Since half a century ago, not many people had seen the great master Baiyu Shan appear in public. Some say that she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, some say she was a person with a facial defect. No one had enough ability to prove which one was right because this Dashanzhu always spent her time inside the stone building where she lived. Since her husband died, she hardly ever steps out.
The name of this great master had also begun to be forgotten by martial world. The story of Wuyan Guniang as a demoness but also the lover of a great warrior had not been mentioned about for a long time. Since the incident on Horizon Island, people had believed this female figure had died. Furthermore, only the story of her reputation in the past and the mystery of her true appearance remain.
The eight descendants met her that day, brought in by an old blind servant. The stone building where the great master reside was quite spacious. Eight chairs had been provided, and the front part of the building was only lit by two dim lanterns. The door to the room was left open, and the light from outside was quite helpful.
Jinshui and the others' attention was immediately drawn to the thin black curtain that separated the room they were in from the other part in that building. There was no lighting behind the black curtain. The servant headed there alone, reporting to her master in a barely audible voice.
"Dashanzhu, they are all here."
Yunian sat behind the black curtain there, her face hidden in the darkness. In a place with limited lighting, the only one that could clearly see was Liao Xian, who had been adapted to the darkness at Blind Palace for life, but he also couldn't capture the figure image behind the black curtain.
"You may sit," came a woman's voice. It was not the voice of a girl, nor the voice of an old woman. It was simply the voice of a grown-up mature woman, and her tone was calm and melodious to the ear.
Jinshui and the others immediately obeyed her words and took their seats.
"My name is Yunian, and I believe my daughter already told you that I am the owner of this place," the woman's voice sounded again.
Jinshui and the others silently listened. They felt a bit strange. Yunian was Gu Chenhui's mother, and she should be a generation older than Gu Chenhui, but the figure that met them in this room didn't sound the least bit old. Gu Chenhui's mother sounded even younger than Gu Chenhui.
"Can you tell me your name?" the voice spoke again.
Jinshui stood up, answering her question. "Wanbei Hua Jinshui," he introduced himself briefly. "The descendant of Moying."
"Wanbei Huang Yu," Huang Yu continued, and he also stood up. "The descendant of Chailang."
The rest also introduced their names and predecessors.
"The Yumen guardians did their job well, finding talented youths to become their descendants," Yunian said calmly, she didn't show any emotion when mentioning the guardians. "Well, I hope you will sit down for a while, and listen to a story."
They all sat back down, except for Lin Jixuan.
"Qianbei, are you really the Yunian Qianbei we are looking for?" he asked matter-of-factly. It was his nature for this son of the Lin Family, to not harbor hesitations in his heart. "Isn't Yunian Qianbei the mother of our jiaozhu furen? Jiaozhu furen is almost as old as my father, shouldn't you be the same age as my grandmother?"
"You mean I don't sound like an old lady, do I?" Yunian asked in a calm manner.
"Doesn't look like an elder either," Lin Jixuan replied.
"Regarding this, I can't explain much," Yunian seemed to stand up, stepped out from the darkest part of the room, and revealed her figure under the dim reach of the lantern light. It was not the figure of an old woman that was seen, but a tall, slender woman. "This is also my deepest regret," she continued in a low voice.
Lin Jixuan was greatly affected by her words. "Dashanzhu, shouldn't I ask?" there was an uneasy feeling to his tone. Then he backed off and sat down in the space provided.
"Whether you ask or not, I think in your minds you all also doubt whether I'm really the person you're looking for," Yunian returned to the dark part of the room behind the curtain and sat there. "But after you all listened to what I'm about to tell you, I don't think it matters anymore whether I am Yunian or not."
"We listen," said Jinshui shortly.
"The ninth generation of Yumen leader was named Wu Minghao (this name can mean someone without a good name)," Yunian began her narration, her voice was clear. "He took the position of Yumen leader in his father's stead. For reasons unknown, he did not remain in this jiaozhu position for very long, resigning when his then-young son Wu Youwei was not yet ready to be his successor. The reign of the Yumen at that time was passed to his second disciple, Mengqiu, only as a temporary leader.
According to the Yumen ancient rules, the new leader must master the highest level of wuqing xue with the help of a shengnu. Mengqiu was no exception although he was just a temporary leader. The shengnu, who at that time was prepared for Mengqiu, was a beautiful woman named Xiaochanlin, who was secretly liked by Liu Songqiao, Wu Minghao's first disciple who was also the second-in-command.
