Volume 1 Chapter 27: Thinking about the Past
Everyone saw that Lin Longqing's face was turning purple and blue. Although he used his internal energy to suppress the poison, it seemed that he would not be able to survive for a long time. Although Doctor Cheng was well versed in medical theory, he was also powerless. He could only nod and say, "Mrs. Cao is right. No matter what, we must save the life of the gang leader first!"
Seeing that the Kuang Yi Gang had agreed to exchange for the antidote, Tan Zong looked at Yun Mengzhen and asked, "Master Yun, have you thought it through?"
Yun Mengzhen saw that the mission had failed today. In fact, he also knew in his heart that if there was no mediation by the old monk, even if he poisoned Lin Longqing to death, Yukousi and his men would probably not be able to escape alive under the Kuangyi Gang and the subordinates of the sects that came to help. Who in the world does not cherish his own life and covet worldly wealth? Seeing that Tanzong always gave him a way out in a tactful way, he pretended to sigh, handed over the medicine with both hands, and said: "I was also a man of the martial arts world, how could I kill each other? It's just that I have received the holy order and I have no choice. I hope that my fellow martial artists will understand."
Lin Hongfeng had already taken it in one hand, and hurried to Lin Longqing, putting the medicine next to Lin Longqing's mouth. Lin Longqing swallowed the medicine and used his energy to dissolve it. After about half an incense stick of time, his complexion returned to normal. He then used his energy to circulate around his body, and then he jumped up and showed gratitude to Lin Hongfeng. Seeing that the poison had been resolved, Lin Hongfeng returned to his usual cold appearance.
Lin Jianlan was very moved, thinking: "Although Auntie hates Uncle Qing, she still cares about him so much. Just now, when I saw Taoist Master Yun trying to crush the pill, I almost cried."
Yun Mengzhen saw Lin Longqing standing up, but everyone still surrounded him. He said unhappily, "Everyone, the poison has been resolved. Should I be allowed to go back?" Everyone dispersed, and the people from the Yukou Division hurried to Yun Mengzhen's side. Yun Mengzhen glanced around and saw that everyone looked tired. Some were covered in blood, and some were holding their chests and gasping for breath. He sighed and looked at Tanzong and said, "Abbot, please don't say anything today, otherwise I will have a hard time explaining myself in front of the Lord."
Tan Zong chanted a Buddhist name and said, "I will definitely not break my promise, Taoist Yun, please rest assured."
Yun Mengzhen led his men away upon hearing this. The officers and soldiers also got up and fled in a panic. Lin Jianlan chased after them and shouted, " That Hebao is your colleague. Aren't you going to take his body away?"
Yun Mengzhen turned around, glanced at the body of Hebao lying on the ground, chuckled and said, "There are many such 'Hebao' in Yukousi. It seems that you are a kind-hearted young man. If you sympathize with him, please be kind and bury or burn him." After that, he flew away. Seeing that he was free and easy again, Lin Longqing couldn't help but admire him secretly. Seeing that the body of "Pak" was still beside him, and the pool of blood on his chest had long dried up, he squatted down to take a closer look. He saw that "Pak" was still holding the thin thread tightly in his hand. From different angles, he could see that the thin thread was shining with a faint green luster. He thought it was coated with poison. Lin Longqing wrapped his hands with his clothes and twisted the thin thread a few times. He thought of someone in his heart. Just as he was about to speak, he saw that the martial arts colleagues who came to help were still standing beside him. He was about to invite them into the main hall to talk, but hesitated, slowly walked to Qin Tianxiong and whispered: "Brother Qin, go and tell my sister that the leader should invite them into the main hall to serve tea."
Qin Tianxiong uttered "Ah", turned around and was about to ask a question, but saw Lin Longqing had already walked to the side of the corpse again, touched his head, sighed and walked to Lin Hongfeng and said: "Madam Cao, you are temporarily in charge of all the affairs of the Kuangyi Gang. You should invite these martial arts fellows who helped to come in and rest and entertain them."
Lin Hongfeng nodded, clasped his fists and said to everyone, "I am very grateful that you have come from afar to help our gang. Please rest in the hall." Everyone nodded and politely gave way to each other before going in one after another. Lin Hongfeng saw Cao Shupeng among them, and thought of Cao Shujian. He felt sad and bowed to Cao Shupeng and said, "Brother." But his eyes turned red and he could no longer speak. Cao Shupeng sighed, did not answer, and followed everyone into the courtyard.
Tan Zong said to Lin Hongfeng, "I am only here to mediate. Let's put things on hold for now. I still need to do some work on Yun Mengzhen's matter, so I will be leaving soon." Lin Hongfeng knew that he was a famous senior and did not care about these complicated etiquettes. He bowed and said, "Thank you very much today, senior. I'm sorry I can't see you off."
