Han Budian came to that place, and he went straight to Jinshui who was still sitting on the grass by the river while trying to recover himself. Xu Qiao rose to her feet seeing his arrival.
"Han Dage," she called, "it was you who bring Zhang Laoqianbei here."
"Yes," replied Han Budian, "Shifu and I received news from Jianyin Bang headquarters that taishifu was escorted to Wuzhang City by Xianjing Wang's guards a while ago. We rushed from Yiling District to Wuzhang City as soon as we can. We just arrived at the headquarters of Jianyin Bang and met taishifu (grand master, meaning Zhang Zheliang) when we saw the fireworks sign coming from this place. We know the sign is Yumen Jiao's. Once taishifu heard that the Yumen descendants might be here, he immediately wanted to see them."
"How's Zhong Bangzhu?" Xu Qiao asked. "He was injured by Xie Tianhu in Yiling District, is it okay for him after traveling so far to Wuzhang City?"
"Hua Jinshui did help him a little at that time, and then we also met the Lin Family members. Lin Guniang, Lin Tongtian's daughter, that day lent us a ship to be able to travel all the way here," Han Budian said, then turned to Jinshui. "Hua Jinshui, how did you could also be injured like this?"
"Xiaozi, do you need me to help you?" Zhang Zheliang asked Jinshui and Huang Yu. The two of them didn't give him any answer as they were still trying to deal with their own internal injuries. Lin Jixuan was also still trying to recover and help Yanzi at the same time. Yue Songdai had already disappeared, no one really paid attention to his whereabouts.
"Laoqianbei," Xu Qiao spoke to Zhang Zheliang. "Jinshui Gege is the descendant of the main guardian of Yumen, and he is also… also the son of the late Wu Youwei, Wu Jiaozhu. For him you are… you are…. He couldn't take your help."
Zhang Zheliang saw Jinshui's xuanlong sword, he naturally recognized the weapon. "I killed his father," he said quietly, his tone filled with deep regret. "It is unexpected for me too, to meet Wu Jiaozhu's son here."
"Taishifu, this young lady is Xu Qiao, Xu Guniang, the fifth daughter of Xu Louzhu of Huofeng Lou," Han Budian introduced Xu Qiao to Zhang Zheliang. "Her father is a good friend of my master."
"Xu Chenghai's daughter," replied Zhang Zheliang. "Your father didn't like Yumen, it can be said that there is enmity between Yumen and Huofeng Lou, how can you be with Wu Jiaozhu's son?"
"Jinshui Gege saved my life once," Xu Qiao replied silently, "I'm indebted to him."
"Ah, so it was just a debt of gratitude," said Zhang Zheliang, "You're with him for the sake of returning the favor, then that's fine."
Jinshui had had enough of controlling his internal injuries. He rose to his feet and directly faced Zhang Zheliang. The expression on his face was stiff, when he folded his hands and bowed to the old man, his face was clearly filled with various emotions.
"Wanbei Hua Jinshui, the son of the late Yumen Leader Wu Youwei, Wu Jiaozhu, greet Zhang Laoqianbei," he said in a muffled voice, "wanbei didn't know until a while ago that Laoqianbei is still alive, and unexpectedly met today."
"Wanbei Huang Yu, the son of the late leader of Hailang Biaoju, Huang Weiqun," Huang Yu stood up and greeted as well, "the descendant of Chailang."
"Wanbei Lin Jixuan," Lin Jixuan gave his greetings while remaining seated, aware of his own condition and not wanting to waste energy mentioning that his father was Lin Tongtian. "The descendant of Xiezhang."
"The sons of Huang Weiqun and Lin Tongtian have also been taken to become Yumen descendants," Zhang Zheliang said to the three. "To think that Yumen guardians took the sons of reputable families as their descendants, it's clear that it will bring great effect in the martial world."
"I believe Shuiyao Shishu already informed Laoqianbei, that thirteen years ago the guardians of Yumen received orders to find eight children, in order to revive the sect in the future," Jinshui said. "Wanbei doesn't dare hope that Laoqianbei will support us, only hope that Laoqianbei won't get in the way."
Zhang Zheliang stared at him sharply, noticing that Jinshui's words and demeanor were very similar to his father's Wu Youwei. He reached out, patted the young man's shoulder, and for a moment also felt the energy given by Moying in him. Huang Yu was alert, Chailang's energy was flowing again in his palm.
