Xu Qiao took care of Bao Xinfei until the next day, took care of her wound, and accompanied her until the pain of losing an arm wasn't bothering her so much anymore.
Bao Xinfei was not willing to accept help from Jinshui, nor was she willing to be in debt to Yanzi, a girl from Wansui Gu. She apparently cut off her own arm knowing that this way Xu Qiao could only be temporary separated from Jinshui and his friends.
She didn't say much as Xu Qiao treated her wound, gave her some food, and helped her clean her face in the room at the inn. Liuxin stayed away from them, and Yanzi chose to sleep in another room. Only Xiu-er stayed with Xu Qiao to help her, knowing that Bao Xinfei was a disciple of Haitang Jian Pai.
"Xiao Qiao," Bao Xinfei finally spoke to Xu Qiao. "Our three years together in Huofeng Lou overcame the loss of those closest to you, do you still want to leave because you don't want to accept me as your stepmother?"
"Erniang," Xu Qiao called. "I disappointed you."
"Xiao Qiao, you are Chenghai's only remaining daughter," Bao Xinfei said. "I want to take care of you for the rest of my life. I only have one hand now, but I can still take good care of you. Come with me back to Huofeng Lou, you no longer need to follow a demon head and make yourself a slave."
"What kind of person Jinshui Gege is, I believe myself," Xu Qiao said. "Xiao Qiao hasn't been able to come back to Huofeng Lou yet because I already have her own considerations, hope Erniang doesn't make things difficult for me."
"Is this little girl the one my junior was about to take as student?" Bao Xinfei pointed at Xiu-er.
"Yes," replied Xu Qiao.
"I will take her to Huofeng Lou, for the time being at least she can take your place," Bao Xinfei stood up, grabbed Xiu-er's hand, and left the inn's room, "it's better than being a slave to Yumen or making friends with the girl from Wansui Gu."
Xu Qiao didn't get in the way, just let Bao Xinfei out of the room. By that time the day had changed and the morning was approaching, no one had really slept since last night.
Jinshui was standing outside the room. He couldn't sleep at all that night, worrying that Xu Qiao will decide to be with Haitang Jian Pai's first disciple who hated him so much. When he saw Bao Xinfei come out holding Xiu-er, he had already pointed a sword at the madam, thinking Xu Qiao had also changed her mind.
"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao blocked in front of her stepmother. "Please don't. She's my only family, you can't kill her."
"Qiao-er is my wife," Jinshui said firmly to Bao Xinfei. "Xu Furen accepts it or not, I will keep her by my side for the rest of my life. Xu Furen please inform the whole world, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in Yongshi Bei, Yiling District, Hubei, the descendants will gather and announce the return of Yumen Jiao."
Bao Xinfei looked at him with hatred, but the madam knew that fighting today would only cost lives, or worse, trouble for Xu Qiao. She was not someone who likes to act without thinking. She pulled Xiu-er away with her.
On the same day, Jinshui and the others also left the inn, continuing their journey to Yiling District. Throughout the trip, Xu Qiao didn't talk much, kept her distance from Jinshui, even Liuxin and Yanzi, and didn't pay much attention to anything else. Jinshui just let her do so, he also had his own pride.
They traveled through the river by chartering a boat, two days later continuing on foot through a wide valley, Han Budian still separated himself and only followed in a certain distance, appearing occasionally to watch over Jinshui.
In the distance the Tujia tribe's settlement was visible, but they didn't plan on stopping there, and Huang Yu continued to lead them through the path at the foot of the mountain. Six horsemen passed by on the road, ahead of them, clearly foreigners, and possibly they were some wanderers from the martial world because each carried a toya weapon.
Huang Yu let them pass. He took Jinshui and the others to rest by the river, and sit for a while on the rocks. They were still in disguise and wearing villager's clothes, all for the sake of avoiding unnecessary commotion with the people of the martial world who started to react knowing the Yumen descendants had reappeared and had even started their movement.
