In a moment everyone had gathered at the said place. Jinshui and the other seven descendants with their respective existing spouses. Even Gu Chenhui didn't miss out, attending with her disciple Ma Yongtao.
Huang Yu showed his friends the inscribed fan, reading out the names of the places on it. He also explained a bit to Gu Chenhui that Huang Zhe was his older brother, having always harbored the ambition of being number one and also hatred for him. Gu Chenhui only knew that this was a threat to the new Yumen after all. Everyone immediately understood what was going on.
"Anyone among you who feels uneasy can leave this place and go home to protect your family," Jinshui immediately gave permission for the other descendants to return to their respective places of origin.
Among those who should be worried the most should be Li Qian, because his father at Baitu Shanzhuang wouldn't be able to do much if an enemy came. His one-armed brother also couldn't help much because this time the enemy to be faced was Huang Zhe who had taken Xie Tianhu's inner energy.
"Apart from the capital and Huofeng Lou, Baitu Shanzhuang is also considered to be the most distant place," Li Qian said, he considered everything quickly, "Huang Zhe will only waste time going there, it will also be easier for us to guess his steps if he ever appears there. I guess, he had already calculated this as well."
"My father has recovered at least eight parts, only one Huang Zhe wouldn't make things difficult for him," Lin Jixuan continued. "That brother of yours couldn't be so bold as to go to Lin Family residence."
"Indeed, if we all leave the peak of Baiyu Shan and get busy protecting our respective families, it would be the same as dividing our power," Qin Liangjie said, "if Huang Zhe really appears anywhere, will it only rely on Jinshui, Huang Yu and me, the three of us who don't have a home to deal with him? Even though it's enough, I'm sure the others don't want to miss him either."
"Don't forget about me," Zhu Baique said, "Haitang Jian Pai's name is written here, but Huang Zhe may not know that before I was only there as a slave. I never care about the life and death of Haitang Jian Pai disciples."
"He seems to have written down these names just to break the power of the descendants," said Ma Yongtao, "he's just alone, he cannot be in six places at once. I'm sure this is just a trick."
"I relied on Master Shuiyao's last words to be able to leave my father and join you all here. At this point, I don't want to go back there," Liuxin said, "My father's residence is heavily guarded, and Wang Chun and Sima Yi Sheng are still around, I think Huang Zhe should think a dozen times to mess it up."
"There are only some servants left in Mangren Gong, Huang Zhe won't be there either," continued Liao Xian, "after all, it won't be so easy to go in and out of that place."
Huang Yu nod at Jinshui. The previous Yumen guardians had already chosen the right descendants, each of them didn't think only for themselves and everyone could think calmly in a short amount of time to make the right decision.
"We fight together," said Huang Yu. "My brother has no one supporting him, he won't be so reckless to go to any of your places just to provoke us. We don't have to worry."
"However, we still have to protect these places and your families who are there," Jinshui said again, "Shuqin, I need to borrow fifteen members of the Yuzhi Shi Wu from Baiyu Shan, each two or three of them will go to the six places written on this fan, carrying message flags and use doves. Whoever found something suspicious must immediately send a message back here."
"I will convey your message to them." Shuqin was still the main guardian of Baiyu Shan and the members of Yuzhi Shi Wu were still under her command. Jinshui using the word "borrow" was tantamount to taking the Yuzhi Shi Wu members into his newly formed sect, ensuring his own position as the leader of Yumen, as well as the primary descendant of Baiyu Shan.
"Tell everyone to be careful," Jinshui continued, "I still need to practice, but once there is progress, no matter what, you must report to me."
"If there's anything, just let me know." Huang Yu said, knowing that Jinshui needed to concentrate. Training internal energy should not be disturbed and Jinshui should not be able to receive reports at any time.
"Remember, we have to do everything quietly," Jinshui paid no heed to his warning. "The current Huang Zhe should still practice his master's manual, but we don't know where he is hiding. Yaoyao had already dispatched her men to find his whereabouts. Once there's news of action, we're not going to let him slip through the cracks."
"Jinshui, your father had discussed a lot with Zhang Zheliang regarding how to obtain the highest level of wuqing xue," Gu Chenhui informed Jinshui. "Perhaps, you could ask him."
"Daniang, I'll ask Zhang Laoqianbei for guidance. The person who has snatched this xuanlong sword, I will definitely be able to take care of him," Jinshui replied. "Our Yumen will make a glorious comeback, just one Huang Zhe won't be enough to mess things up."
