Jinshui, Huang Yu, Li Qian, Li Jue, Qin Liangjie, and Lin Jixuan were assisted by Yue Songdai and Han Budian to make two new huts in Laoli's place during that day because the existing huts were not enough for everyone.
Xu Qiao, Huang Lian, Shangguan Ruyin, and even Liuxin and Yanzi spent the day cooking meals for everyone, as well as making various kinds of snacks. For a while, everyone really didn't think about what would happen on the fifteenth. For a while also no one remembered that there were six of the eight Yumen descendants who will resurrect a heretic sect and must face opposition from various parties.
Xu Qiao had not spoken much to Jinshui since the meeting with Bao Xinfei, even at this Baiguo Chun, she kept avoiding Jinshui, spending time with Huang Lian and the girls more. Even though the situation was calm and they didn't have to worry about meeting the enemy there, her face looked pale and wistful.
Yanzi found out that Xu Qiao was not feeling well and immediately informed Jinshui. Jinshui pulled her into the wooden hut he had just made, channeling some pure energy to Xu Qiao to make her feel better.
"Qiao-er, that day Xu Furen had severed her own arm and you took care of her all night, did she say anything that troubled you?" Jinshui asked gently to her after.
"Erniang didn't talk much that day," Xu Qiao said, "but her silence made me feel very uneasy. Jinshui Gege, until now I haven't had the chance to repay you, I don't think there will ever be a chance either. You master a high-leveled martial art, now you are also Yumen Jiaozhu. There's really nothing I can do."
Jinshui let her rest on his shoulder, holding her hands as he leaned against the wall of the hut. His hut only had one wall, the other three parts are open and faced a fish pond, where dozens of goldfish swimming there. Across the pond, the other descendants were sitting around a fireplace, roasting meat and heating wine.
"Jinshui Gege, on the fifteenth, are you really going to announce the identities of Yumen descendants to the entire martial world?" Xu Qiao asked. "What do you think will happen after? Right now there are so many people who want to kill you. After the fifteenth, there will be more."
"I know a lot of people hate Yumen and want to eliminate us, the eight descendants," Jinshui said. "I really hope I can change their views. Maybe not now, maybe not in a year or two, but ten or twenty years from now. We have a purpose, and I will continue what we have started."
"We actually feel calm and peaceful in this place," Xu Qiao said. "I've always liked living in a simple hut like this, accompanied by you, being able to watch our friends talking and eating and drinking together."
"Someday I'll make a place like this for you," promised Jinshui, "of course, our hut will have four walls. I would also love to spend my old days with you in a place like this."
"Jinshui Gege, do I really have to become your jiaozhu furen?" Xu Qiao suddenly asked.
"What do you mean?" Jinshui asked her back, "don't you want me to marry you?"
"No, it's not like that," replied Xu Qiao quickly, she sat in front of him. "I can be your wife, but I don't want to be called jiaozhu furen. Maybe, you can hide me somewhere, see me when you want, just for everything related to Yumen sect, I don't want to be part of it."
Jinshui gave her a warm hug. "Sure," he said, "our Yumen doesn't have any rules stating that the wife of the jiaozhu must take part in the sect affairs."
"Is there a Yumen rule that allows the jiaozhu to marry more than one woman?" Xu Qiao asked quietly. "If I'm not mistaken, I've heard that your leader from several generations ago had three or four wives each."
"The leader of the previous two generations only had one wife each," replied Jinshui. "I can promise you, I will only have you as my wife."
The sound of someone playing flute was heard from a distance, slowly getting closer. Jinshui and the others were all listening, some wary. Xu Qiao hold Jinshui's hand, for a while worrying that the one coming was someone from Haitang Jian Pai.
Three years ago, Xuehua Zhishou Bao Xinfei also used a musical instrument when she came to meet Jinshui and pick up Xu Qiao in order to take her back to Huofeng Lou. Playing music was one of the special abilities of Haitang Jian Pai's disciples. However, Bao Xinfei had already lost an arm and she shouldn't still be able to play music like that.
However this Baiguo Chun was a small village on the mountainside, it was unlikely that the Haitang Jian Pai ladies would come here all alone. The meeting on the fifteenth day of the eighth month would be for tomorrow, Yuan Wancui should not be so impatient enough to storm a village even though she had a deep hatred for the Yumen descendants.
