Ma Yongtao's statement was another shocking revelation. Among the six members of Liangshan Liu Mo, Mengpo wasn't the only one who was fake, the second member was also a replacement for the original one.
"What do you mean you took his place as Liangshan Mojun? You mean the real Liangshan Mojun is your father? You're just a fake one?" Jinshui asked, temporarily distracted by his leg problems.
"I'm definitely not the original one," Ma Yongtao smiled bitterly, "Liangshan Liu Mo had been messing with the martial world for twenty years, although almost half of us don't wander very far anymore. I am only twenty-five years old now. There is no way the notorious sadistic Liangshan Mojun, which people are so afraid of, was originally only a boy?"
"How did you replace your father?" asked Jinshui again. "Mengpo is fake, you are fake, what about Zu Ye and the others?"
"Wang Wei, Zu Ye, Li Baixun, and Fuchang Long are all middle-aged men, and they are the original ones. Wang Wei is a thief, Zu Ye is a master of disguise and a trickster, Li Baixun likes girls, Fuchang Long loves to intimidate priests and monks. My father, he was just like me. We don't like to kill but enjoy torturing people. The real Mengpo, is our good dajie laoda for sure."
He mentioned the word good for sarcasm. "I only had my father when I was born. I saw what he did, what his friends did, and I was used to evil things. My father treated me normally, never even hit me, but he taught me to become a copy of him. I saw him drive someone mad for the first time when I was still an infant."
Jinshui just listened. The pain in his legs and the resulting internal injuries were not felt because he was distracted. The bone healing medicine that Ma Yongtao gave him started to warm up a bit.
"You also know that Liangshan Liu Mo's various crimes cost us many enemies," Ma Yongtao continued. "About ten years ago, my father tricked two brothers surnamed Zhu to near death, caused them to grudge unbelievably, then enlisted the help of Banye Xiake Lin Tongtian to capture my father. At that time, six members of Liangshan Liu Mo were hunted down by Lin Tongtian. But you also know Lin Tongtian's signature habit."
"Banye Xiake will only hunt victims after sundown, and he would only hunt until midnight, and if after midnight the victim was still not caught or killed, then he will let go, just to continue again the next day," said Jinshui.
"At that time Liang Shan Lio Mo managed to escape, but each of them was seriously injured, apparently the two Zhu brothers used their opportunity," said Ma Yongtao. "They separated my father from the others, held him captive, and tortured him for days. You have seen his condition now."
"Yeah," Jinshui nodded once.
"My father couldn't speak clearly because his tongue was cut. One of his eyes was forcibly taken out. His internal injuries at that time made him unable to practice the ghostly palm perfectly. Even though the real Mengpo later managed to save him, he could not recover from his current state. Even worse, in the following year he was often possessed until he lost consciousness. Over time, he became like a madman."
"How were the brothers who injured him?" Jinshui asked. "The Zhu brothers. Fuxing Dao Jian Zhu Zifu and Zhu Zixing, Zhu Baique's uncle and father."
"They knew they couldn't escape when Mengpo and the others found them, then killed themselves because they knew enough about the consequences of hurting Liangshan Mojun." Ma Yongtao stood up, talking as if to himself. "But since my father's condition might affect Liangshan Liu Mo's reputation as a band of terrifying demons, I then volunteered to replace my father."
"They agree?" asked Jinshui.
"Mengpo agreed, the others can't help but accept it too," Ma Yongtao replied. "But at that time I was very young, of course, I knew that they underestimate me. In the same year, my father ran away from us, starting to live in this forest. No one cared about him, nor was I capable enough to bring him back to a normal life. Since then I have had to force myself to be a Liangshan Mojun's substitute. My father has taught me the ghostly palm since I was a child, and has also passed on all his martial techniques to me, at least the fake Liangshan Mojun can still deceive outsiders."
"But then the original Mengpo was killed by our jiaozhu furen," Jinshui said, "you let an enemy become Mengpo's replacement, was it for the sake of adding one more fake Liangshan Liu Mo member?"
"I know that enshi is a highly skilled martial figure. If I can master such great abilities, then the fake Liangshan Mojun can also become the real one. The original Mengpo had already died, so Liangshan Mojun as the second member should be the leader. At that time, enshi did not realize that I was the son of the original Liangshan Mojun. I took care of her for quite a while, until I was able to convince her to take me as her disciple. It could be said that I did trick her a bit into giving me half of her inner energy to me."
Jinshui looked at him. Ma Yongtao sat down again beside him, not really caring about his reaction.
