Jinshui tried to get up. The Liangshan demons were notoriously vicious, but even if Jinshui had to sacrifice his life he would not want to see them harm Xu Qiao, or any of his other friends.
Ma Yongtao still stood where he was, showing no signs of attacking, even holding back his brothers who were about to stand up and approach the entrance of the cave.
"Hua Jinshui, you lost," Ma Yongtao spoke. "You may bow down to me, maybe I'll consider letting go of one or two of them."
"That inner energy of yours, where did you get it?" Jinshui didn't respond to his offer, he asked suddenly, intending to buy more time. "You are young in age but have abilities similar to us, Yumen descendants. Are you also the same as us, getting that energy from decades of training from an elder of our Yumen Sect?"
"That's right," Ma Yongtao replied honestly. "There was indeed someone who had mastered a high-level energy, and gave it to me."
"Our jiaozhu furen, Gu Chenhui," Jinshui guessed.
"Yeah right, it was Gu Chenhui Enshi," replied Ma Yongtao. He called Gu Chenhui enshi, meaning kind master, with sincere respect.
"Tell me, what exactly happened," Jinshui requested, "you are telling me that our jiaozhu furen has become your master, what does that mean?"
"Your jiaozhu furen is my master," replied Ma Yongtao. "Thirteen years ago when Yumen Jiao's headquarters in Baiyu Shan was destroyed, she was captured by Huan Jiaozheng and brought to Yongjun Hui's headquarters in Nanyang City, becoming a special guest during her two years there. Huan Jiaozheng didn't dare to let her go, nor did he dare to kill her with his own hand. Huan Shaomenzhu, did your father ever tell you about this matter?"
He turned his head to Huan Chaoyu, the son of Huan Jiaozheng, who happened to be there too.
Huan Chaoyu shook his head. He didn't know his father's or his clan's personal affairs, and he never wanted to know either. His father was ambitious and hungry for power, while he was only a lazy young master.
"Eleven years ago, we Liangshan Liu Mo was invited by Huan Jiaozheng, and he later handed over your jiaozhu furen to us," Ma Yongtao continued. "She was already half paralyzed, her mind was also a bit disturbed. The original Mengpo then asked me to take care of her, also forbidding other members of Liangshan Liu Mo from getting any closer to her."
"My father has never had anything to do with the criminals," Huan Chaoyu said, "how could he invite Liangshan Liu Mo and hand over a Yumen prisoner?"
"Of course, it was because he wanted to borrow Liangshan Liu Mo's hand to kill Gu Chenhui," Zu Ye was the one to reply. "Back then in the martial world there was the rumor that the guardians of Yumen were still alive. That rumor made your father unable to sleep for nights, worried that some of them would come to him to collect old debts."
"If I'm not mistaken, that year, Ducao Li Chongxing even came to Yongjun Hui headquarters, killing the remaining of your twenty-four assassins," Fuchang Long continued, "Huan Jiaozheng didn't even have the chance to use Gu Chenhui's name as a means of protection, Ducao had already left."
"He didn't dare to use Gu Chenhui for his own benefit, and then decided to send her away," Li Baixun also said. "We Liangshan Liu Mo knew that he wanted Yumen Guardians to come to us, and we thought about killing Guo Chenhui once we leave Nanyang City. It's just that our dajie laoda doesn't like killing a person who can't fight back. It was our loss."
"Now that you say it like this, it's like saying that you Liangshan Liu Mo have helped our jiaozhu furen," Jinshui replied slowly.
"Our real dajie laoda was later killed by this woman," Fuchang Long answered. "I don't know how she escaped, then I saw her kill Mengpo and cut her body to pieces. After that, I saw her run screaming like a madwoman. I don't know what happened after that."
"I found her later, took care of her secretly, and gave her all kinds of medicine to calm her mind," Ma Yongtao said, "I was just a young boy back then, and she didn't know about my relationship with Liangshan Liu Mo, I didn't feel the need to tell her either."