The sound of the flute was not only getting closer but also getting sharper and there was strong inner energy underlying it. The sound was attacking Jinshui and his friends. Huang Yu and Li Qian both strained their ears and tried to find the source, but the sound seemed to be heard from all directions, bouncing between the mountain cliffs.
Yanzi's ears started to hurt. She whistled for the small poisonous animals that were around, but no one came, making her panic a little. Lin Jixuan calmed her down, giving her a bit of pure energy in order to overcome the sound waves.
Liuxin, Yue Songdai, and Shangguan Ruyin also felt their ears hurt. The inner energy accompanying the sound of the flute was shrewd. The flute was clearly played by someone well-trained and knew exactly how to insert the inner energy in it to injure others. Shangguan Ruyin was still trying to cover her baby's ears, Qin Liangjie helped them with the energy given by his master Menggui. Li Qian helped Li Jue and Huang Lian, the others were trying to survive on their own.
"Zhu Guniang, is that you?" Jinshui suddenly shouted, he recognized the tone of the flute played was the tone of bayinxiao, the eight-note flute, belonging to the descendant of Huling, Zhu Baique. "Everyone here is your own, come out now and meet us."
The sound of the flute was still audible, and the wave of energy it carried did not diminish either. Jinshui handed Xu Qiao to Huang Yu, and grabbed his sword before jumping into the trees and disappearing into the darkness. The sound of the flute for a moment then turned intermittent, the faint sound of two people fighting among the trees was heard. After a while, the sound of the flute completely disappeared.
Those who were there didn't have to cover their ears anymore, but they were still alerted. Huang Yu was about to catch up when they all saw Jinshui float over the guardrail, landing on the grounds a second later. A female figure wearing all pure white clothes followed him, and met the others.
A long bamboo flute was held in Jinshui's hand. He snatched it from the woman, apparently. The flute was a weapon familiar to Huang Yu and the other Yumen descendants who were there. They also quickly recognized the woman in white as the owner of bayinxiao flute and the descendant of Huling, Zhu Baique.
"Zhu Guniang, why did you attack us with the sound of the flute?" Lin Jixuan directly asked Zhu Baique. "Do you want to take revenge on me Lin Jixuan for throwing you into the water a few years ago?"
"Someone is following me," Zhu Baique replied in a low voice, secretly gesturing for all of them to be careful. "They know I can find Yumen descendants by following the signs you left from Wenhu District."
Jinshui returned the bamboo flute to her, the xuanlong sword in his hand was already drawn and threatened Zhu Baique's neck. However Huang Yu and the others could see that Jinshui still had a faith in the Huling's descendant quite a bit, he was not really threatening her life, just being cautious while waiting for her explanation.
"Hua Dage appeared around Haitang Jian Pai's headquarters three years ago and at that time I thought the time had come for the descendants of Yumen to gather," Zhu Baique spoke in a low voice, "nine Haitang Jian Pai elders were killed, Hua Dage disappeared, and I myself was seriously injured by Yuan Zhangmen. I thought, I would be caught or I could be killed."
Her words matched the incident three years ago when Jinshui left her to save Xu Qiao. No one knew what happened to Zhu Baique after that. Lin Jixuan also didn't manage to find her whereabouts when looking for her a few days ago.
"I was rescued by a woman, taken to a hut at the foot of the hill, and nursed back to health," Zhu Baique continued, still in a low voice, "but soon we were caught by the Haitang Jian Pai people, locked up in the basement. The woman who was with me was apparently a new disciple of Haitang Jian Pai. She was brought in by Xuehua Zhishou Bao Xinfei only a few days prior."
"She was brought in by Bao Xinfei?" her words immediately induced a specific reaction to Li Jue, Li Qian's one-armed brother. Xu Qiao told him that three years ago Bao Xinfei brought a woman to Haitang Jian Pai to be entrusted as a new disciple. "That woman is surnamed Nan, named Nan Xinglie?" Li Jue asked.
"Yes," Zhu Baique answered. "At the time of the ceremonial of a new disciple of Haitang Jian Pai, the rules of the sect were always read, and the third very important rule was not to commit adultery. Nan Guniang had already been appointed as Yuan Zhangmen's fifteenth disciple, but it was found out that she was already pregnant."
"What did you say?" Li Jue asked in shock.
"A Jue, you and Nan Guniang are married?" Li Qian asked his brother.
"The child is mine," Li Jue replied weakly. "Where's Nan Guniang now?" he asked Zhu Baique in a trembling voice.