The people who brought the toya seemed also interested in seeing the clear flowing river water, they decided to rest on the other side of an ancient bridge. One person looked at Jinshui and the other saw Yue Songdai and Liuxin throwing water at each other, thinking they were three young couples from a nearby village playing and relaxing but didn't really care.
"Yesterday the blacksmith at the market said, Mrs. Xu of Huofeng Lou has announced the death of Xu Chenghai's youngest daughter Xu Qiao," one of the toya owners spoke to his friends in quite a loud voice, "the news seems to be true."
"What news?" his friend asked. "Xu Louzhu's daughters weren't all dead three years ago, killed by Yumen descendants?"
"Three years ago there was still one daughter of Xu Louzhu who escaped death," said another, "Xu Qiao, Xu Wuguniang, the youngest daughter, reportedly was not in place when her family was massacred."
"It is said that young Xu Guniang was kidnapped some time ago by Hua Jinshui, the illegitimate son of demon Wu Youwei, and Xu Furen had to ask the people of Jianyin Bang to find her," the first man said again. "But it's a shame, this Xu Guniang was killed by Hua Jinshui and didn't get a proper burial."
His words were heard by Jinshui and the others, instantly making Xu Qiao speechless. She was still alive. The rumor that she was dead was no big deal, but rumors that she was killed by Jinshui were shocking. She knew this news could have been spread by Bao Xinfei.
"What I've heard is a little different," a fourth person is heard saying in a lower voice. "It is said that after young Xu Guniang was taken by the demon head Hua Jinshui, she…," the man didn't say the word and he shook his head a couple times. "And then she had to be killed to end her suffering."
"How outrageous is that Hua Jinshui," the second person said. "The Xu family had been good friends with Liangtian Jian Shen's disciple and was clearly an enemy to Yumen Jiao. Even a young girl was not spared, Hua Jinshui is truly a demon head."
"What I heard is another story," one more man said, " Xu Guniang is still in Hua Jinshui's hands, only that she will be used in rituals that sacrifice human souls. You know the Yumen people have this kind of ritual, said to train inner energy and immunity."
Huang Yu was already clutching a few chess pieces, ready to finish those men to stop their chattering. Jinshui had also touched his sword's hilt, only he hadn't acted because he knew Xu Qiao wouldn't like to watch him slaughter people just because of a few words.
Liuxin and Yue Songdai stopped throwing water, Liuxin had also picked up the short blade tucked into her waist and was about to jump across the bridge. Yue Songdai hugged her waist, restraining her from making a fuss.
"The followers of Yumen sect are no different from a bunch of thugs," the last person heard said. "I heard the last time these Yumen descendants had also joined the Wansui Gu people. They will really bring catastrophe to the martial world. We cannot let this happen."
Yanzi had secretly summoned several poisonous snakes and a number of scorpions, but after hearing Wansui Gu's name was also mentioned, she canceled her plans to make her little friends attack the men. She could only harbor annoyance, then ran away. Liuxin also stepped in another direction, while Yue Songdai chase after her.
"Huang Erge, just let them go," Xu Qiao said to Huang Yu, asking him not to use secret weapons to kill anyone. Huang Yu followed Yanzi. He also needed to calm down.
The horsemen left the river bank a moment later, took their horses at the edge of the bridge, and looked at Jinshui and the others one more time before walking away. Jinshui stood on a boulder, the sword in his hand unsheathed. While Xu Qiao was walking some distance away, with her back to him, pretending to be collecting some twigs.
Xu Qiao didn't have time to stop when Jinshui jumped off the rock he was on, hovering over the horsemen's heads before they recognized the black engraved sword in his hand. The flash of the sword was only fleeting, the horsemen didn't even know what was happening.
"Go," Jinshui only said a word to them.
"Hua…." The horsemen were shocked and immediately thought they had been slain. However, they were all still alive, only their toya weapons had all been broken into pieces and fallen to the ground. They quickly realized, the flash of the xuanlong sword just now should have cut off their hands and feet, or even their necks.
