Chapter 68
The next morning, Han Changsheng and An Yuan bid farewell to Zheng Feng-er and set out for Kunlun Mountain .
It would take about half a month to get to the foot of the Kunlun Mountain from where they were . After about ten days of walking, they weren’t far from the mountain . It was then that they ran into more people from the Wulin .
The Wulin Conference was held every three years . It was a grand event for the entire Wulin . Every outstanding sect in the Jianghu sent people to attend . As a token of their importance, the leaders and elders with high moral standing often attended . Some smaller sects that were unknown or newly established would also sharpen their heads and join in . If anyone made an eye-catching performance at the Wulin Conference, their sects or the individuals could become famous with a single stroke . Those who called themselves lone rangers or who didn’t care to communicate with other sects also attended the event, since it was a good opportunity to make friends .
Just because of its importance, although it was still a month early, many sects arrived in advance .
Han Changsheng asked An Yuan, “Have you ever attended the Wulin Assembly before?”
“Never,” An Yuan said, “I seldom left Yuehua Mountain before now . The first time I’ve gone to many places is when I’ve traveled with you . ”
“Were you not your master’s favorite disciple?” Han Changsheng asked, “Why didn’t he take you out?”
Leaders of all the sects in the Wulin Assembly often brought a couple disciples with outstanding martial arts talents or other outstanding skills with them . In the Wulin Assembly, some sects conducted friendly duels . If their own disciples won, they would naturally face the sect leader .
Han Changsheng had been in the Yuehua Sect for a while . Among the disciples of this generation, An Yuan had the most talent . The rest were of a rotten cabbage gang, not worth mentioning .
An Yuan glanced at Han Changsheng and said, “I’m younger . My Shifu took the eldest martial brother to the Wulin conference three years ago . Shifu intended to take me while letting Elder Shanhua manage the sect’s internal affairs . But before I left, the elders mistakenly ate poisonous wild vegetables and fell ill . The sect leader left me to take care of the elders in his absence . Afterward, he still took the elder martial brother, instead . ”
Jokingly, Han Changsheng said, “Such bad luck, why didn’t he leave Li Jiulong behind?”
An Yuan said, “The elder brother is unreliable . ”
Stunned, Han Changsheng laughed, “Yes, there’s a lot to do . ”
After so many years of being in the Tianning Cult, Han Changsheng had sneaked out to play . Anyone available at the time would be tasked to search for him, except for Luoxin . Only Luoxin didn’t leave the mountain . He was so reliable, the Tianning Cult couldn’t be without his management .
An Yuan sighed and said, “Things happened to coincide . I once suspected that the elder martial brother intended to do it . To make the headmaster take him to the Wulin conference, he would have to leave me behind . But, there’s no evidence, so there’s no point crying over spilled milk . ”
Han Changsheng gave a surprised look at An Yuan . “To you, it’s just a Wulin assembly . ”
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An Yuan shrugged .
Han Changsheng asked, “Well, have you not left the Yuehua Mountain much before now?”
An Yuan thought for a moment and said, “Yes . Since I was led to the Yuehua Mountain by the headmaster when I was a child, I seldom went out . I met you the last time I came down from the mountain . ” Then he asked Han Changsheng, “Do you often wander in the Jianghu?”
Han Changsheng immediately puffed up his chest . “Of course, I’ve traveled all over the world . What famous mountains and great rivers? I’ve seen enough to be tired of them!”
An Yuan blinked, showing envy .
In fact, Han Changsheng had scarcely left the Tianning Cult at all . Every time he left, he was dragged back in less than a month . This was the longest time he’d been away from the mountain alone . The things he saw most were the small brooks and hills under the Xiushan Mountain .
In fact, he was an indecisive character . When he heard of the mountains and rivers described in books, he wanted nothing more than to see them with his own eyes . He learned different sect’s skills when he was young, and since then, he wanted to challenge another master at their own sect and demand a fair fight .
Unfortunately, he never made it .
