The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 149

Jiang Ning remained calm, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

"Junior Nephew Jiang, stop looking. I'm the only one here."

Seeing Jiang Ning's attitude, Liu Zhengfeng said.

"I came here specially to see you."

"Find me?"

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow, somewhat puzzled.

Liu Zhengfeng looked distressed: "I've come to thank you for saving Qin'er's life."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning's face remained expressionless, but he sheathed his sword.

Jiang Ning looked him up and down.

"Since we parted ways in Hengshan City last year, Uncle Liu has lost a lot of weight."

When I saw Liu Zhengfeng again, he was no longer wearing brocade and silk, but coarse linen clothes.

Liu Zhengfeng used to be portly and prosperous, like a wealthy old man, but now he has lost a lot of weight and looks somewhat haggard, no longer the same as before.

It must have been a difficult time for him during the period when he was being hunted down by the Songshan Sect.

Chapter 211 White Paper, Black Ink

"Hey."

Liu Zhengfeng gave a bitter smile; he was also quite disheartened.

"Did Uncle Liu come with Master Uncle Mo and the others?"

He had only recently come down the mountain, so it was impossible for Liu Zhengfeng to have followed him. The only possibility was that Liu Zhengfeng had secretly followed Master Mo and his disciples and then followed him here.

"Ah."

Liu Zhengfeng did not argue, but nodded.

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow.

"Have Uncle Liu, Uncle Mo, and Liu Qin met?"

Liu Zhengfeng shook his head bitterly: "No."

One of them was his senior, and the other was his only son. Given his current situation, he didn't know how to face them.

He asked himself if his friendship with Qu Yang was merely a matter of musical affinity, and that he had not done anything to harm the Hengshan Sect. However, the affairs of the martial arts world are not subject to individual will. Now, the entire martial arts world is spreading rumors that he is colluding with the Demonic Sect, and the Hengshan Sect has been disgraced because of him.

Seeing Liu Zhengfeng's appearance, Jiang Ning could roughly guess his mood.

"Since Uncle Liu has nothing else to say, I shall take my leave."

Jiang Ning then prepared to leave.

Liu Zhengfeng has now practically broken away from the Hengshan Sect and is hanging out with Qu Yang. The Hengshan Sect doesn't care about him anymore, and Jiang Ning really doesn't have anything to say to Liu Zhengfeng, as he has his own things to do.

"Wait a moment."

Liu Zhengfeng called Jiang Ning back again.

Jiang Ning turned to look at him: "Is there anything else, Uncle Liu?"

Liu Zhengfeng hesitated for a moment.

"Junior Nephew Jiang, did I... really make a mistake?"

A look of confusion appeared on Liu Zhengfeng's face.

Since the day he and Qu Yang escaped Hengshan City, Liu Zhengfeng has been suffering greatly, not only hiding from pursuers but also constantly on the run. He wakes up in the middle of the night every night, dreaming of the events of that day.

For the past year or so, Liu Zhengfeng has been living in a daze. What he fears most is the night. Every time he closes his eyes, he dreams of his wife asking him if he regrets it. He also dreams of his eldest son, Liu Yin. The words Liu Yin said to him before he committed suicide are like a sharp knife stabbing into his heart.

Every time Liu Zhengfeng wakes up at midnight, he is always lost in thought.

His life seemed to have frozen on that day.

Looking at the desolate look in Liu Zhengfeng's eyes, he was middle-aged, but now he looked like he was in his twilight years.

Jiang Ning was silent for a moment, then said, "Uncle Liu shouldn't ask me this question; he should ask Liu Qin."

Now that Liu Zhengfeng has followed Master Mo and his disciples all the way to Mount Hua, he probably wants to see Liu Qin the most right now, and there are some things he should ask Liu Qin.

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, Liu Zhengfeng opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.

He also wanted to meet Liu Qin, but he didn't know how to do it, let alone how to face her after they met.

Liu Zhengfeng finally sighed and asked Jiang Ning another question.

"Junior Nephew Jiang, are good and evil really so incompatible?"

Right and wrong correspond to good and evil, but the right and wrong that Liu Zhengfeng talks about are not a matter of good and evil.

Jiang Ning looked at him and gave him eight words.

"Good and evil are opposed, and they fight each other for life."

Jiang Ning knew that Liu Zhengfeng's question was not simply about good and evil, but his answer was only about good and evil.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhengfeng's expression became somewhat agitated.

"What is righteous? What is evil? Does what Ding Mian and his group did count as righteous? Is it righteous to coerce someone by using their wife and children? Just because they are on the righteous path, does that mean their actions are righteous? Just because Qu Yang comes from a demonic sect, does that mean his actions are evil?"

Upon hearing the mention of the Songshan Sect, a ferocious look appeared on Liu Zhengfeng's face, and his eyes were filled with deep-seated hatred.