Those people didn't say much anymore, then raced their horses as fast as they can, leaving behind all the pieces of their weapons.
"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao saw Jinshui jump back to where he was and put away the sword, she approached hesitantly.
"I should kill them all," Jinshui said to her. "They really had said inappropriate words."
Xu Qiao didn't answer, just kept it all in her memory. Those horsemen's words were all very influential on her, and also had a great impact on Jinshui. It really created tension between the two.
--
That day they went up the mountain and arrived at a place called Shenling Xuanya (Cliff of Deities), and Huang Yu took them to a monastery there, and met Xiaoshan and Xiaohu who were apparently waiting. The task that Huang Yu had given them back at Mangren Gong was to search for someone's whereabouts, and they'd already found the person.
The monastery had long since been abandoned by most of its inhabitants, and all that remained was an old monk named Shuangmu, and his disciple Yi Pengpian.
Jinshui and the others were allowed to spend the night in the monastery before continuing the next day. When the others had gone to rest, Huang Yu took Jinshui to meet the old monk and his disciple in the prayer room behind the temple with Xiaoshan and Xiaohu. As soon as the door closed, Yi Pengpian the monk immediately knelt down in front of Jinshui.
"Jinshui, this Yi Xiansheng is the previous head of Autumn Hall of our Yumen sect," Huang Yu told Jinshui, "thirteen years ago, before Yumen was destroyed, the position of head of the Autumn Hall had already been passed to Ye Xia (Night Swordsman) Ye Zhenggu, therefore no one knew Yi Pengpian's name."
"It was all my own fault," Yi Pengpian said. "I liked to drink and gamble. During the few years, I was given the position of head of the hall, my addiction got worse. I didn't do my job well, not the least bit of doing anything for our sect, instead, I often caused trouble and embarrassed Yumen's name."
"Yi Tangzhu," Jinshui quickly led him to stand up. "Apparently there is still one hall master alive. Our Yumen hasn't been destroyed yet."
"I'm just a former hall master," Yi Pengpian said. "Later when Yumen was destroyed, no one even looked for me, everyone thought I was no longer part of Yumen so unlike the other brothers, they let me live."
"Chailang Shifu knew this and he had met Yi Tangzhu before he was killed," Huang Yu told Jinshui again. "Yi Tangzhu have you done what Chailang Shifu asked you to do?"
"Of course," replied Yi Pengpian, "This Shuangmu Dashi also supports Chailang Weishen's wish for Yumen resurrection. During the past few years, he has helped gather a number of followers. Huang Gongzi can meet them in Chen-an City in due course."
"Yumen Jiao was created to protect the martial world from the cruelty of Liu Songqiao and his followers," said the monk Shuangmu. "Almost fifteen years ago laoseng accompanied Liangtian Jian Shen Zhang Zheliang, Zhang Shizhu, to Yumen headquarters. We were advising this Hua Shaoxia's father, Wu Jiaozhu, and he made it very clear."
"We really troubled Shuangmu Dashi and Yi Tangzhu," Jinshui said. "Jinshui thank you both very much."
"Laoseng is old now, my disciple Yi Pengpian here, in order to make amends for the past has also spent a lot of effort," the old monk said again. "Hua Shaoxia and Huang Gongzi want to restore Yumen Jiao's glory, our next step is not to interfere, we will spend our old days here praying and reading old scripts."
--
Jinshui and the others arrived in Yiling District a few days later. They found many people from various organizations in the martial worlds wandering around the forest and even in the Miao Tribe settlement. It seemed that the news about the Yumen descendants who will gather in Yongshi Bei had already spread, and invited the figures of the martial world to come there, some wanted to prevent the revival of Yumen Jiao, and some just wanted to see the crowd.
Huang Yu again arranged everything. He asked his servants Xiaoshan and Xiaohu to rent a famous inn on the outskirts of Yiling district called Yunshan Kezhan (Faded Cloud Inn). However, it turned out that the inn had already been rented by a merchant from the capital, and was even guarded by dozens of people.