"I didn't know Wu Jiaozhu had a son, he never mentioned it to me," Zhang Zheliang said later. "Yumen's power had always been passed down to the eldest son of the leader, but Wu Jiaozhu's wife, Jiaozhu Furen Gu Chenhui could not have children because she secretly learned yunxia shen gong (the red cloud). I was worried about causing a second Liu Songqiao to bring chaos to the martial world, but it turned out that the guardians have already prepared everything."
"Zhang Laoqianbei also knew about Liu Songqiao," said Jinshui. "But why did you have to kill my father?"
Zhang Zheliang sighed. Wu Youwei's death brought him deep regret, he didn't know how to explain it to Jinshui. Time cannot be turned back, and the death of one person at that time had already caused a great disaster for the entire sect.
"I would not blame you if you want to avenge him," the old man said. "At that time I made a promise to fight with your father, actually there was no intention to kill him. We can even agree, whoever loses must resign from the martial world. I did hope to get your father to stop all his cruelty."
"My father didn't do anything," said Jinshui, His hands were clenched into fists with emotion, "What happened to Liu Family from Hunan province, it was because of someone else hatred toward our Yumen. That Liu family was massacred overnight, it was not my father's orders."
"Hua Jinshui, your father gave the order to kill, this is known to the whole world, on what basis do you say Yumen is innocent?" Han Budian asked in a higher tone.
"Xiaozi, the enmity between Yumen Jiao and other sects in the martial world cannot be explained in just one or two words," Zhang Zheliang quickly said. "I don't want to defend myself, but your father had also done many wrongs, Yumen in the past really did commit a lot of cruelty."
"Jinshui Gege, how about we find another place to talk things over?" Xu Qiao asked, grabbing Jinshui's hand to calm him down. "You are all injured now, you need to have someplace to recuperate."
Jinshui didn't answer immediately, but Xu Qiao's words definitely had an effect on him. A moment later he nodded his head, then took the girl's hand, and they were about to leave that place.
But they all had not yet left the side of that river, a shadowy figure suddenly floated closer, and stood right in front of them. It was a young woman in rough clothes, her hair disheveled and she had a strange grin on her face. Jinshui, Huang Yu, and Xu Qiao quickly recognized the woman as Xun Tianyi's daughter and Huang Zhe's lover, Xun Qianniu.
Xun Qianniu briefly showed a light purple cloth bundle, then immediately threw it at Jinshui and the others. Huang Yu recognized the color of the cloth, he went ahead to catch the package and opened it, finding a piece of pastry inside the cloth, just like the pastries that Lin Xiaoyan had given him when he was caught by Lin Tongtian a while ago.
"You are the ones who kidnap Lin Guniang?" he asked Xun Qianniu anxiously. "Where is that girl now?"
Xun Qianniu didn't answer, she just smirked and immediately turned around. Huang Yu flicked a chess piece, forcing the lunatic woman to fall to her knees on the ground. Huang Yu was worried about Lin Xiaoyan, and he didn't care about the presence of Han Budian and Zhang Zheliang there, he immediately rushed towards Xun Qianniu, grabbed her neck, and lifted her up, ready to break her bones in the most painful way.
"Tell me," Huang Yu said without holding back his anger.
Xun Qianniu laughed scornfully, unaffected by his actions in the least. "If… if I don't return in one piece soon, then… they'll destroy her," she said haltingly, her words more terrifying than Huang Yu's threat.
"Yu, let her go first." Lin Jixuan quickly said, his worrying about his little sister was no less than Huang Yu.
Huang Yu was forced to let go of the lunatic woman. "Xie Tianhu and Xun Tianyi, are they around here?" he asked her.
"And your brother," replied Xun Qianniu. "They want to meet the Yumen descendants and…" she pointed at Xu Qiao, laughing strangely, "and also Wu-er."
Wu-er (the fifth) was Xie Tianhu's special nickname for Xu Qiao because Xu Qiao was Xu Chenghai's fifth daughter. Jinshui last heard this call when Xie Tianhu caught Xu Qiao and nearly strangled her to death.
"Qiao-er, you don't have to come with us," Jinshui told her quickly. "Han Shaobangzhu, please take Xu Guniang first to Jianyin Bang headquarters."
"You really want to let me take her away from you?" Han Budian asked.
"I need to meet those two traitors, representing Qiao-er to avenge her family," said Jinshui, "also help Chailang's descendants to avenge his parents."