He looked at Zhu Baique as he said these words, regret flashing in his eyes. Zhu Baique looked away, not wanting to hear whatever he had to say. Fuchang Long raised his index finger and looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't point at Ma Yongtao. Li Baixun looked irritated and Zu Ye shook his head once.
"Gradually, enshi's memory improved, her strength recovered, and she remembered everything that happened to Yumen Sect, as well as herself," Ma Yongtao continued. "She felt indebted to me, then was willing to take me as her disciple, even gave half of her inner energy to me, hoping that one day I would also be able to help Hua Jinshui revive the Yumen Sect."
He always addressed Gu Chenhui with respect, showing regret that he had to hide his identity as the second member of a group of demons in front of that old madam. Presumably, there was another story that was still unspoken, but even Zu Ye and his other two brothers didn't want to mention it.
"But instead you used this ability to harm Jinshui," Huang Yu said, "you'll somehow explain to your master later."
"Our laoer is the famous Liangshan Mojun in the martial world," Zu Ye spoke bitterly, "Hua Jinshui is nothing to him, and I don't think our laoer should join in on helping him revive his destroyed sect."
"About three years ago, when news of the Yumen descendants started circulating in the martial world, and enshi also wanted to find you," Ma Yongtao continued, "but, apart from Hua Jinshui as the descendant of Moying, she didn't know who else was chosen by the other guardians. She can only wait until all of you gather and introduce yourselves, only then she can meet you all and lead you back to Baiyu Shan."
"It was just that when that day came, jiaozhu furen instead discovered that her good disciple was the second member of Liangshan Liu Mo, had courted her for ten years to deceive her inner energy, even wanting to destroy the Yumen descendants so they wouldn't become a threat in the future," Zhu Baique said coldly.
"I already told her that I was Liangshan Liu Mo's second member for a long time," Ma Yongtao replied, "I was also the one who asked Zu Ye to teach the art of disguise so that enshi could assume the identity of our dajie laoda Mengpo, that way the martial world would not know that your jiaozhu furen is still alive."
He walked over to Zhu Baique, took her hand, and looked at her strangely. "Que-mei, up to this point, do you still not understand my heart?"
Zhu Baique withdrew her hand and slapped his face in anger.
"You see that now Jinshui was injured, Liao Xian and others were poisoned and almost lost their lives, even Qin Liangjie's son was killed," she snapped at him. "I am the only one who can still fight you. Your heart is clear, you want to avenge your father, and eliminate all of us for the glory of Liangshan Liu Mo."
"Ma Yongtao, what did you do?"
Those words sounded quite loud. Almost at the same time, a woman's shadow flashed very quickly, and a wooden stick smashed toward Ma Yongtao, sending him a few meters away. Ma Yongtao was only a little surprised, he actually could still dodge but instead, just let himself be hit.
Mengpo, the dajie laoda of Liangshan Liu Mo was there. Not the original, because the original Mengpo had died. The one who came and slammed into this Ma Yongtao was Gu Chenhui, the wife of the late Yumen Jiao leader who was also Ma Yongtao's master. Her dress and attire were still the same as when they met Jinshui and Huang Yu a few days ago at the ruined village near Qingxiang Zhuang, but her face had changed and was no longer that of an ugly old woman.
Fuchang Long stealthily hid himself behind Zu Ye and Li Baixun who looked alert and a little scared. Ma Yongtao tried to get up and smiled at Zhu Baique too, no one could guess the demon head's thoughts.
"Shifu," he bowed to Gu Chenhui.
Mengpo had left her false identity. Apart from her extraordinary beauty, she still retained the dignity of the wife of the Yumen leader, and the grace of the descendant of the great master of Baiyu Shan. Those who just found out about Mengpo's true identity can only stood in silence. Jinshui, Huang Yu, and the others felt their breaths had stopped.