Jinshui was really serious, about to crush Huang Zhe in one fell swoop. He knew that if he didn't solve this problem, Huang Zhe could become a potential enemy maker in the future. The victims who fell were enough and he did not want to make another burial. Huang Zhe didn't wait another twenty years to perfect his skills well first, instead challenged him now, obviously not wanting to give Yumen a chance to rise and gain trust from the martial world.
The descendants left the garden.
Jinshui didn't hurry back to his training room. He accidentally saw Ma Yongtao followed Zhu Baique. He felt something was wrong, and immediately wanted to investigate. Ma Yaolun's dying wish for Ma Yongtao was not to forget revenge. He thought Ma Yongtao might bring harm to Zhu Baique.
"Jinshui," Huang Yu called him, and he canceled his steps.
"What is it?" Jinshui didn't want his friends to know about Ma Yaolun's dying wish regarding Zhu Baique.
"You did well," Huang Yu either praised or sneered, "taking all the guards of Baiyu Shan as our followers, it will definitely be of great use in the future."
Jinshui didn't look at him, the words that then came out of his mouth, even Huang Yu never expected it.
"What my father couldn't achieve, I'll definitely perfect it."
--
Jinshui left him, unknowingly the footsteps brought him back to the shore of the small lake where he had last seen Xu Qiao. The boat was still there, moored at the end of the pier unattended.
Until now he had only been able to reach the seventh level of wuqing xue, not even close to reaching the highest eighth level. That day when he forced himself and even injured himself, Zhang Zheliang who was with him and gave him hints every time was also at his wits end, then asked him to go out for some fresh air.
Jinshui felt very tired, his heart was not at ease, barely holding back his emotions. He knew he should calm his mind before training his inner energy again. He should not force himself or he would be farther away from the expected results. The previous Yumen leaders succeeded in mastering the eight-level with the help of a trained shengnu, by draining the shengnu's energy and costing her life. Jinshui tried to master it in other ways, but until now still couldn't figure out that last part.
He didn't know why he came back to this lake. Parting with Xu Qiao was a pain he didn't want to remember. He looked at the boat as if something was pulling him there. He stepped on his feet once and landed directly on the boat. He seemed to have realized when he arrived there, found a small figure in the same place.
Xu Qiao sat hugging her knees on the deck, resting one shoulder against the edge of the boat. Her eyes opened slowly when she felt the presence of another person. She couldn't hide her shock, but she couldn't avoid it either, she could only stare at Jinshui with eyes full of pain.
"Jinshui Gege...."
It was a familiar voice to him. Jinshui felt a great rush in his chest. His separation from Xu Qiao was only a couple of days ago and it changed his life greatly. He was sad, hurt, angry, and hateful, all those emotions had melted into one, taking a huge punch inside him. Just now when he decided to end all those feelings, they met again. The wound that had not yet dried opened again.
"You... why are you still here?" he subconsciously asked, all emotion stifled in those few words. "Didn't you say you were going back to Huofeng Lou?"
"I...." Xu Qiao didn't want to tell the truth. She regretted that she had said that she would leave Jinshui but would still be here in Baiyu Shan.
Since being brought to taiyang feng by Gu Chenhui that day, several times she sneaked out, trying to find Jinshui, only able to look at him from a distance, hear his voice or stare at his back. Gu Chenhui knew what she did, but she did not have the heart to stop her. Today Xu Qiao missed Jinshui so much that she went to the boat by that lake and accidentally met him again.
Xu Qiao struggled to her feet, clinging to the side of the boat. Jinshui watched her weak, for a moment he felt something unnatural. He took a step forward, eager to hug Xu Qiao, tucking her in his arms. But he was afraid, very afraid of rejection. Xu Qiao wasn't going to accept that hug, he told himself. Xu Qiao only needed to push him once and he would receive an incurable wound. High self-esteem made his steps stop. Xu Qiao stood before him, slowly approaching him.
But Xu Qiao didn't say anything to him. She turned her head, walked past him, and almost jumped out of the boat.
Jinshui suddenly caught Xu Qiao's wrist and almost squeezed it. Another hand was raised in the air, energy had gathered there and was about to hit Xu Qiao's head with a single punch. He still had time to close his eyes once, gathering all the courage to ask the last question.
"All this time you were with me, just to pay your debt, and not because of love, really?"
"I...." Xu Qiao was unable to give an answer. At that moment she wanted to say love. But the words that had reached the throat could not come out at all. She began to have difficulty speaking, one result of the injuries she received. And Jinshui had his part into giving those wounds.