"Xie Tianhu was my disciple," said Zhang Zheliang, quickly leading them after Xun Qianniu. "I haven't slept in eight days to clean my sect, no one can get in the way."
--
They went to an unkempt ash shrine outside the city. The walls of the shrine were half destroyed, the dry grass was all around, and the coffins inside had been partially destroyed. It was a terrible place, even more, terrible after midnight and without the light sources.
Lin Jixuan and Yanzi were severely injured, they didn't come along and looked for another safer place to recuperate. Han Budian was forced to come along, unable to get Xu Qiao away from Jinshui. He also didn't want Jinshui and Huang Yu to work together to join forces to fight his grand master Zhang Zheliang.
The former sword god, although he had mastered a great martial ability, his situation was different now as he was very dependent on the medicine given by Li Taiyi and just now stated that he had stayed awake for eight full days.
Xun Qianniu had just stepped into the ash shrine and slipped behind the wall. Xiaoshan and Xiaohu quickly jumped up and were about to catch her, but in a moment some white smoke spread from behind that wall, instantly forcing them to cover their faces and jump back. Both of them felt nauseous and their eyes sting.
"You two stay here," Huang Yu said to them. He then stepped forward into the yard of the ash shrine, and there he saw several pieces of torn purple cloth hanging from a tree.
A human shadow flashed inside the ash shrine. Huang Yu immediately rushed there followed by Han Budian. Zhang Zheliang stood in the center of the courtyard, seemingly not wanting to fight anyone but his two traitor disciples Xie Tianhu and Xun Tianyi.
Jinshui took Xu Qiao's hand and stepped carefully, looked around, and listened with all his might, trying to find the whereabouts of another human around the ash shrine.
"Erdi," someone's voice was heard from inside the shrine, but it was just a voice without the one who spoke. Huang Yu instantly recognized the voice as the voice of his older brother Huang Zhe, and it directed to him
"Dage, just let Lin Guniang go," Huang Yu said to that voice.
"Lin Guniang happily followed me after she lent Han Budian and his master the ship belonging to her Lin Family," Huang Zhe said, "just now she also accompanied me here, willingly, and she didn't even listen to my master's request to persuade her possessed father well."
"Dage, Xie Tianhu is the man who killed our parents. Xun Tianyi was his accomplice," Huang Yu said again, not wanting to hear anything bad about Lin Xiaoyan. "You can not call him master."
"It was just a misunderstanding, master had explained everything to me," Huang Zhe said, "What's the problem then? We master and the student will become the number one in the martial world, revenge will not hinder us."
"You call the killer of our parents your master," Huang Yu said disgustedly. "There was no misunderstanding. I saw everything with my own eyes."
"Erdi, don't you remember, back when our father was still around, he only loved you and sanmei, didn't care about me," Huang Zhe's tone contained jealousy and hatred towards his brother. "Father taught you his wu xie xin fa, mother also gave you baihua chen. As for me, absolutely nothing."
"Only because of this, you devoted yourself to Xie Tianhu and Xun Tianyi?" Huang Yu asked.
"They both master high-level martial arts, and are even willing to teach me the notorious yin shou yang zhang," said Huang Zhe back. "This martial art was created by Liangtian Jian Shen Zhang Zheliang, even in this world, not many have witnessed its shrewdness. Perhaps, I will show it to you later."
A chess piece was shot, straight in the direction of the sound. Simultaneously Han Budian also attacked with the sword in his hand. The sound of wood breaking was heard, and a coffin lid was shattered. Huang Yu and Han Budian didn't waste time and quickly rushed to where the voice came from, not intending to let Huang Zhe escape again.
A shadow flashed quickly, along with some kind of object was also thrown at Huang Yu, immediately startling him because the object appeared to be a severed human hand. Huang Yu had thought it was a girl's hand, but it turned out to be nothing more than a bone from an old corpse.
He was being careful, together with Han Budian chased into the interior of the ash shrine, and had seen once again Huang Zhe's figure sneaking through the darkness, but the two of them could not catch on. Huang Zhe seems to have been familiar with this place and he could easily confuse the two.
A sound of some kind of loud bang suddenly rang out, and the roof of the ash shrine shattered because of some kind of tremendous force. Zhang Zheliang seemed to float up, Jinshui's xuanlong sword was in his hand. Just now, he who had put forth his strength, destroyed the roof of the shrine using that xuanlong sword. He intended to find out if Xie Tianhu and Xun Tianyi were hiding inside.