When Huang Yu asked Xiaoshan and Xiaohu, the two girls answered in a whisper to him. Huang Yu smiled briefly and then took them all towards Baiguo Chun, a small village located on the slopes of a mountain. In that village, there was a complex of bamboo huts, and the owner was none other than Lao Li, the old servant of the Huang Family who left Luoyang when Hailang Biaoju was destroyed three years ago and settled in his home village.
The descendant of Ducao, Li Qian, along with Qin Liangjie and his wife Shangguan Ruyin, as well as Huang Yu's younger sister Huang Lian had arrived earlier, following the sign left by Huang Yu's servants. The four of them left Baitu Shanzhuang a few days after Jinshui and the others, heading straight for Yiling District as promised.
"Shijie," Huang Lian exclaimed happily when she saw Xu Qiao, immediately hugged her, and pulled her hand.
"Lian-er," Huang Yu called her, "I'm your brother," he reminded her.
"Of course, I know you were my brother," Huang Lian replied with a laugh, "but you're not shijie. I have a lot to tell shijie, you won't like hearing it." she pulled Xu Qiao away. "Shijie, erge turned out to be one of the eight descendants of Yumen Jiao, Qian-ge already told me."
They all just let the two girls go. Yanzi also walked over to Shangguan Ruyin and pulled her away, entering one of the huts to see Shangguan Ruyin and Qin Liangjie's baby son, Qin Yujiang.
"All the way here we saw the Jianyin Bang people, some followers of minor sects and some who disguised themselves as peasants or merchants," Li Qian told Huang Yu. "So far have not seen any members of the three alliances Haitang Jian Pai, Yongjun Hui, and Wuyuan Dian."
"I have seen many imperial soldiers," Qin Liangjie also reported. "It seems that the news that the descendants of Yumen will gather in Yiling District has already caught the attention of local officials."
"Not a local official," said Huang Yu. "If my guess is not wrong, the one who came was someone who wielded considerable military power." He glanced at Liuxin, making the little princess point at herself.
"My father?" she asked. "My father is far away in the capital, there is no way…" she realized something. "That's right," she said after, "my father was in Xiangyang."
"We don't need to worry," said Huang Yu. "Yi Wangye being in Yiling District is not necessarily a disadvantage to us."
"Jinshui, didn't you ask your friend up in the tree to come down here?" Li Qian suddenly asked. Someone had apparently been following Jinshui and the others, keeping a distance since the last meeting, but Jinshui had intentionally left a mark for him so he wouldn't lose track.
"Han Shaobangzhu, we don't have any secrets here, you may come down and drink some wine," Jinshui said, his voice was accompanied by a strong internal energy, instantly making Liuxin and Yue Songdai's ears hurt, even Qin Liangjie also covered his ears.
A shadowy figure flashed through the trees, lightly landing among those in the yard in front of the bamboo huts. Li Qian and Qin Liangjie still remembered Han Budian, the young bangzhu Jianyin Bang who also appeared in Bai Tu Shanzhuang some time ago.
"Han Shaobangzhu, the last time I remember, every time Jinshui spoke, you would draw a sword and make everyone try to prevent you from killing each other," Li Qian said, "I never imagined you two would drink together."
"Hua Jinshui, where's Xu Guniang?" Han Budian ignored him and questioned Jinshui.
"What are you looking for her for?" asked Jinshui.
"The people of the martial world have come to Yiling District, some say Xu Guniang has been killed by you," Han Budian said. "The news of her death has been confirmed by Huofeng Lou's side. If she's gone, I'll take revenge on you."
"You two," Huang Yu spoke before Jinshui said anything. "Xu Guniang is still fine. She can still make my younger sister not recognize me as her brother, how could she have been killed by Jinshui?"
Han Budian didn't answer, he was looking at everyone in the courtyard, one by one, except for his junior uncle Yue Songdai.
"Five here, three to go," he said.