"I'm now the leader of the Yumen Jiao," Jinshui said again. "If I can't get something, then I will destroy it until there is nothing left so that no one else can have it either."
Xu Qiao struggled to shake off her hand. Her tears dripped down, making Jinshui cancel hitting her. It was only for a moment that he realized, Xu Qiao's body was so thin and weak, her hands were trembling and there wasn't even a bit of inner energy left. Xu Qiao's face was also very pale, her eyes glazed over. Slowly Jinshui withdrew his strength.
"Are you really Qiao-er or not?" he asked.
Xu Qiao couldn't answer his question, her body slumped, and fell unconscious in Jinshui's arms. Jinshui checked her pulse, barely finding any. He then saw that Xu Qiao had a noose-like scar on her neck, her wrists were still wrapped in white cloth, and even her clothes had traces of blood.
Jinshui quickly carried Xu Qiao out of the small lake and took her back to his room. He called out to the maidservants but it was already late at night and for a while, no one answered for him. Xu Qiao was still unconscious when Jinshui put her on his bed, and remove some of her clothes to check her condition further.
He found two stab wounds on her body, one of them was still fresh. Her wrist was sliced once but it was already treated properly. There were also bruises on her forehead, but already been given medicine. Jinshui didn't know what happened to Xu Qiao in the last few days and he was furious.
A young maidservant came in, apparently, she heard Jinshui's calling a few minutes ago.
"Who did this to her?" Jinshui yelled at her.
"I don't know," the servant knelt down and answered in a trembling voice. "Madam was with Miss Shuqin a few days ago, and then she was taken by Laofuren."
"She was with Shuqin," Jinshui repeated. He soon realized the wounds and bruises on Xu Qiao's body were the result of failed suicide attempts.
"You take care of her," he said to the servant, "without my orders, she is not allowed to leave this room."
Jinshui left the room and stood in front of the door for a few moments. His mind was in a state of chaos and he didn't know what was going on. Xu Qiao had already left him, but today she appeared in a worse condition. He vaguely remembered about the leiying hua poison, but he also didn't know if everything he saw just now was real.
He left the place, headed off regardless of direction, wanting to calm down before he could face Xu Qiao any further. Just now he almost beat his girl to death, he didn't know whether he had done something wrong or not.
The energy of the seventh level wuqing xue was roiling within him, and the inner energy Moying gave him also felt overpowering him, he dashed up a cliff and crushed a boulder to vent his emotions.
Just as he nearly managed to control the turbulent energy in his body, he saw Ma Yongtao handing a long bamboo flute to Zhu Baique on a grassy plain. Jinshui recognized the flute as a bayinxiao, Zhu Baique's weapon which was broken by Xie Tianhu during the fight, presumably then repaired, or it could have been replaced by a similar one by Ma Yongtao and given back to its owner.
At the same time, Jinshui also remembered Ma Yongtao's story about his father, as well as Ma Yaolun's written message before committing suicide. Jinshui thought that Ma Yongtao returned the flute only to ensnare Zhu Baique again before carrying out his revenge according to his father's dying wish. Jinshui had felt love suffering, he didn't want any of his friends to be destroyed by the same power.
"Ma Yongtao! I won't let you get your hands on any of us!" Jinshui didn't ask anything and didn't give Ma Yongtao or Zhu Baique the slightest chance to explain. He directly charged toward the Liangshan Mojun, battling it all out. His emotions exploded and he needed a target.
Ma Yongtao was high-skilled in his ghostly palm ability, and Jinshui's skills had also made great progress in the past few days. Ma Yongtao was attacked just like that and didn't want to die ridiculously, of course, he put up a fight in self-defense. Zhu Baique could only scream at the edge of the arena, completely unable to get close.
"Hua Dage! Stop it. Hua Dage! Yongtao!"
The two of them did not carry weapons, fighting with their bare hands, clashing with internal energy and kicks and punches. Zhu Baique's shouts were completely useless. Zhu Baique in that short time didn't understand at all why Jinshui suddenly appeared and directly attacked Ma Yongtao.
"Jinshui, what are you doing?" Ma Yongtao was trying hard to keep his breath, but Jinshui didn't seem to give him a chance to fill his lung. "Are you possessed or have you gone mad?"
"I'm still conscious," Jinshui shouted as he continued to attack. Ma Yongtao's face began to be decorated with bruises from being hit. "While I'm still around, don't expect you to be able to get revenge on Zhu Guniang."