"Nan Guniang and her daughter were in the hands of Yuan Zhangmen, for three years they were imprisoned because they were considered sinful disciples," said Zhu Baique, "and also because they were considered to have protected a Yumen descendant."
"And then how did you escape?" Liuxin asked, staring at Zhu Baique in disbelief. Zhu Baique attacked them with the sound of the flute after all.
"I didn't," replied Zhu Baique in her regular tone. "Yuan Zhangmen told me, Yumen descendants will gather in Yiling District on the fifteenth of the eighth month. She sent me to come to you, and help her to catch you all."
"What did you say?" Huang Yu asked in shock. "You used the energy given by Huling Shishu just now, playing bayinxiao attacking us, all for this purpose?"
"Zhu Guniang, but why do you tell us this all now?" asked Li Qian, slightly calmer.
"I trust you all, I hope you can trust in me as well." Zhu Baique said. "Nan Guniang saved my life once, I owed her. She and her daughter are still in Yuan Zhangmen's hands now. Yuan Zhangmen said, if I can catch the other Yumen descendants, she can forgive Nan Guniang for breaking the rules of the sect."
"She lied," Li Jue said in a high tone. Only now did he understand why at Bai Tu Shanzhuang, Yuan Wancui's disciples reacted condescendingly when he asked about Nan Xinglie. "Xinglie and I love each other, and she was already pregnant before being brought to Haitang Jian Pai. I don't think she even wanted to become Yuan Wancui's disciple. What kind of rule was breaking here?"
"A Jue," Li Qian calmed his brother. "Zhu Guniang, I believe you already have a plan before coming to us. Can you say it now?"
"Yuan Zhangmen asked me to capture Yumen descendants, so I must bring at least someone to see her in exchange for Nan Guniang and her daughter," Zhu Baique said. "But Yuan Zhangmen doesn't know the identity of you all. Then the one I brought to see her is not necessarily the real Yumen descendant."
Jinshui lowered his sword. Yuan Wancui again used cunning methods to deal with the Yumen descendants. The leader of Haitang Jian Pai disgusted him. But he listened to Zhu Baique's plan, he didn't immediately give an answer.
"Dage," Li Jue said to his brother, "we have to help Xinglie and our daughter."
"I know," Li Qian said back. "Jinshui, do you think we should see that Yuan Zhangmen and ask her nicely?"
"We will ask her to release hostages," replied Jinshui, "but I don't think she'd like to be asked nicely."
"Yuan Wancui ordered Zhu Guniang to arrest us Yumen descendants who have gathered here," Huang Yu said calmly, "Just now Zhu Guniang used bayinxiao to attack us, Yuan Wancui's messenger already knew this because just now Zhu Guniang said someone was following her."
"I didn't hear anyone else's voice out there," Lin Jixuan said. "If someone watches us closely enough, there's no way he or she can escape our sensitive hearing. After all, we have the inner energy given by Yumen's guardians."
"That person must keep a distance," said Yanzi, "meaning she cannot see or hear us directly, and she can only wait for Zhu Guniang's report."
"I can tell them, I used bayinxiao's to test if anyone here had stronger inner energy," Zhu Baique said. "All this time I told the people of Haitang Jian Pai, your identity is only known to the descendant of Chailang. Yuan Zhangmen knew that the primary descendant was Hua Dage, but didn't even know who was the descendant of Chailang Shibo."
"Zhu Guniang, you don't plan to hurt Jinshui Gege and take him to Yuan Zhangmen, do you?" asked Xu Qiao.
"I believe the guardians did choose their descendants well," said Zhu Baique. "You all know how to handle this situation and solve the problem without anyone dying."
"Yes, after all, you are also the descendant of Huling Shishu. How about today you are here to convince all of us here that you still have loyalty to Yumen," Huang Yu said calmly. He then took a jug of wine and sat by the fire. "Han Shaobangzhu, you are not one of us, you have nothing to do with any of this. If you want to go, I won't get in the way." He said to Han Budian, then just drink casually.
"Do you plan to surender to Yuan Zhangmen?" Han Budian asked him.
"What choice do we have?" asked Huang Yu. "Yuan Zhangmen kept the wife of one of our own as her prisoner. At least, one of us here must be brought to her as an exchange."
"Just take me," Li Jue spoke quickly.
"You are not Yumen descendant," Li Qian said, "Yuan Zhangmen saw you once in Baitu Shanzhuang and she wouldn't forget a one-armed young man who asked her of her disciple."
