Volume 8: The Jianghu Chapter 378 Another Lost
The moon sets and the stars sink, and another night passes.
In the desolate world, a young man was walking leisurely on the official road, chewing a piece of broken grass in his mouth and mumbling something faintly.
"I don't know how the second one is doing now."
"Hehe, my little sister's ability to control Gu is really getting better and better. She can even deal with Er Niang's sleeping Gu."
The young man approached from afar with a brisk and steady pace. What was even more eye-catching was that he was carrying a very scary black iron rod on his shoulder. His hands were on the head and the tail of the rod respectively. His body was stretched to its full extent and he walked briskly.
As he walked, the man kept looking back, feeling extremely guilty, fearing that someone would appear behind him.
The boy felt so depressed when he thought about his parents secretly eating delicious food every now and then, but he had to play dumb and pretend that he knew nothing.
"Hehe, you really take us for fools!"
The boy grinned, his dirty face full of pride.
Over the years, the two brothers have suffered a lot. Since they were young, they have been teased countless times by Shangguan Xiaoxian. When they cry, they are coaxed, and then made to cry again after being coaxed. But their mother always laughs from ear to ear and never gets tired of it, like a female devil.
In short, their childhood can be summed up in four words: dire straits.
And the young man was of course Shangguan Shisan.
The second child has already escaped, so he can't wait too long, otherwise by the time the three adults in his family react, it will be harder than climbing to the sky to leave home.
"Where should I go? To find the second brother or to find the eldest sister?"
The so-called elder sister that Shangguan Shisan mentioned was Li Yeer.
But his elder sister was also in collusion with Shangguan Xiaoxian. Not only did she conceal her identity, but she was also eccentric and difficult to deal with.
Just thinking about escaping from the clutches of Shangguan Xiaoxian and Li Muchan, Shangguan Shisan couldn't stop grinning and ran faster, without stopping or resting along the way. He climbed over mountains and crossed rivers, just like a young tiger laughing at the mountains.
The sky seemed to be getting darker, and the moments before dawn are always the darkest time on earth.
Shangguan Shisan ran for an unknown distance in one breath, and only slowed down his pace when he arrived at a ferry.
The morning light was already visible in the distance. Shangguan Shisan washed his face with the cold river water, took out a colorful monkey mask from his collar and put it on before he decided to continue on his journey.
But as the morning breeze blew by, a faint smell of blood suddenly drifted in with the wind.
On the surging river, one could vaguely see corpses floating on it and drifting away with the current.
Shangguan Shisan made a clicking sound and his eyes changed. With a quick glance, he realized that there were probably no less than a hundred corpses in the river, and even the water was almost dyed red.
"Strange, they are actually Wudang disciples, as well as escorts from the Central Plains Escort Agency, people from the Huashan Sect, and people from the Tianqin Sect..."
What is even more surprising is that many of the corpses in the river are disciples of famous sects.
"Wasn't he fine during the day? What happened?"
Shangguan Shisan found that these people looked familiar. He seemed to have seen a few of them before at the foot of Wudang Mountain. They must be the people who came to watch the ceremony.
He frowned and glanced upstream, hesitating whether to go and find out what was going on, when he suddenly heard bursts of killing sounds coming from the river bank upstream.
But I saw a woman in a black dress and a mask holding a crescent-shaped scimitar, fighting with others with great agility.
On the other side were many Wudang disciples, with sword shadows spreading out layer by layer, forming a sword formation, and using deadly sword moves one after another, as if to get rid of them as soon as possible.
"kill!"
"Demon Cult witch, return my brothers' lives to me!"
…
From a distance, one could see that the Wudang Taoists were all furious, with murderous intent in their eyes.
The woman in black was fighting and running at the same time. Her swordsmanship was superb. She was outnumbered but not at all at a disadvantage. While running, she probably saw Shangguan Shisan , so she changed her mind and took a detour, fearing that others would be implicated.
Shangguan Shisan watched from afar, but he recognized that the man was performing the Demon Cult's unique martial arts, the Ruyi Tianmo Lianhuan Eight Styles, and was indeed a member of the Demon Cult.