Liu Songqiao was very dissatisfied with his master's arrangement, he also tried to snatch the position of Yumen leader from Mengqiu's hands. His attempts were unsuccessful, even resulting in Xiaochanlin's death. At that time there was a great schism within the Yumen. Most of the influential figures sided with Liu Songqiao instead. Civil war had been going on for years, the central power of Yumen was divided in two in the same headquarters, and neither was willing to give in.
Not sure if he could survive to the end, Mengqiu ordered those still loyal to Yumen to take young Wu Youwei away from their base. Wu Youwei was only fourteen years old at the time, but his ambitions were apparently quite big. Outside the Yumen, he gathered people, and built up his army, intent on reclaiming the central power of the Yumen and eliminating all those he considered traitors. My daughter Gu Chenhui was among the ones who joined him, later becoming your jiaozhu furen.
The civil war within the Yumen sect escalates when Wu Youwei returns to the original base. With the new army under his command, finally, Liu Songqiao and his followers were all driven out. But even this did not bring peace and tranquility. So to speak, no wins. Liu Songqiao could come back at any time with more power.
Wu Youwei finally decided to move the Yumen base to a safer place. Back then Gu Chenhui was his wife and I knew I couldn't keep them apart, finally letting him build Yumen base in Baiyu Shan. But I requested one condition.
In later times there was no longer the demonic sect Yumen Jiao, but a new sect that aligned with our Baiyu Shan. I didn't ask Wu Youwei to be a martial hero or strictly accept the rules of the martial world, as long as not bringing civil war to this place would be enough.
Regarding the roots of Yumen's teachings, I see that a lot had changed at the hands of Wu Youwei. Since the base was built down there, there had been not many religious teachings or some rules and rituals that had been brought along, only the martial arts of the ancestral heritage were maintained."
Yunian didn't really care about right or demonic sects. She didn't care whether others acted cruelly or not, even being enmity with the entire martial world was none of his business. As long as her composure at the peak of Baiyu Shan was maintained, even if she was said to support a demonic sect, she would not mind. Decades ago, her daughter Gu Chenhui brought Wu Youwei and Yumen Jiao to Baiyu Shan, and she didn't get in the way either.
"What about Liu Songqiao?" Qin Liangjie asked. "Did he come back again, or even attacked here? The rumor that Yumen existence is required in order to protect the martial world from Liu Songqiao and his people, is it true?"
"Mengqiu had died during the civil war, and Liu Songqiao had also founded other sects, already had his own power," said Yunian. "He still respected Wu Youwei as the son of his master and the leader of the Yumen that he should be. But this Liu Songqiao was ruthless and his ambition was not inferior either. He injured my daughter once and at that time I personally stepped in to meet him."
"Is he or his successors likely to become our enemies in the future?" asked Liao Xian.
"For the time being you don't have to worry about it. This person while still alive, but he was at least in his seventies. He and his sect will not be your enemy for now."
"For now?" asked Zhu Baique. "In that case, in the future, there is still a possibility?"
"I've heard a lot about eight descendants," Yunian didn't answer the question directly. "The martial world has started to acknowledge you, and this is the result of your own hard work. You are the descendants of the Yumen, as well as the descendants of Baiyu Shan. By the time Liu Songqiao or his successors start to become your enemies, I think you'll be capable enough to deal with it on your own."
The words that the descendants had been waiting for for a long time. Some immediately showed a smile of relief. Only Jinshui and Huang Yu didn't change their expression. Liuxin forced a smile even though the sorrow in her heart had not yet disappeared. It was Lin Jixuan who looked the most excited.
"In that case, can we rebuild the Yumen base?" he immediately asked.
"It can't be so fast," Yunian replied calmly. "I heard that there is still a remnant of Jianyin Bang who wants to prevent the revival of Yumen. Besides, although you already gather a lot of new members, it's still not enough to return the glorious Yumen as it used to be. In the next year, I hope you can get more support from other parties in the martial world."
"We have taken over the residence of traitor Wang Ruanya in Anning Hegu," Huang Yu said, "some of our late jiaozhu's property is still there, Wang Ruanya took it when the alliance attacked our Yumen base thirteen years ago. The treasure is enough to start over everything."