Tan Zong walked to Lin Jianlan and said, "Young man, are you the son of Protector Qin or Protector Zhang?" But he shook his head and said, "No, my last name is Lin, and my name is Jianlan." Tan Zong was surprised, "Oh? I didn't know that Gang Leader Lin had a child as old as you." Lin Jianlan said, "I am Uncle Qing's adopted son. It was my aunt who brought me from the north to the south of the Yangtze River." He did not want to regard himself as Lin Longqing's savior, nor did he want to talk about the grudge between Lin Longqing and Lin Hongfeng, so he spoke very briefly. Tan Zong did not ask any more questions and nodded , "From the north to the south of the Yangtze River, we have come here from thousands of miles away. Everything is predestined." He pointed at Lin Longqing and said, "I am very familiar with your adoptive father. He often went to my place when he was young. You can ask your adoptive father to take you to find me in the future."
Lin Jianlan nodded, Tanzong touched Lin Jianlan's head again, and then turned around and left. However, unlike Yun Mengzhen and the others who used Qinggong to leave quickly, Lin Jianlan saw him wearing a wide robe and large sleeves, walking away slowly step by step, and felt that the old abbot looked very cool, not as old as he imagined, but very amiable. Looking back, he saw Lin Longqing still frowning and thinking over there. Just as he was about to step forward, he saw the leader of the twenty or so men stepped forward and said, "Boss, if there is nothing else, the subordinates will take their leave." Lin Longqing said, "Wait a minute, Brother Tang, I have something else to arrange. You ask the other brothers to wait outside, and you come in with me." He waved to Lin Jianlan again, and Lin Jianlan hurried over and walked slowly into the main hall with him.
The three of them walked into the main hall and saw that the masters of various sects had already taken their seats and were talking happily. When everyone saw the three of them coming in, they immediately became quiet. People from other sects only knew about the changes in the Kuangyi Gang a few years ago, but they didn't know the inside story. Therefore, how to address Lin Longqing, who was chased and expelled by the gang members, became a big problem. When everyone was embarrassed, the man with a black veil covering his face stood up, bowed and said, "Boss Lin!"
Lin Longqing felt he had seen him before when he saw his figure just now, and when he heard his voice, he immediately understood, and he also clasped his fists and said, "I didn't expect you to still refuse to show your true face when you arrived at the Kuangyi Gang's headquarters. Fortunately, you sent me a letter at night, so I was not late."
Du Shangqing said, "Did you also get news from him? Gang Leader Lin, please don't wrongly accuse him. It was this hero who ran around for days and nights to tell everyone that we didn't know that the Yukou Division actually attacked the Kuangyi Gang. When we met fellow martial artists on the road, it turned out that it was this gentleman who sent someone to inform us. When he saw that we were also dressed in black clothes and masks, he said that he was not from the martial arts world, but it was inconvenient to reveal his identity." Du Shangqing laughed again and said, "This black-clothed gentleman said that the Kuangyi Gang was very righteous and selected the forces of two branches to assist the Taihu Volunteer Army. We were worried that the main hall was not strong enough, but we didn't expect that there were many heroes in the Kuangyi Gang, and there was no danger today. It seems that we have done something unnecessary!"
Lin Longqing was surprised: "How did this man in black know that we sent people to support Taihu?" But he said modestly: "No, your coming here really solved the urgent need of the Kuangyi Gang. The people of the Yukou Division were in a state of confusion, so we were able to take advantage of the situation to defeat the enemy. Yun Mengzhen was cunning and I fell for his trick. Fortunately, Abbot Tanzong mediated the antidote. I should really thank you all."
Nian Yongshou waved his hand and said, "We are all from the same sect in the martial arts world. When one sect is in trouble, all will come to its aid. If anything happens to our Beggars' Sect in the future, I believe your Kuangyi Sect will not sit idly by. Everyone, please stop thanking each other and come up with a plan. The old monk also said that he is only delaying for a while. You, the Kuangyi Sect, should prepare early."
Lin Hongfeng pondered and said, "We would rather die than show goodwill to the imperial court. Several of our brothers died in their hands, and we will definitely seek justice in the future! Abbot Tanzong said that the Kuangyi Gang should stop being so popular, but this is difficult. It's not good to dismiss the brothers in the branch hall. If the Yukousi comes again, won't we be unable to deal with it? Alas, is there really no third way?"
Seeing that the man in black remained silent, his eyes through the black veil seemed to be very interested in Lin Jianlan. Lin Longqing wanted to test him, so he said, "This man in black has been running around to report the news for days. I wonder what his opinion is on the Kuang Yi Gang? I hope you can give me some advice."