But in the Central Plains martial arts world, and even in the Western Regions, apart from the lingering Yaohu Demon Palace lineage, when did other demonic forces emerge?
The woman in the black dress spoke in a clear voice, and while swinging her sword to block the attack, she said, "I didn't kill those people in the river. You'd better return to Wudang as soon as possible, otherwise the disaster of annihilation of your family is imminent."
"Witch, you are so shameless . I, Liu Ruosong, am here today, so it is not your turn to be so presumptuous."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Liu, for coming to our aid."
"Senior Brother Liu, you must seek justice for us!"
…
A group of people were chatting with each other, all surrounding a handsome young swordsman.
“Pah pah pah!”
Suddenly, when the two sides were fighting, there were a few sounds of applause from the side.
"Very good, very good. It seems that the Wudang Sect is indeed worthy of being a famous and righteous sect. Seeing it in person is not as good as hearing it. So many people surrounded a woman, and they couldn't defeat her. Haha, it's really embarrassing."
A group of people turned their heads and saw a man standing in front of the river ferry, clapping his hands and laughing strangely, his words full of sarcasm.
A Taoist priest was furious upon hearing this, "Where did you come from, you little beast? How dare you talk nonsense here!"
Shangguan Shisan didn't get angry. He stretched out a finger to clean his ear, then pointed at the group of Taoists and counted them one by one, clearing his throat and saying, "One, two, three... nine. Ahem, you nine are worse than pigs and dogs, fatherless and motherless, without any descendants, and will never die a good death. How dare you ask about your young master's origins?"
Upon hearing this, the Taoists' eyes were all blazing with fire, their faces flushed red, and they gnashed their teeth in anger, wishing they could draw their swords and chop him into pieces.
Shangguan Shisan didn't care. Li Muchan had taught him that one should repay kindness and revenge, and that those who wronged him should be repaid double. Furthermore, Shangguan Xiaoxian had taught him that he must never suffer any loss. So, whenever someone scolded him, he would definitely scold them back, and he would scold them to his heart's content. If someone hit him, he would definitely fight back tenfold or a hundredfold, beating them so hard that they would flee in fear, never daring to provoke him again.
"You little bastard, I'll cut off your tongue."
Suddenly, a man screamed and withdrew from the battle circle. He turned the sword and pointed at Shangguan Shisan.
Everyone only saw that Shangguan Shisan was a little short and regarded him as a child who had not grown up. Little did they know that in order to escape from home, this man deliberately used the method of shrinking his bones to change his body shape and appearance.
Seeing the other party's fierce eyes and the aggressive momentum, Shangguan Shisan narrowed his eyes and smiled, without moving his stick, he mobilised his fists and smashed left and right. The Taoist priest in front of him fell out with two black eye sockets and a scream.
The people who were besieging the woman in black skirt heard the noise, looked back, and their faces changed.
The young swordsman's eyes flickered as he said in a deep voice, "Good boy, you're quite capable. Could you be an accomplice of this witch?"
The woman in the black dress said, "It's none of your business. Go away."
Shangguan Shisan rubbed his wrists, rolled up his sleeves, and without saying a word, only chuckled and beat the fallen Taoist priest violently again, hitting him hard on the flesh and the face. "I'll teach you a lesson for being shameless."
"How brave."
When the Wudang Taoists saw this scene, they could no longer remain calm and four of them immediately attacked with swords.
Shangguan Shisan sneered and punched with his fists vigorously.
"Boy, you're going too far!"
Those Taoists were already burning with rage, and they danced their four long swords tightly and fiercely, with their sword moves being sharp and ruthless, and it was clear that they had murderous intentions.
But before the four of them had even taken five moves, they cried out in pain, terrified, and each of them covered an eye as they collapsed in defeat.
"What a weird boy!"
This man's fists were extremely violent, and there was clearly no pattern to his punches, but he didn't expect them to be so powerful.
Just then, someone came from upstream again.