Jinshui then turned to Yunian. "Dashanzhu, you are saying that when my father moved the Yumen headquarters here, not many religious teachings were brought over, only the ancestral martial arts and some rules and rituals were kept."
"That's right," said Yunian. "One of the reasons is that Liu Songqiao and his followers brought all their original religious teachings, and your father didn't want any similarities. Moreover, he had his own ambition, liked to make his own rules, and maintained power in his own way. He didn't change the name Yumen to show the world that he was never defeated by Liu Songqiao and Yumen Sect still remained under his control."
The blind old servant reappeared from behind the curtain. In her hand was a neat package and it was handed over to Jinshui.
"Jinshui, you are the only son of Wu Youwei, the descendant of main guardian Moying, now you are also the descendant of Baiyu Shan. The copy of the five manuals leng qing yu hua, yin feng nong yue, yidian shui, taiyang gong and fayi chuan here were once handed to my daughter Gu Chenhui, but she didn't take good care of them and returned them to me. Now it is your responsibility to take care of them," Yunian said again, now to Jinshui. "I give you my full support to lead your friends, restore Yumen's former glory, and inherit all of Baiyu Shan's martial arts and power."
"Hua Jinshui thanked Dashanzhu," Jinshui received the five neatly wrapped copies of the manual, then knelt down and kowtowed the great master three times.
--
Jinshui and his friends only had two days left to train the mojie chen formation before their life-and-death final fight with Xie Tianhu.
They wasted no time, then took the copies of the five manuals given by Yunian to their practice room and let Liao Xian study for a bit before dividing them and trying to get some lessons from those manuals.
The five manuals came from various sects and were each different in character, contain in-depth lessons, and certainly didn't give them the chance to master in just a short time.
"Leng qing yu hua," Zhu Baique was still reading the copy in her hand, "apparently this is the manual of the martial arts that was said to be the most difficult to learn. In decades only the great master of Baiyu Shan had managed to train it to the final level and master it completely."
"This Fayi chuan also seems to be some kind of heretical art, to train the internal energy must be done by fasting," Qin Liangjie said as he handed the copy of the manual in his hand to Jinshui. "It doesn't seem to suit me."
"This yin feng nong yue is even more strange, it only consists of three moves, but the changes in these moves vary greatly," Lin Jixuan handed the book he was reading to Liao Xian. "Maybe someday you can use these changes to perfect the mojie chen formation."
"Within the theory of yidian shui there is a way of practicing secret weapons that is slightly different from that taught by Chailang Master," Huang Yu flipped through the book in his hand. "I'll give it a try in a bit."
"I guess only this taiyang gong manual can be learned by all of us here," Li Qian said, "but the moves in this manual are mostly ordinary moves. Somehow in the past, it became an extraordinary martial skill in the hands of Gu Qiongnan, Gu Daxia."
"Hua Gege, from the story dashanzhu told earlier, do you think we will have to face Liu Songqiao in the future?" Liuxin asked Jinshui, "The saying that Yumen existence is required to protect the martial world from the real demonic sect actually means that we descendants rebuild Yumen so that one day we can fight Liu Songqiao's sect, is that true?"
"We're just about to rebuild the Yumen, there's no need to think that far ahead," Jinshui said, "you also know that in two days we'll be fighting Xie Tianhu, in the future there may be another figure coming to challenge. Even the great master of Baiyu Shan has expressed her support, we only need to do our part, and do our best, so as not to disappoint the final message of the guardians."
They spent the whole day practicing and perfecting the formation to fight Xie Tianhu. In the evening they received a report from the Yaoyao followers that yet another number of bodies had been found in other parts of Baiyu Shan, all of them dead in a state similar to those of the Wine Valley members the previous day.
Jinshui and Huang Yu went to examine the bodies and found the emblems of Yongjun Hui members among the dead. These people who were killed were apparently some of the members brought by Li Zuyang. However, Li Zuyang himself was nowhere to be seen among them, and Yaoyao's followers also found no traces of any victim escaping around the site.
Jinshui gave orders to quickly bury the bodies and secretly searched for Li Zuyang's whereabouts. He discussed briefly with Huang Yu but temporarily could not come up with an answer. In his mind, there was already suspicion, but he chose not to mention it in front of Huang Yu.