Not that the Tianning disciples wouldn’t let him go, but in the past, his martial arts were poor and his temperament was unruly . Whenever he went out, Lu Baibi and Lu Qingqian were bound to follow him . However, they never intended to hide their identities . When the leader of the demonic cult went out, it caused public anger . Xiaoqiang and Xiaobai couldn’t handle it if he was attacked .
If he wanted to leave the mountain, he had to bring a bunch of talents with him, which usually meant many people . It was annoying and hardly free . So, in fact, he didn’t play outside much .
This time, besides investigating Huangfu’s family, Han Changsheng, himself, was curious to see the event .
Seeing that An Yuan was a little lonely, Han Changsheng clapped his chest and said, “I will take you out in the future and we’ll walk to all the interesting places under the sky!”
An Yuan laughed and said, “Does your bad brother have any objections to that?”
The brother An Yuan meant was the man Han Changsheng made up . Han Changsheng’s face had changed to that of Hua Xiaoshuang, who was close to An Yuan . He let Lu Qingqian and Lu Baibi have a good relationship with An Yuan to pave the way for the future . In the future, An Yuan would attack the Tianning Cult . Originally, this was Han Changsheng’s fate, alone . He didn’t want to involve anyone else . Therefore, since he left the Yuehua Sect, he had changed his mind to make plans for the future .
Han Changsheng only said, “He only cares about Xiao Qing and Xiao Bai, not me . ”
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An Yuan glanced at him and asked, “What kind of relationship do you have with that big brother?”
Han Changsheng said, “He is a bad young man . Except for being handsome, he is evil from head to toe . He has caught many good people to do things for him . He forces them to do all the bad things they do . ”
An Yuan frowned after a while, then asked, “You talk about him as though he is bad, but you never forget how handsome he is . How handsome is he?”
Han Changsheng calmly glanced at him . “He’s more handsome than you . ”
An Yuan: “…”
While they were talking, they suddenly heard a noise from the front . An Yuan pulled the veil from the straw hat covering his face, saying, “Go have a look . ”
They waved their whips and sped up, soon arriving at the source of the sound .
Before them was a tea pavilion . At the door of the pavilion, a group of people was in a noisy conflict . Several people were watching the commotion .
Several men in uniform surrounded a simple middle-aged man in cloth . His face didn’t look good . The leader’s disciple pushed the middle-aged man, aggressively shouting, “You stinky thief, how dare you try to steal the Rongshan Sect’s horse in broad daylight! What sect do you belong to? Report your name!”
Han Changsheng frowned when he heard the name of the Rongshan Sect . This sect was very famous in the Jianghu for its fist techniques . It was said to be the first fist sect in the Jianghu . The middle-aged man wore a short knife around his waist and a zither on his back . Looking at his framework, he was also a martial artist, but he didn’t seem to be very good .
The middle-aged man blushed and said, “I’m not a horse thief! You blood-spitting man!”
“Ha?!” The disciple cried, “With so many eyes watching, dare you say you’re not a horse thief? Our magnificent Rongshan faction can still be wronged . Can’t you succeed on your claim?”
All around them, people shouted, “That’s right! You stole the horse!”
Han Changsheng and An Yuan saw several horses tied at the gate of the teahouse . They all had uniform saddles on their backs, bearing the Rongshan crest . They had to belong to the Rongshan Sect .
All the horses were tied to posts with ropes, except one . He seemed to be a little anxious . He held his head down and snorted, pounding his hooves to the ground . One of the Rongshan disciples picked up his rope and tried to tie him up again . The middle-aged man suddenly pushed away the man beside him and rushed to the horse, shouting, “Let it go!”
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Suddenly pushed by the man, the eldest Rongshan disciple had to be held back by his martial brothers before he could stand up steadily .
In a rage, he rushed up and grabbed the middle-aged man’s collar, shouting, “Stinky thief, you planned to run away after being caught red-handed . Today, I will teach you a lesson in the name of heaven!”
The middle-aged man struggled hard so he could rush to the horse led by the Rongshan Sect disciples . “You let go of the poor child, you’ll torture him to death!”