But then a man came striding over, his movements as fast as flowing clouds, he had an old face, and was dressed in a gray-black Taoist robe. He had a single sword on his back and held a sword in one hand, which was stained with blood.
"It's Senior Brother Dugu from the Emei Sect!"
The visitor was actually the closed disciple of the master of Xuanzhen Temple, Dugu Yihe.
"Is everything alright, brothers?"
"Brother Dugu, be careful. These two demons from the demon sect are very skilled and very difficult to deal with."
Dugu Yihe glanced at the woman in the black dress, then looked at Shangguan Shisan, and saw that the Wudang disciples beside him all had black eye sockets. His eyes suddenly lit up and he strode forward to meet them.
The woman in the black dress swung her sword, forcing the others around her to retreat with a single blow. She then shouted at Shangguan Shisan, "Why are you so stubborn? Why don't you leave now? If you don't leave now, don't blame me if you die."
When others are in trouble, they are so anxious to get out that they don't even have time to do so, but this person just likes to get involved.
Shangguan Shisan sneered, "In my life, apart from my parents, I've never been afraid of anything, let alone these little cats and dogs."
The woman in the black dress stomped her feet, turned around and left, "I don't care about you anymore."
Shangguan Shisan was also amused by the other party's words. This man had superb swordsmanship, but he didn't want to speak so childishly. He was obviously very skilled, but he couldn't bring himself to kill, so he was tied up and was surrounded.
"You'd better go away. You talk too much nonsense. I don't want you to bother me." He added casually.
Dugu Yihe was about to take action when he saw this, but he seemed to catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. His pupils shrank sharply and his gaze turned sharply, staring straight at what Shangguan Shisan was carrying on his back.
I saw two overlapping short sticks hanging on the not-so-broad back.
This short stick is completely black, with a square head and tail, and a round body, which looks very strange.
As soon as he saw the two short sticks, Dugu Yihe's cheeks twitched and he hesitated for a moment.
Seeing this, the woman in the black skirt said hurriedly, "Hurry up and leave."
Although Shangguan Shisan was suspicious of Dugu Yihe's reaction, seeing that he did not take any action, he was too lazy to continue to argue with him and planned to leave immediately.
But before one wave subsided, another wave arose. Before he could escape, a voice floated over the river, "Leave? None of you can leave."
Shangguan Shisan looked in the direction of the sound and saw a row of bamboo rafts coming downstream on the river upstream. On the rafts stood a man in a blue robe, wearing a wide-brimmed bamboo hat and holding a green bamboo. On his shoulder sat a majestic and ferocious bird. The bird was tall and strong, with a mop of black and white hair under the hat.
As soon as this person appeared, both the Wudang disciples and Dugu Yihe were startled. They stopped fighting for a while and did not dare to move rashly.
Dugu Yihe said in a hoarse voice, "The head of the Tianqin Sect is Huo Tianying."
The black-dressed woman's expression changed drastically, "Oh no!"
If we talk about the most famous figure in the martial arts world in recent years, there is only one person, Huo Tianying, who dominates Guanlong and is invincible in the northwest.
This person actually broke through the barrier and came out.
Seeing that the bamboo raft was moving at an incredibly fast speed, the woman in the black dress didn't care whether it would implicate Shangguan Shisan. Without hesitation, she turned around and rushed into the distance like a wisp of black smoke.
But as she moved, an eagle's cry was heard between heaven and earth, high and piercing, cutting through the clouds. Immediately afterwards, a golden light flapped its wings and rose up, stirring up hurricanes, descending from the sky and pouncing towards the woman in black dress.
Shangguan Shisan's eyes showed surprise. He had already seen the face of the golden light. It was the ferocious bird on Huo Tianying's shoulder.
No one knew what kind of creature this strange bird was. When its feathers flapped, it was like the collision of metal, and its speed was incredibly fast.
The woman in the black dress screamed and dodged quickly, but when she stood firm, the black scarf on her face had disappeared, revealing a delicate, young, and somewhat panic-stricken face.