"Laoer, she's the prisoner handed over by Huan Jiaozheng eleven years ago," Zu Ye pointed at Gu Chenhui. "Apparently you really did let her live and disguise her as our dajie laoda."
Zeng Baifeng had also arrived there, apparently coming with Gu Chenhui. He approached Jinshui and touched the young man's shoulder for a moment, transmitting enormous inner energy to Jinshui to speed up the work of the antidote. The pain in Jinshui's entire body had subsided in a moment.
"Shifu, Hua Jinshui, and the Yumen descendants are your own children to you, I actually also want to help them revive your sect," Ma Yongtao said, "it's just that the descendants don't have names yet. We Liangshan Liu Mo can't just follow them because it will tarnish decades of our reputation. I need to test them a little bit, just to make sure Hua Jinshui is worthy."
"Jinshui is my son," the old madam said proudly. "I was the one who asked Moying to find him years ago. I was the one who wanted him to return to the Yumen headquarters. I also have the duty to protect the other descendants, of course, helping them revive the sect according to my husband's will. Anyone who stands in the way of the Yumen descendants is my enemy."
Jinshui stared at her, not saying a word. He knew Gu Chenhui wasn't his birth mother. He did not know a lot regarding his birth parents, and right now various feelings were mixed together.
"Ma Yongtao, you saved my life, I should at least thank you too," Gu Chenhui said again. "But you dare to go out of bounds, trouble them all, I will punish you later."
"I know," Ma Yongtao said.
"Yeye!" Yanzi ran to Zeng Baifeng. "Please help Duan Meng, he...." she whispered the next word to his ear, "Jinshui Gege should not know that Qiao-er Jiejie...."
"Stay here, don't make a move for at least half an hour from now," Zeng Baifeng said to Jinshui. "I'll check Duan Meng."
Zeng Baifeng took a step into the cave, examined his loyal servant Duan Meng and only said three words, "will not die," then he mentioned the names of several medicines for those who had just escaped the danger of leiying hua poison.
"Mix all the ingredients together," he told Yanzi, "give them every eight hours to three times only, then they can fully recover. Regarding your Jinshui Gege, I'll take care of him later."
"But Yeye," Yanzi cried. "The medicine in our Wansui Gu has been destroyed. To get these medicines, we have to go to the nearest town to find a drug store and buy a lot of ingredients."
"You're so cranky," Zeng Baifeng grumbled. "Just go buy some then."
The old man then checked on Xu Qiao who was still in her unconscious state. He took two deep breaths, while Yanzi stared at him silently. Xu Qiao's condition was indeed hanging on a single thin thread. Some needles were already used to hold the girl's life, and there was nothing anyone could do for now.
Knowing even Zeng Baifeng didn't seem to be able to do much, Yanzi immediately felt anxious.
"Yeye, is she...."
"Her energy core was already damaged by the poison, just like Jinshui's. The difference is, Jinshui has the inner energy given by his master so that he can withstand it, but she doesn't. Just now if you didn't use the needle to restrain her life, by now she would be just a corpse."
"No," Yanzi held a scream. "She can't die, or even sick, otherwise Jinshui Gege might...."
Huang Yu followed them into the cave, hearing everything they said clearly. Xu Qiao's injury was the result of the secret weapon slipping from his hand. He felt a significant amount of guilt. Guilty of Jinshui, guilty of innocent Miss Xu, guilty of self. He certainly didn't expect the result to be like this.
"I know," Laofeng said. "Jinshui loved his girl more than anything, I will do my best to keep her alive."
"Yeah," Yanzi's face was pale, "there was only one antidote pill left just now. If I didn't tell Jinshui Gege that Qiao-er Jiejie was fine, he would have given it to Qiao-er Jiejie. It's not that I don't want Qiao-er Jiejie to live, it's just that…."
Zeng Baifeng paid her no heed, mentioning a few more medicinal names, this time being very careful. "Make them into ninety pills," he said to Yanzi after, "give it to her once a day for the next three months, do not forget even once. This way at least can hold her life for three months."