“Poor child?” The Rongshan disciple in charge of the horse looked around and saw no such child . Then, he looked at the horse in surprise and said, “You mean this beast?”
Angrily, the middle-aged man said, “The child is overdrawn . You must let him go to the mountain and have a rest . It’s the only chance to save him . If you try to ride him again, he won’t live through the day!”
There were hissing sounds all around .
The eldest Rongshan disciple sneered and said, “Oh, so you can examine and judge a horse? If you want to say that my horse is the best horse for thousands of miles, that’s enough . If you want to say he’ll die today, I won’t believe your evil nonsense . Even those who examine the sick won’t dare to say such big words . Stealing a horse is stealing a horse, and you pulled this ridiculous lie . What I hate most in my life is not a thief, but a liar!”
The middle-aged man couldn’t help his continuous struggling, desperately trying to break away from the man who was holding him . “Let go of me, what I say is true . You must let go of this horse immediately . I… I’ll give you money . I’ll buy this horse!”
“What money?” The eldest disciple asked .
The middle-aged man looked embarrassed . “I… I have no money! I’ll give it to you later!”
An Yuan, not far away, saw the farce in his eyes and shook his head . “Regardless of whether or not he told the truth, it’s not right to let someone else’s horse go without telling them . ”
Lacking interest, Han Changsheng said, “Leave them alone, let’s go . ”
Just then, the eldest Rongshan disciple pulled the middle-aged man around the crowd and said, “Today, you will be a witness . We, the Rongshan Sect, have some status in the Wulin . Our master taught us to punish the evil and promote the good . According to the rules of the Rongshan Sect, he who catches the thief will break the hand they stole with . And, if he catches the swindler with flamboyant speech, he will face ten lashings . ”
“Today, this thief stole my horse in full view of the public and lied about it . Today, I will break his right hand to dispose of the commoner’s evil!”
Han Changsheng knew the Wulin people were very Jianghu-minded . He liked to behave according to his own rules and never worked as an official . To calm the people, the government often turned a blind eye to the actions of the people in the Jianghu . The people of the Rongshan Sect caught the horse thief, so they’d punish him with their own rules .
An Yuan frowned . “It’s not right . If that man’s story is true, it would be too harsh to break his hand . ”
The eldest disciple held the middle-aged man’s right hand and raised it high . He made a fist with the other hand, ready to fight . He could hit the middle-aged man’s arm with this blow and break the man’s arm .
Just then, a pellet flew over and hit the eldest disciple’s hemp tendon . His arm immediately lost strength and fell to his side . It was An Yuan that acted in a hurry and shot the pellet to save the man .
“You…” An Yuan wanted to step forward and speak, but Han Changsheng stared at him and rushed forward first, “Stop it! You bullies!”
An Yuan, whose lead he stole, was stunned .
The Rongshan disciples didn’t expect anyone to stop them . They immediately stared at Han Changsheng with their covetous eyes and put out an attack . “You two!”
“I’m on my own! I don’t know that guy over there! I shot the pellet . I just can’t stand you oppressing the people!”
An Yuan was so surprised he couldn’t close his mouth . He nearly forgot to come forward . What was this situation?
However, at that time, Han Changsheng’s heart secretly pinched a cold sweat . Beginning from the Mingyue Sect, he paved the way for An Yuan’s future . Although Han Changsheng was from the demonic cult, he knew that if one wanted to be the leader of the Wulin, one had to serve the public . This Rongshan Sect was a big sect . If An Yuan offended all these people, he’d undoubtedly set a stumbling block for himself in the future .
One thousand, ten thousand percent unwilling, Han Changsheng could only condescend to be the great hero who helped in the face of injustice . He couldn’t get on with it . He really had no face to get on with it in the wicked world!
Hearing what he said, the Rongshan disciples withdrew their gaze from An Yuan and turned all their attention on Han Changsheng . “What are you talking about, you bastard? We are punishing the horse thief!”
Han Changsheng sneered . “Ah!”
Translator(s): Empress
TL Check: Teo
Editor(s): Empress