"I'm here," someone's voice answered him. A moment later from among the trees, another shadowy figure floated up, skidding several times through the guardrail before setting foot in front of Han Budian. It was Lin Jixuan, the descendant of Xiezhang and the son of Lin Tongtian.
Another man also came, not feeling the need to show off any qinggong and walking casually into the courtyard through the front door. It was Li Jue, the one-armed brother of Li Qian. He did leave Bai Tu Shanzhuang with Lin Jixuan a while ago, and both headed for Haitang Jian Pai's headquarters in Wenhu District to find Huling's descendant Zhu Baique, and also to find Li Jue's wife Nan Xinglie.
"Lin-xiong, where is the descendant of Huling Shishu and Li Ergongzi's wife?" Huang Yu asked his friend.
"We have arrived at Wenhu for a few days, but there is no news of the whereabouts of the descendant of Huling Shibo or Nan Guniang," Lin Jixuan said. "We searched for them for several days all the way to the vicinity of Haitang Jian Pai's headquarters, but there was no track of them. I tried to catch one of Yuan Wancui's servants, and asked where the daughter of Zhu Zixing from Fuxing Daojian was, that servant said she died three years ago, and was killed by Hua Jinshui."
Jinshui didn't try to deny it. He remembered three years ago in Haitang Jian Pai, he killed nine of Yuan Wancui's elders. At that time Zhu Baique was also there and she was injured by Yuan Wancui.
"We've left a track there, if one of them finds it, they can definitely follow it all the way to Yiling District," continued Li Jue, his tone turning bland again and his zest for life that had returned when he heard the news about Nan Xinglie from Xu Qiao some time ago had disappeared again.
"Jinshui, my sister Xiaoyan told me that you were caught by my father," Lin Jixuan said again. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine," Jinshui didn't want to say much.
"We also met some of my father's followers on the way here," Lin Jixuan, "but not much, I guess they are just asked to measure the situation. The news that we Yumen descendants would gather was not enough to make my father break his habit of shutting himself off the world and practicing his beifeng qi every eight months."
"Of the three alliances that oppose the resurrection of Yumen the most was indeed Wuyuan Dian, which is the farthest away, will not rush to arrive here on the fifteenth day of this month," Li Qian said. "Wuyuan Dian for the past few years has also no longer been under the control of Lin Jixuan's father, I also heard that Lin Tongtian was recently assigned to guard the security of the country from the border tribes in the north."
"The Jianyin Bang people also came," Jinshui said, "don't know if Han Shaobangzhu brought them here."
"That's right, I was the one who sent word to our headquarters, asking for anyone of my brothers who can come here to come as soon as possible," said Han Budian. "Once you Yumen descendants kill carelessly and create chaos, we will fight you. Even if we can't eradicate you, it can at least serve as a warning."
"Wansui Gu's people seem to be coming too," Li Jue said, "Zhou Sangong's followers."
"We have Zhou Guniang here, they won't do anything to trouble us." Li Qian said.
"Yanzi is here too?" asked Lin Jixuan, trying to find the figure of the little poisoner.
"She's poisoning Qin Furen," replied Huang Yu.
Lin Jixuan ignored him and went to the hut to look for Yanzi. The two met and chased each other like two old friends who missed each other.
"Is there any sign of Yongjun Hui's people?" Li Qian asked Huang Yu.
"Yongjun Hui is in Nanyang, haven't seen any of their members yet but will likely come," said Huang Yu. "But I know the character of Huan Jiaozheng, the leader of the organization. Without first having the support of other parties, he would not dare to act on something. He might only send a few members to secretly observe the situation, then determine the most profitable step for himself."
"The only one we should worry about is Haitang Jian Pai," Jinshui said. "Some small sects or martial organizations nearby might attend as well but they will not give us enough trouble. After all, I informed Xu Furen of this meeting only a few days ago. It wouldn't give her enough chance to meet Yuan Wancui and gather supporters. I'm sure all of us here is still enough to deal with them."
"Liao Xian will be here soon, he can teach us how to use mojie chen to face the ladies of Haitang Jian Pai," said Huang Yu.