However, as the ruins of the roof subsided, all that could be seen was only a glimpse of a man's shadow sneaking through the back, leaving behind quite a loud laugh. Zhang Zheliang didn't want to go after a young man. It was only Han Budian and Huang Yu who chase the shadow.
"This xuanlong sword is indeed an incredible weapon." Zhang Zheliang had landed again in the yard, returning the xuanlong sword to Jinshui. "Don't let it fall into the wrong hands, ever."
Jinshui received his sword back, nodding his head once. Just now he had witnessed Zhang Zheliang's strength himself. If he wanted to match him, at least half of the descendants had to join using the mojie chen taught by Liao Xian.
"Xie Tianhu and Xun Tianyi are not here," said Zhang Zheliang, "the lunatic woman had disappeared too, and there is no one else."
"They purposely lured us here," Jinshui said. "Laoqianbei, they used a tactic to lure the tiger down the mountain."
"Jianyin Bang," Zhang Zheliang quickly realized what was happening, he immediately turned around and sped away. Jinshui followed with Xu Qiao, leaving Xiaoshan and Xiaohu who were still recovering in front of the ash shrine and didn't wait for Huang Yu and Han Budian to return.
Xun Qianniu used Lin Xiaoyan's possession to lure Jinshui and the others including Zhang Zheliang quite a distance out of the city. Even though they had high martial abilities and they could run fast, they still needed a little time to return to the earlier riverside, entered the city, and head for the Jianyin Bang headquarters.
Several townspeople were seen running through the streets, one person dropping the lantern he was carrying. Two men entered their house and immediately closed the door tightly. A middle-aged woman pulled two small children followed by a young man carrying a bamboo stick, repeatedly looking back and trying to brace himself. They were the locals who live around Jianyin Bang's headquarters, apparently waking up when they heard a commotion, then saw what was happening before they tried to save themselves.
Jianyin Bang's headquarters was deserted. Some blood was still dripping above its main gate, and it was human blood. The signboard had fallen and was torn in half. Corpses of party members were seen all around the yard, most of whom died in horrific conditions. Fresh blood was everywhere, the path leading to the main building was destroyed, and the fire even started to burn part of the building. The situation was really devastating.
Zhang Zheliang stepped in half-floated, gasping for air at his surroundings. Jinshui followed Xu Qiao, and covered her eyes so that she didn't to have to witness the rest of the massacre.
This condition reminded Zhang Zheliang of the incident over thirteen years ago with the Liu Family of Hunan who was said to be killed by members of Yumen Jiao. Fifty-nine members of the family were killed at that time and he was unable to prevent it. This time there was a similar murder, with a different perpetrator. More souls were taken, and again, he was too late.
Jinshui examined one of the corpses nearby, and found the member of the Jianyin Bang dead with broken ribs. The death was not long but the body had lost its warmth already. It was a typical sign of death.
"Beifeng qi," Jinshui said. "They were killed by Lin Tongtian."
"Not Xie-shu and Xun Tianyi?" Xu Qiao asked. "Why did Lin Dabo kill them? Since when did he have enmity with Jianyin Bang?"
"Lin Tongtian never killed anyone after midnight, normally he had to wait until the sky was dark the next day before continuing his work," Zhang Zheliang said. "If he did all this, tonight, then there were only two possible causes. The first was that he was already in too much of a trance and didn't realize his own actions, the second was because someone forced him to do so."
"Xie Tianhu used Lin Guniang to force Lin Tongtian to carry out a massacre," Jinshui said. He examined another bodies, and found the same injuries. While the third body had bruises on the neck, and died with a broken collarbone.
Zhang Zheliang saw the body of a young woman who was still intact not far from his feet, he felt strange because he remembered that there was never a female member in Jianyin Bang. He approached the corpse, trying to identify its identity because it was possible that she was one of the perpetrators of the massacre.
However, this old man has already gone through eight days without even a moment of sleep, his vigilance was slightly reduced, did not expect what happened next.
The woman's corpse suddenly moved, exhaling a strange kind of air at Zhang Zheliang, not giving the old man the slightest chance to dodge. For a moment the old man forced to desperately maintain his consciousness, knocking his own blood path to block the poison's from spreading into his respiration system.
"Laoqianbei!" shouted Jinshui.