"My martial ability multiplied, and I was easily able to outperform the other four remaining members of Liangshan Liu Mo and they no longer dared to underestimate me. After a while, I approached Zu Ye, and asked him to teach me how to make a disguise. You also know that Ci Xiong Yi Shen's disguise ability is unrivaled, and he is also very proud of that ability. I only praised him a little and he taught me everything. Of course, he didn't know, I then used this knowledge to disguise Gu Chenhui Enshi as the new Mengpo. I told her, it is better for her to live with this identity while waiting for Yumen descendants to appear."
Jinshui took a deep breath. If it was said that this Ma Yongtao was seeking enmity with jiaozhu furen, it was actually not so. Ma Yongtao did save Gu Chenhui, taking advantage of necessity, in order to maintain his position among the other Liangshan demons. Moreover, Ma Yongtao had protected jiaozhu furen well, respected her as his master and substitute for his parents, apparently also quite devoted to her.
"Your father lives in this place, you see him often?" he asked about Ma Yaolun again. "He seems really angry with you."
"I visit him regularly, but to no avail, instead I got punched and kicked just like you saw earlier." He showed some of the wounds on his broken arm. "He scolded me for being an unfilial son, telling me to take revenge but I never did."
"Zhu Baique," said Jinshui.
"I actually have no intention to interfere in the affairs of the older generation," Ma Yongtao said again. "Zhu Guniang's father harmed my father but already killed himself too. Zhu Guniang was innocent. During these years she has also experienced living alone, being an orphan, bullied by the mean girls in Haitang Jian Pai, one might say quite a pity. After all, it was my father who made her an orphan, I owe her."
Those words shouldn't come out of the mouth of a demon head like Ma Yongtao. As far as Jinshui knew, Liangshan Mojun's ruthlessness had not diminished for dozens of years, so real and fake were the same. But apparently, this fake Liangshan Mojun had his own regrets.
"My father's sadistic nature is in my blood, and maybe that is the reason why I have no mercy, maybe because I have been used to seeing evil since I was young," continued Ma Yongtao. "But I never really hate someone. I don't understand what revenge is. My father once ordered me to gain Zhu Guniang's trust first before taking revenge on her."
"You grew up with her, protected her, treated her nicely for nearly ten years," Jinshui remembers Zhu Baique's words.
"I met her for the first time ten years ago, not long after everything that happened to my father," said Ma Yongtao, "at that time I saw her often being bullied by Yuan Wancui's disciples, but she didn't fight much, secretly just accepted it. I also know that although she was Zhu Zixing's daughter, she was abandoned by her father. Maybe it was because of her poor fate that I felt sorry for her from the beginning."
"But you tricked her anyway," said Jinshui.
"My father kept asking me to take revenge on her, he said that just taking a knife and killing her would not be enough," Ma Yongtao's eyes turned strange. "All this time I've often tortured people, made them hate me. I want to understand what it feels like to hate, only then can I use it on Zhu Guniang."
"And you did," Jinshui's voice slightly trembled.
"I've seen her several times over the past ten years, but actually we also don't talk much and have never really been together," Ma Yongtao continued. "I kept enough distance from her, at the same time making her believe that I was the one secretly protecting her. Regarding revenge, I actually don't have any clear intentions either. Until that day half a month ago, I went to see her, took her to meet other members of Liangshan Liu Mo, and also said that I want to marry her."
"Do you really want to take her as your wife?" Jinshui's tone was rather high.
"Apart from her, I won't marry any other woman," Ma Yongtao said with bloodshot eyes, apparently really holding back his feelings. "Just like you would only marry Xu Qiao."
--
Ma Yaolun broke Jinshui's leg, leaving him completely unable to walk for the next few days, and who knows how long it will take. But Jinshui's hands worked normally, once he freed his acupuncture points, he was able to practice his internal energy without much trouble.
There was not so much to do for someone who was unable to walk in a secluded valley. Ma Yongtao accompanied Jinshui faithfully. He helped him collect herbs and hunt for food. During these few days, his internal injuries had almost completely healed, all because of Jinshui too.
Ma Yongtao was cruel in nature and he was nicknamed the demon head, but he would pay off all the debt of gratitude. His admiration for Jinshui grew since he saw Jinshui fight so hard to save so many people in Wansui Gu.
Jinshui didn't talk much in the next few days, continuing to exercise his wuqing xue inner energy based on the manual he memorized. He didn't rest or sleep much, partly because he didn't want to think too much. He didn't want to think about his father's past and didn't want to think about Qingyi. Currently, his goal was to break through wuqing xue to the sixth level. Even though he knew reaching any level of inner energy wouldn't have any use to heal his leg, he didn't want to become a useless disabled.