"What revenge?" Ma Yongtao was hit in the face once again, and the corner of his lip was torn. He countered, hitting Jinshui in the face as hard as he could. "I haven't had any intention of revenge for a long time."
Huang Yu arrived there before Zhu Baique could leave the fighting arena to seek help. Witnessing a fight like this, he sighed in annoyance. Jinshui and Ma Yongtao who both had learned martial abilities since childhood, this time fighting like wild animals. Jinshui seemed to have completely gone mad. Crazy because of love problems.
"Huang Yu, please do something," Zhu Baique directly begged him. "I don't know what happened, Hua Dage just suddenly came and beat Yongtao. He...."
"Jinshui does need to be beaten up a bit." However, Huang Yu was not sure that Ma Yongtao would be able to subdue the current Jinshui. He took out his chess piece weapon, and flicked it at Jinshui, straight to the vital acupuncture point. One punch from Jinshui still managed to hit Ma Yongtao in the chest before he himself also fell to the ground from being hit by a secret weapon.
Huang Yu approached Jinshui, grabbed his clothes, and directly punched him in the face with one heavy punch. Fresh blood spurted from Jinshui's mouth, some of it drenched his friend's face but didn't make Huang Yu change his mind.
Zhu Baique approached Ma Yongtao, trying to help him to his feet. Ma Yongtao looked at Jinshui irritably, then chuckled. Jinshui really needed to be pitied.
"I've talked everything over with Que-mei," he told Jinshui. "I've told her everything, including about my father's dying wish. These few days have been really hard on us, but I like her, and she has accepted me too."
"What?" Jinshui looked really shocked to hear him.
"Ma Yongtao, who couldn't feel hatred, ended up falling in love," said the Liangshan Mojun again. "You, Hua Jinshui, who all this time claimed to know love can't even love anyone anymore. Seriously, you are no match for me."
Jinshui looked at him speechlessly. Huang Yu held his arm, and he could no longer do anything.
"Hua Dage, please bless us..." Zhu Baique joined in, making Jinshui even more devastated. The two persons in front of him should be enemies with each other, why did they become lovers?
"We'll talk about your story later," Huang Yu interrupted. "I must bring Jinshui to see Xu Guniang to apologize."
"Apologize?" Jinshui asked him. He still felt he was the victim. Why would he be the one to apologize? "She was the one who decided to end our relationship, why does it seem like I'm the one at fault?"
"She can't be saved anymore," Huang Yu knew he had to tell the truth. "She was hurt since Wansui Gu, because of him," he pointed at Ma Yongtao, who was also in charge that day, "because of me, also because of yourself."
"I know, but isn't she getting better?" Jinshui pushed Huang Yu's grip away from him, stood up, and staggered backward. "Shuqin has been helping her with medicine and internal energy and she is recovering well, she told me that herself. She chose to leave because she didn't want to become a jiaozhu furen, because she didn't want to stay with a Yumen leader."
"I was the one who asked her not to tell you about her real condition," Huang Yu said, "she also knows that if she continues to be sick, then you will continue to look after her and worry about her all the time. If she dies, you will die with her. Our Yumen has just restarted, I can't allow it. When she decided to say goodbye to you, I didn't get in the way because I saw it as the only way she could leave for good without taking you with her."
Jinshui waved his hand, returning Huang Yu's punch with the same one. Huang Yu didn't reply to him back, only wiping the blood on the corner of his lips with his hand. His gaze remained on Jinshui, not moving in the slightest.
"I deserve this," Huang Yu sighed, "everything happened mostly because of me. I've made Xu Guniang live hopelessly, took her ability to commit suicide to end everything. I deserve to die."
"That's right, Hua Dage," Zhu Baique added. "I, Liuxin and the others, we've all seen it. Xu Guniang is very weak, when she sleeps, she often calls your name. There have also been times when she saw you from a distance, but didn't dare to come close."
"And you... you want to kill her?" Huang Yu pushed Jinshui to the ground. "How did you turn to be such heartless?"
Jinshui didn't get up quickly. He was devastated, unable to tell apart the dream and the reality. Xu Qiao. His Xu Qiao. Was it true that his Xu Qiao was injured? The pain in his heart because of parting was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling right now. If it was true that Xu Qiao was injured, then the meeting on the ship just now would add to the wound, which could be said to be a death sentence for her.
Huang Yu didn't want to argue with him. Jinshui needed a bit of time to accept reality once more. He shook off his arm and walked away. Zhu Baique supported Ma Yongtao, also leaving the place.