"We should all sit and drink, and enjoy the food here," Huang Yu said. "Another descendant had joined us, just now went to great lengths to test us to make sure all of us are our own. Of course, we all have to drink and celebrate this gathering, telling stories to each other and dispelling any suspicions."
Only Lin Jixuan and Yanzi sat down, the others all remained standing and watching Zhu Baique in disbelief.
"Lin Jixuan, if I'm not mistaken, there are several minor sect followers wandering around a nearby village," Huang Yu said to him, "maybe you can catch one or two disciples to be handed over to Yuan Zhangmen later."
"I knew you wouldn't stay here drinking wine," Lin Jixuan replied with a laugh. "Is anyone willing to help me catch a prey?" he asked.
"I can come with you," Yue Songdai offered.
The two of them then left the others to catch some substitutes. Huang Yu heated a wine jar, then gave it to Zhu Baique and asked her to pour it for Jinshui. They did understand what he had in mind and played the role well.
"Yu, we cannot just catch random people to be handed to Yuan Zhangmen, she will not believe it," Li Qian said. "There must be at least one real descendant to be handed to her, someone to help Baique free Nan Guniang in time."
"I'll go," said Jinshui. "Yuan Wancui wanted me the most."
"She hates you so much, knows what you are capable of, definitely will cut you in half instantly," said Huang Yu. "No, not you. Zhu Guniang can still tell her that you had escaped."
"One of us is not here yet," Qin Liangjie said. "Zhu Guniang doesn't have to bring seven persons to Yuan Wancui."
"I can do it," Li Qian said. "Yuan Zhangmen already suspected me as the descendant of Ducao Shifu, she will be glad to have me."
"Qian-ge," Huang Lian protested. "How do we know she will not kill you at sight?"
"She won't," said Li Qian, "she specifically asked Zhu Guniang to find all of us here the day before the fifteenth. Except for Jinshui who is known as the son of our late leader, she doesn't have enough grudge against us. She will try to reveal our identities tomorrow, saying that Haitang Jian Pai has the ability to capture all Yumen descendants, and she will also use us to force Jinshui to appear."
"I will indeed reveal myself at the meeting tomorrow," Jinshui said. "I know how to deal with that Yuan Wancui."
"Zhu Jiejie can also take me along," Liuxin said, "I don't have the energy of Yumen guardian, but am also one of you. I am the daughter of Xianjing Wang, meaning that Yuan Zhangmen won't do anything to me. The worse that might happen, she would send me back to the capital."
"You don't have to go," Jinshui said, "Li Qian can take care of himself. If you're captured too, we have to spare the energy to save you."
"Jinshui, taking Liuxin Meimei to Yuan Zhangmen might turn as our advantage," Huang Yu said. "Li Qian, Liuxin Meimei, sorry to trouble you for a while."
Li Jue knelt to his brother, as well as to those who were there. "All of you are willing to sacrifice yourself to save my wife and child, Li Jue is very grateful," he said.
"A Jue, I am your brother, I have my part too," Li Qian said to him. "Jinshui and Huang Yu have a plan, I will bring dimei and my niece to you soon."
They were enjoying the food and wine for the next hour, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Huang Yu pretended to be drunk, then asked Qin Liangjie to take Shangguan Ruyin and the baby away, as well as Huang Lian, Yanzi, Li Jue, Xiaohu, Xiaoshan, and the owner of the huts Laoli, disguised as villagers so that no one would disturb them.
When Lin Jixuan and Yue Songdai returned, they brought two persons who were already unconscious and wrapped in sacks. The two were dragged and taken into one of the huts. Lin Jixuan then pulled Yue Songdai to slip away. Huang Yu left after, followed by Han Budian. Li Qian and Liuxin pretended to be unconscious from the drug that Zhu Baique slipped on their drinks.
"Zhu Guniang, I'm sorry I have to do this," Jinshui had said to Zhu Baique before leaving, one hand hit the shoulder of the descendant of Huling, causing her to vomit blood. Zhu Baique didn't try to resist it.
"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao protested.
"You can tell Yuan Wancui, Hua Jinshui already knew of your betrayal, and almost took your life," Jinshui said to Zhu Baique. "If it wasn't I'm now in the poisoned state, I wouldn't have let you get away with this."
"I know," replied Zhu Baique. Jinshui's words would help her convince Yuan Wancui that she had only managed to capture four of the Yumen descendants, and could not prevent the rest from escaping.