The man in black withdrew his gaze from Cong Lin Jianlan, pondered for a while, and then said, "I am not from the martial arts world. Well, let me tell you the truth. Although I am not from the officialdom, I am very familiar with many people in it. That's why I was able to get the news in advance this time. I reported the news only because I was dissatisfied with Empress Wu's tyranny and wanted to kill all the people in the martial arts world. In fact, I don't know much about the green forest. Since Gang Leader Lin treats me differently, I will tell you my superficial opinions. If I offend you, please don't be offended."
Seeing that he spoke sincerely, everyone felt a sudden increase in favor of him and looked at him intently.
The man coughed lightly and said, "Actually, it's all based on the eight words the old senior said just now: When one family is in trouble, all sides will come to its aid. There are many sects in the martial arts world. Those that are slightly weak can easily be attacked by the people of the Yukousi. But if they can unite and help each other, they will be a force that cannot be underestimated. Imagine if the Yukousi dared to attack one of the sects, the other sects would unite. Let alone Dongdu, with the skills of the martial arts masters, even if they could cause trouble in the imperial palace, it wouldn't be a problem. What's more, due to the strictness of the officials, there are already many righteous armies in various places, among which Taihu is the largest. If they unite with these people, let alone causing trouble for her, it is not impossible to turn the world upside down. In this way, how could Empress Wu dare to harbor ill will towards the people in the martial arts world?"
Everyone was excited when they heard this. Nian Yongshou said, "Not bad, not bad. Since she is afraid of the power of the Jianghu, then we will make things bigger and bigger so that she dare not intervene, and cannot intervene!" Everyone else nodded. Lin Hongfeng was also excited, thinking, "If all the sects in the Jianghu unite, the leader will naturally be the Kuang Yi Gang. Yin Yin will be the leader of the gang in the future."
Lin Longqing did not expect that the black-clothed man's words were so bold, which was indeed a hundred times better than the other two ways. After this incident, it was a foregone conclusion that the Kuangyi Gang and the Yukou Division would not coexist. Although the black-clothed man's whereabouts were secretive and his identity was vague, how he got the information was also a mystery, but what he said was indeed for the Kuangyi Gang. Thinking of this, he said solemnly: "Brother, your opinion is great."
Lin Hongfeng said, "What the man in black said makes a lot of sense. If that's the case, we should inform the other sect leaders as soon as possible." The man in black sighed, "It's a pity that when I went to inform the Shushan Sect Leader that day, he looked embarrassed and said that it was inconvenient for him to come down the mountain. Otherwise, we could have discussed the important matter today."
When Lin Longqing heard the words "Shushan Sect Leader", he suddenly realized something and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Ah!" Everyone looked at him. He said in a deep voice, "When I fought with him before, I felt that the name of this Taoist Yun was very familiar, and his martial arts seemed to have been seen somewhere before. Now, after listening to what you said, I remembered that the Sect Leader of Shushan is Taoist Yun Mengxu, isn't he?"
Everyone was amazed and said, "There are many people with similar names in the world. Can Gang Leader Lin confirm it?"
Lin Longqing nodded and said, "Looking back now, I think Yun Mengzhen has been down the mountain for quite some time. He created this set of whisk skills. Although it is very different from the Shushan martial arts, he still unconsciously reveals the Shushan style when the situation is critical. When he first fought with me, he said that my martial arts 'have improved in recent years'. I was puzzled at the time. Now that I think about it, I often went to Shushan to visit the old headmaster Kongshi Taoist since I was a teenager. He always called for the younger disciples to exchange martial arts with me. Yun Mengzhen must have been among them. It's just that I was young at that time. After so many years, I no longer remember him, but he still remembers the duel with me."
Everyone was speechless. Lin Jianlan said, "So the uncle in black said that the head of Shushan was very embarrassed when he heard that he had to go down the mountain to deal with Yu Kou Si. I guess he didn't want to face his senior or junior brothers, right?"
Lin Longqing nodded and said, "That must be the case. Yunmeng Zhen is younger than Taoist Yunmeng Xu. He must be his junior fellow apprentice. Shushan disciples have always been indifferent to worldly affairs. Most of them are keen on practicing Qi and cultivating Taoism. I don't know why Yunmeng Zhen went down the mountain to seek fame and wealth, and deliberately concealed it." At this point, he remembered something else and said solemnly, "But I also discovered something when I saw the corpse of 'Pouch' just now. The power of the Yukou Division is probably beyond our imagination. This time, they probably only sent a very small number of people. Yunmeng Zhen looked very unfriendly when he saw the soldiers retreating. I guess he hated the soldiers for being useless. I don't know why Empress Wu didn't want him to lead the elite troops of the Yukou Division."
Du Shangqing said in a low voice, "This is what women think. As the rumor goes, although Empress Wu favors Yun Mengzhen, she probably doesn't completely trust him. It's scary to think that she would hand over all the power of the Dongdu Yukousi, which is right next to the palace, to one person, isn't it?"