Yanzi stared in shock. "Yeye, are you saying that after three months, she...."
"In three months, I will try to find another way to extend her life again, or maybe there is a way to save her. Remember, you can't forget even once, if you miss even once, then the poison will start spreading, weakening her and affecting the five senses one by one. At the very least, she would be completely disabled and no one in this world would be able to save her."
Yanzi nodded weakly. "We shouldn't tell Jinshui Gege about this," she said, "Qiao-er Jiejie doesn't need to know everything either. Yeye, during these three months, you must find a way to save her."
Jinshui couldn't hear Zeng Baifeng and Yanzi talking, not knowing what happened to his girl. The last antidote pill he had swallowed started to work, his black blood returning to normal. It's just that this process would take a long time. He knew he won't be able to fight with anyone that day, but he couldn't have a real rest either.
"Ma Yongtao, you once promised me that you would not allow Liangshan Liu Mo to commit atrocities like before, but today you have poisoned a lot of people, helped the traitor of Wansui Gu to cause chaos, recklessly killed the innocent, you say how should I punish you?" Gu Chenhui was still scolding Ma Yongtao, allowing his disciple to kneel in front of her and receive several hits from her staff.
"I'm not the one who gave the poisons, I was just helping Menggui's daughter to make chaos in Wansui Gu," Ma Yongtao replied calmly. "Who knew that she actually had a grudge against Hua Jinshui and his friends, and she would not hesitate to injure and even kill people."
"What Menggui's daughter?" Gu Chenhui asked harsly.
"Qingyi," Liuxin was the one to give an answer, "she blames the descendants for the death of her mother. She killed Yue Dage, helped the rebellion in Wansui Gu, and I believe she was also the one who asked Zu Ye to poison Qin Gege and the others."
"That's right, she gave me those needles, how do I know she put some poisons in there," Zu Ye said, "I also just followed laoer's orders, played a little game with the Yumen descendants to see how much they were capable of that the entire martial world for these three years was so afraid of them, and forgetting us the demons of Liangshan."
Gu Chenhui stomped her staff in annoyance. Half of her inner energy had been given to Ma Yongtao, and her abilities were far less than during Yumen's heyday in the past. The only hope of controlling Zu Ye, Li Baixun, and Fuchang Long was through Ma Yongtao, but now she was also not sure that her good disciple will serve her wholeheartedly.
"You stay here, if you dare to stand up, I will break your legs," the madam said to Ma Yongtao. "I will beat the three of them first, and then deal with you." She pointed at Zu Ye, Li Baixun, and Fuchang Long.
"What a coincidence, I also want to avenge dajie laoda," Fuchang Long responded. He limped a little because Huang Yu's secret weapon just now had really cracked his leg bones.
"Laosan Wang Wei is gone, the three of us are injured." Zu Ye tried to hide his fear, "This fake dajie laoda is also not a low-level martial artist, fighting her now is tantamount to taking our life."
"Just a small wound, I'd recover enough," Li Baixun continued, he had already stood up and was holding his bow. "If this fake dajie laoda dares to beat us up, I don't believe our laoer will let her go."
Ma Yongtao remained kneeling where he was, while the others were still trying to recover, no one then stopped Gu Chenhui from going to the other side of the medicine garden. Fuchang Long had attacked first with his praying beads weapon, Li Baixun had aimed an arrow before joining in with a bow in his hand. Zu Ye didn't really want to fight, but he also took his short spear and followed his two brothers.
The fight was even because Wang Wei was gone and the three members of Liangshan Liu Mo were already hit by Huang Yu's secret weapon and Zhu Baique's punch. The three of them were highly skilled in martial arts, but Gu Chenhui was also the jiaozhu furen of the Yumen Jiao and the daughter of the great master Baiyu Shan, and she possessed good fighting techniques.