"The Demon Cult's unique skills are never passed on to outsiders. Your swordsmanship is three times more exquisite than that of the Yaohu Demon Palace. I believe it must have been taught by a personal teacher." Huo Tianying's voice was sharp, like the cry of an eagle. His words seemed to penetrate people's hearts and lungs, and his coldness made people shudder. "Although the Demon Cult was destroyed in the past, another branch fled overseas. They are the direct descendants of the Demon Cult leader."
The woman in the black dress bit her red lips and said, "I didn't kill these people. The murderer is someone else."
Huo Tianying held a green bamboo in his hand, standing proudly across the river, and said calmly: "Whether you killed them or not, the remnants of the Demon Cult will have no chance of survival."
The man raised his bamboo hat, and at the same time raised a pair of feminine, narrow, cold eyes like an eagle or a falcon.
"Stinky, it stinks!" Shangguan Shisan feigned disdain as he waved his hand in front of his face. He then said bluntly, "Who do you think you are to decide someone else's life or death? Humph, what I hate most is people like you who are so arrogant. You just have to knock everyone down one by one to feel good."
Huo Tianying remained expressionless and said, "She is a remnant of the Demonic Cult. She must have other intentions when she returns to the Central Plains."
Shangguan Shisan scoffed. "I didn't see her do anything bad. I only saw a bunch of shameless people bullying the weak and the powerful, yet they still call themselves righteous. Hehe, even if she really has other motives, what does it have to do with me? Honestly, I just don't like you guys."
Huo Tianying didn't move his shoulders, but twisted his neck, turning into an eagle-like look. "Since you are not in the same group as her, it's not too late to leave now."
Shangguan Shisan taunted, "If the ground is uneven, someone will plow it; if things are unfair, someone will take care of them. Don't even mention that you're the head of the Tianqin Sect. Even if you're number one in the world, if you dare to bully others, I'll still beat you down."
While the two were talking, the ferocious bird had already flapped its wings and was pouncing towards the woman in the black dress.
Huo Tianying had a blank expression on his face. "What an ignorant brat."
"Senior, let me take care of this witch for you first."
Liu Ruosong suddenly flashed and drew his sword. The sword flashed and rushed straight to the back of the woman in black dress like a waterfall.
But just as he made his move, before the sword arrived, he heard a dull and suppressed sound of breaking through the air.
“Woo!”
Liu Ruosong's heart skipped a beat, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a black shadow coming towards him with the sound of wind and thunder. He quickly changed his attack and blocked it with his sword.
It would have been fine if he hadn't blocked it. As soon as he did, the long sword in his hand was instantly twisted into a pretzel by a huge force, and the sword body was twisted and deformed. Frightened, Liu Ruosong's scalp went numb and he screamed, "Ah, the Heavenly Secret Stick!"
Just as the man was about to be hit by the stick, a figure flashed over, and a fist was placed between the two.
"hey-hey!"
Shangguan Shisan laughed fiercely, and a sound of inhalation suddenly came from under the mask. His originally not very tall body instantly grew taller and swelled up. With the sound of muscles and bones popping, he swung the iron rod in his hand upside down, and it turned into a sky full of rod shadows.
Liu Ruosong was so frightened that he staggered back and fell to the ground.
It was Huo Tianying who took action.
Huo Tianying's eyes were shining brightly, and his body rose and fell, circling and flying like an eagle in the shadow of the stick, light and strange, changing with no reason.
"What exquisite Qinggong!" Shangguan Shisan sneered, his hands quickly becoming crystal clear, a cold energy bursting out, and in the blink of an eye, it had wrapped around the iron rod in his hand, "Let me show you my self-created Tianfan Rod."
"ah!"
Suddenly, a sharp and long whistle was heard. Shangguan Shisan's body suddenly grew larger again, with a fierce light in his eyes and an unruly look. The shadow of the stick in his hand flew around, and waves of cold energy swept in all directions with the whistling wind from the stick.
For a moment, it was as if frost had killed all the grass, and everyone felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave and could not help shivering.