Since Jinshui couldn't stand up let alone walk, he exercised his inner energy almost like a madman. The rocks in the small cave were often his targets, he almost destroyed the ceiling of the cave, and he and Ma Yongtao were almost buried inside. Since then, every time Jinshui started practicing Ma Yongtao would stay outside the cave, knowing there would be no use advising a healthy person who had just turned disabled.
That day Ma Yongtao made a pair of wooden sticks to help him walk, but Jinshui completely ignored them.
"How long do you want to stay like this?" the demon head was slightly offended. "Every day just training like this, will you ever walk again? I see sooner or later you will just bury yourself alive here."
Jinshui didn't answer. His arms stretched out, he let the energy move freely, increasing a little bit by the minute.
"Don't you still have Xu Guniang?" Ma Yongtao said again. "Do you forever not want to meet her, hiding in this place like a coward? Do you plan to spend your life here, practicing your manual until your head is broken and can't be used?"
Jinshui was still sitting in his place. His arms folded across his chest, rotating twice before he lowered them slowly. His eyes closed for a moment, the sound of his breath was absent.
"You also still have the task of reviving Yumen," Ma Yongtao continued, "My master has already told me about your birth parents. If your past is the obstacle to heading to the future, you will disappoint everyone, including me who is not counted as your friend. I guess if you keep on like this, then your father in the afterlife will have a reason not to like you at all."
Jinshui opened his eyes, looking at him with a strange look.
"I have mastered wuqing xue inner energy to the sixth level," he said, "although it was still far away from the highest level, but combined with the strength of the fake Mengpo that you have, should be enough to help him."
"What?" Ma Yongtao didn't understand what he meant. "Help who?"
"You said your father is not really crazy, it was only because of wrong practice that he became like that," Jinshui said. "He has become a mute person, of course, I can't reconnect his tongue. But we can still fix his brain. With my sixth level of wuqing xue and with your energy, I believe it's enough to knock him down for a while, then help him rearrange the disordered blood flow. If the blood flow to the brain is smooth, maybe his mind will be more normal."
"You...." Ma Yongtao was speechless.
"I'm not completely sure about this method, but I saw your father practicing his strange art for at least three days," Jinshui said. "He's not crazy, it's just that he practiced the energy using the wrong way. As long as you can overcome this one problem, the hatred and grudge in his heart can be slowly talked about."
Ma Yongtao had committed many crimes in his life and had never met anyone like Jinshui. He really didn't expect Jinshui not only didn't hold a grudge against the person who had harmed him but wanted to help. For the past few days, Jinshui had practiced his inner energy like a mad person for the sake of helping his father. Ma Yongtao was ruthless and despised human feelings, but it seemed that this time he was truly touched.
"Hua Jinshui, do you really... want to help my father?" he asked in a trembling voice.
"Helping him is the same as helping ourselves," Jinshui said calmly, "I also don't want to stay in this place forever being a useless person. We get out of this place, at any time we might encounter your father and end up in a pointless death. I think you've probably considered this possibility as well."
Ma Yongtao nodded his head, looked at Jinshui for a moment, then knelt in front of him. His admiration was beyond words, his gratitude evoked true loyalty. At this time, if he was asked to give his life for Jinshui, he would definitely be willing to die voluntarily.
"You truly deserve to be the son of Wu Youwei," he said sincerely, "deserve to be the future leader of the Yumen Jiao. Hua Jinshui, I will definitely help you wholeheartedly, supporting you and the other descendants to revive your sect."
"Don't talk sweetly yet," Jinshui said. "Everything is not necessarily going as expected. After all, I do it for Zhu Baique's sake also. I really hope that you don't hurt her anymore."
"No matter your reasons, no matter what the outcome will be, just having this intention is enough," Ma Yongtao said again. "Hua Jinshui, I think that I, Ma Yongtao, have really fallen for you."
Jinshui grabbed the two wooden sticks made by Ma Yongtao. He tried to get up using the stick, of course, it was not easy. He had been sitting on the cave floor for days and this was the first time he had attempted to stand up. The medicine that Ma Yongtao brought over the past few days worked very slowly, and the pain in both legs was still excruciating.
"I don't want to sit on other people's backs forever," Jinshui refused Ma Yongtao's help. "However, I must also learn to stand."
Ma Yongtao looked at him. "You want to go help my father now?" he asked.
"After dealing with your father, I can find a real cure for my feet and your hands too. Of course, have to go now."
"Then for now you can sit on my back first, later after clearing things with my father you can take time to learn to use this stick. We can go find the cure for your bone after. Hua Jinshui, I guess you still care enough about your body, not wanting it to be damaged permanently, right?"