Yumen Jiao and Wansui Gu never had a debt of grudge, but you were trying to get into trouble with us twice, what's your problem?"
"No grudge?" Jinshui asked. "Three years ago I was exposed to zixie and zhaobai poisons. These two types of poison were all the work of you Wansui Gu people, meaning I have the right to ask for an explanation from you. I had turned into a terrible creature because of the Wansui Gu, do you think this reason is still not enough to collect the debt of revenge with you?"
Zhou Sangong was apparently aware of Yumen Mowang's appearance at Wansui Gu three years ago. He also heard how that Yumen Mowang was a man who had been exposed to the combination of zixie and zhaobai poisons, the two poisons created by the Wansui Gu people. He did try to combine those poisons and experimented on someone else later. However, he didn't want to give any explanation to Jinshui. The sound of his laughter was soon heard.
"You tasted both zixie and zhaobai poisons, but you didn't suffer a horrible death, that is fascinating," Zhou Sangong said. "Hua Jinshui, you hold a grudge long enough. I really want to see your abilities to still live well until today."
Jinshui and Zhou Sangong started a fight on the walls and roofs. Zhou Sangong was the disciple of Zeng Baifeng the poison expert. He mastered high martial arts, and his whole body might hide kinds of deadly poison. Although Jinshui's ability was above average, he knew he must be careful, the slightest bit of carelessness could soon be used by the opponent to spread the poison. For the first dozen moves, this fight was equal.
Xu Qiao tried to watch calmly. She already knew the ability of each man who fought and also knew for sure that Hua Jinshui would not be easily defeated. But she really worried Zhou Sangong's shifty tendencies.
The sword in Jinshui's hand flashed rapidly, forcing Zhou Sangong to take a few steps back in the thirties move. It might be Zhou Sangong's intention to let himself look like was about to lose to Jinshui when he didn't increase the energy he used. Several times he almost got slashed by Jinshui's sword but managed to dodge like a slippery eel. Anyone could see, this man meant to slow down the fight, his objective was to find an opportunity to use his poisoned needle. He clearly knew he won't stand a chance to win without any tricks.
Down the alley, Liuxin was impatient and had already pulled out her short blade, slashing at the necks of the two closest men, finishing them off, surprising Xu Qiao because the little princess could actually be quite harsh.
"Han Shaobangzhu, are you still thinking about sparing their lives?" Liuxin shouted at Han Budian too, forcing him to slash his sword at his opponent.
At the same time, Bao Xinfei was also staggering, desperately trying not to fall or lose consciousness. Zhou Sangong saw that the madam had been severely poisoned, his curiosity since being defeated by Bao Xinfei three years ago had paid off.
"Retreat!" Zhou Sangong suddenly shouted out an order to the rest of his men. At the same time, he spread all the remaining needles inside his sleeves towards Jinshui, forcing Jinshui to parry them with little effort.
The remaining Wansui Gu people simultaneously threw small black balls that exploded in the air, instantly scattering poisonous smoke around the place. Jinshui was forced to let them escape, he quickly darted to Xu Qiao and protected her from the poisonous atmosphere. Han Budian was almost too late to get out of the way, Liuxin was still in a hurry to cover her respiration.
Yanzi arrived with Xiu-er with her with Yue Songdai behind them and Huang Yu arrived last with some of the innkeepers. They all also heard a commotion and tried to ignore it at first but later they thought they need to check it out.
"Wansui Gu people come here?" Yanzi asked those who were there, she just brushed off the smoke with her hands, not caring that the poison was immediately inhaled. Xiu-er who was with her immediately staggered.
"Your father," replied Jinshui.
"Oh," Yanzi didn't make any comment. She didn't really care to see the bodies of some of her father's followers, then quickly gave a small pill to Xiu-er, forcing her to swallow it before the poison spread. Yanzi also gave the pills to Xu Qiao, then to Bao Xinfei.
"Your father…." Bao Xinfei got rid of Yanzi's hand by hitting her, but she couldn't say anymore and suddenly vomited fresh blood. Xu Qiao quickly caught her before she fell to the ground, finding that one of Bao Xinfei's hands was swollen and hot.
"Jinshui Gege, please help her," Xu Qiao knew Jinshui could use her inner energy to get rid of the poison. Bao Xinfei was dying and might soon lose her life if no one helped her.
"Yanzi, give her the antidote," Jinshui asked Yanzi.
"She was hit by my father's honglong needle, the poison was close enough to her heart. I don't have the antidote, nor will I give her," Yanzi said fiercely, displeased that Bao Xinfei not only refused the pill she gave her but instead beat her. She felt her shoulder hurt, and if it wasn't the lady had injured, her arm might already be broken.
"Furen, forgive me." Jinshui had no time to think too much. He kept his sword and decided to save Bao Xinfei's life first. He grabbed Bao Xinfei's left hand, channeling internal energy from his palm. The madam no longer had the strength to resist.
The needle that had entered Bao Xinfei's arm was successfully pulled out, Jinshui also drew the poison into his own arm. While at Bai Tu Shanzhuang some time ago Li Qian was there explaining how to use wuqing xue's energy to suck out the poison and collect it in the bloodstream, holding it there so that it can be expelled more easily. When using this method to help Xu Qiao a while ago he had not succeeded completely and the poison still had some effect, but this time the poison that entered Bao Xinfei's body was only the tip of the needle so it was easier to hold.
Jinshui let go of his hand a moment later, he sliced his finger and spat out poisonous blood. Bao Xinfei remained in Xu Qiao's arms, she was weak but conscious.
"Xiao Qiao, erniang is not your real mother, is not related by blood to you. I have no right to interfere in your life. You decide everything yourself, your future is also your own," the madam said quietly to Xu Qiao. "You want to stay him, I can't get in your way. I just want to say, Huofeng Lou's door remains open for you. Whenever you want to come back, come back. Erniang won't say much if you don't want me to."
"Erniang, I'll definitely be back," Xu Qiao promised her. "I will come back to ask for your blessing."
"Hua Jinshui," Bao Xinfei turned to Jinshui. "Just now you helped me at Xiao Qiao's request, nor was it because I asked for it myself. But you should already know, I, Bao Xinfei don't want to accept help from you, moreover, I don't want to receive a heretic inner energy."
She moved quickly, took a nearby saber belonging to Zhou Sangong's dead follower, then slashed it into her own left arm. Earlier, when Jinshui channeled internal energy through the left hand, she was weak she couldn't resist. But now her strength had partially returned, and it was enough to cut off that left arm with a single move.
"Erniang!" Xu Qiao immediately squealed in surprise. No one expected Bao Xinfei to act so boldly, and no one had the chance to get in the way. Her hand fell to the ground, blood rushing out. Bao Xinfei struggled to keep herself awake. Jinshui was shocked, and almost had the restrained poison spread into his arm.
"Xu Furen...."
"Bao Xinfei doesn't owe any heretic sect," the madam smirked. She knocked several acupuncture points in her arm to stop the bleeding. But of course, she was not strong enough. Jinshui wanted to help, but he knew this madam was tough, and helping her might force her to commit suicide.
"Erniang, why did you have to be like this?" Xu Qiao tore off her sleeves and used them to wrap her stepmother's wound. Her hands were shaking, her tears were flowing down.
"What kind of anti-heretic is this?" Jinshui murmured in regret. "You don't want to accept help from heretic sects and prefer to make yourself disabled. What kind of rule is this?"