"It was my brother who killed these people, used your xuanlong jian, and deliberately left their bodies for others to find, the purpose is that if needed later, he will accuse you of being the culprit," Huang Yu can guess his thoughts, can also guess the cause of the murder. "The people in the ruins are worried about Yumen being rebuilt because they still remember your father's reputation in the past. If you were to be like your father, then it wouldn't just be Xie Tianhu who would challenge the eight descendants."
"I'm not my father, it won't be the same," Jinshui said briefly.
"Actually I have to admit, Xu Guniang has changed you a lot," Huang Yu said. "Without that girl, perhaps you are your father, and the new Yumen we build will be similar to previous generations. I don't mind that, but we will become the enemy of the whole world and the task of rebuilding this sect will become even more difficult."
Jinshui had not seen Xu Qiao all day today, he was a little worried.
"If it's our way, then at this time we should go catch my brother, force him to return the xuanlong sword, and then destroy all his martial abilities." Huang Yu said again. "Thus, besides Xie Tianhu there will also be no more agitating disciples."
"My wuqing xue is already at level six," Jinshui didn't respond to his words. "Do you think Shuqin Guniang can help me reach the seventh level within these two days?"
"What?" Huang Yu asked. "You want to train with her?"
"You and the others can continue training mojie chen, I can keep up in due time," said Jinshui. "I still have a shengnu, although it is impossible to reach the eighth level in this short time, if it can reach the seventh level, or at least close to it, it will benefit us greatly in match Xie Tianhu's strength."
"Go," Huang Yu said. "I'll tell Liao Xian."
Jinshui returned to his room and found Xu Qiao sleeping on a chair waiting for him. He didn't wake her up, then carried the girl in his arms and brought her to Shuqin's residence at the back of the mountain.
"Qiao-er, tonight I need the shengnu of Yumen to give me instructions on cultivating the inner energy so as to ensure we descendants can win the fight against Xie Tianhu," he whispered to her, "there aren't any sect rituals, you don't need to worry. You can see me, and I can watch you a little longer too."
Xu Qiao slightly made a sound, and seemed to have heard his words, but chose to keep her eyes closed, saving energy in order to extend the three days given by Shuqin. Jinshui kissed her forehead once, then quickened his pace, half floating past the winding cliffs.
They arrived in front of a path that led to a wide mountain pass cave. Everything seemed natural but comfy enough to be a dwelling place for a girl. Shuqin greeted them at the entrance of the cave, saluting when she saw Jinshui coming.
"What happened to Xu Guniang?" she asked, remembering she had already given three days to Xu Qiao and those three days had not yet passed.
"She's fine, I just brought her here to be with me," Jinshui said.
"With you?" Shuqin repeated.
"I will try to train wuqing xue inner energy up to the seventh level," said Jinshui, "hope Shuqin Guniang can help me."
Shuqin glanced at Xu Qiao before nodding slowly. She understood that Jinshui didn't want Xu Qiao to misunderstand and be sad when she found out that Jinshui was alone with another woman. Only Xu Qiao was sick and asleep, actually, it didn't make any difference.
"I will help Jiaozhu."
They let Xu Qiao sleep on a lounger. Jinshui tucked her in, and then sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, concentrating for a moment to get rid of the fatigue after a long day of training with his friends and doing other things.
Shuqin's training ground was a natural cave room, inside of which were several rows of shelves filled with scrolls and ancient texts. Presumably, this shengnu was someone who liked to spend time reading and learning many things.
Shuqin took a manuscript from a hidden box, apparently, it was a copy of the wuqing xue manual. However, this copy was not the same as the one of the guardians and was later divided among the eight descendants. The copy was written by Wu Youwei, and inside the pages were small notes. Jinshui watched Shuqin flip through the pages of the copy for a while before she showed him the seventh chapter on internal energy training.
"According to the late jiaozhu's records, it took him forty days to reach this seventh level, shutting himself off and concentrating without any distraction at all," Shuqin said. "However, the late jiaozhu did not have the help of a shengnu to practice this seventh level, and the practice was also carried out slowly and in no hurry."
"I know it won't be easy learning to this level in just two days," Jinshui said, "however we descendants need to fight a very tough opponent, whether Shuqin Guniang has any clues to increase wuqing xue inner energy."
"The Jiaozhu already possesses the inner energy given by guardian Moying, this level is beyond even mine," said Shuqin, "but I can help you channel this energy flow to make it more useful during fights. It's not the same as reaching one level higher, but Jiaozhu will be able to feel lighter when exerting force."