Although the death of his loved ones caused Liu Zhengfeng pain, he hated Ding Mian and others even more for their actions.

"Using my wife and children to coerce me, slaughtering innocents in the name of righteousness—even members of the demonic sect would disdain such actions, yet the righteous path has despicable people like Ding Mian. What kind of righteous path is this? What use is such a righteous path? What is the difference between righteousness and demonism? What is the difference between such a righteous path and the demonic path?"

Liu Zhengfeng looked deranged, as if he had fallen into a madman.

Jiang Ning remained calm in the face of Liu Zhengfeng's questions.

"Uncle Liu is older than me, so he should understand some principles better than I do. What is righteous? Righteousness is doing justice and helping people. What is evil? Harming the people and causing havoc in the world is evil. There are two paths in the martial arts world: righteous and demonic. Why is there such a division?"

"It is undeniable that there are some people in the righteous path who do evil deeds in the name of righteousness, but this does not mean that all righteous paths are like that. If there is a black spot on a piece of white paper, how can we deny the whiteness of the whole paper because of this black spot?"

"A dot of white in black ink, but its roots have never been white."

Jiang Ning doesn't believe that all people on the righteous path are righteous and all people on the demonic path are evil. For example, when he was at the Iron Palm Sect, Jiang Ning didn't kill all the gang members who hadn't arrived at the scene immediately. Instead, he investigated and confirmed that all the gang members deserved to die before taking action, which was like looking for gold in excrement or a speck of white in ink.

But as he just said about white paper and black ink, both white paper and black ink have black spots and white spots.

"What we need to do is remove the black spots on the white paper and wipe away the black ink, instead of denying the whole paper because of a single ink spot, denying the ancestors who sacrificed for the righteous path and for the common people, and acknowledging the whole ink because of a single white spot in the black ink."

Just as Jiang Ning said in his class last year, this world is not satisfactory, filled with too much evil, and even among those who claim to be righteous, there are bad apples.

But what Jiang Ning and others who are wholeheartedly committed to upholding justice and are willing to sacrifice their lives for it should do is eliminate these bad apples, not abandon the righteous path.

We cannot negate those who uphold the righteous path, such as Tianmen Daoren, Chi Baicheng, Dingyi Shitai, Ning Zhongze, and the Diancang Twin Swords, just because people like Yu Canghai, Ding Mian, Lu Bai, and Zuo Lengchan have emerged in the righteous path. Nor can we acknowledge people like Tian Boguang, Mobei Shuangxiong, Hu Anyu, and Ren Yingying just because there might be a virtuous person in the demonic sect.

Liu Zhengfeng remained silent upon hearing this.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Ning decided not to say anything more; he had already said what he needed to say.

"Uncle Liu, farewell."

Jiang Ning said something to Liu Zhengfeng, then turned and left.

Watching Jiang Ning's departing figure, Liu Zhengfeng looked dazed and felt utterly alone.

……

Henan.

Kaifeng.

A rather dilapidated house sits in a small alley.

"Uncle Xiang, we're counting on you for this trip."

Ren Yingying sat at the table, her face pale and her expression weak.

Two people, a man and a woman, were standing in front of her.

The man was a tall, elderly man in white robes with a refined appearance, a white beard hanging down to his chest, and an extraordinary demeanor.

The woman was in her early twenties, with a beautiful face, large eyes that seemed to hold autumn water, and dressed in Miao attire.

Xiang Wentian nodded.

"Don't worry, even if it costs me my life, I will rescue Leader Ren."

Chapter 212 Plan

Ren Yingying was still very weak, and after saying these words, she was panting heavily, looking sickly.

Seeing her like this, Xiang Wentian's face showed a hint of anger.

"That brat from the Huashan Sect injured you so badly. After I rescue Master Ren, I will definitely go to Huashan and kill that brat myself."

Faced with his indignant attitude, Ren Yingying gently shook her head.

"There's no rush at this moment."

Although Jiang Ning injured her, her focus should still be on rescuing Ren Woxing and fighting against Yang Lianting.

Ren Yingying rested for a while, then said, "I have already sent the Four Immortals of Peach Valley to Shaanxi to distract Yang Lianting. This time, you need to act quickly."

Xiang Wentian was still somewhat doubtful: "Don't we need to find someone who knows the Drunken Sword? Isn't this a bit too hasty?"

Although he had made preparations, the current plan was different from the original one, and he was really unfamiliar with wine culture, so he was afraid of delaying important matters.

Ren Yingying shook her head: "There's no way around it, time waits for no one."

She originally intended to take her time finding a suitable candidate, but things always unfold unpredictably, and unexpected events always precede plans. She didn't have time; if she didn't act now, it would be even more difficult to act later.

"Uncle Xiang, take the 'Guangling San', 'Ouxue Pu', and 'Shuaiyi Tie' with you. I will have Green Bamboo Elder, Zu Qianqiu, and her go with you. Green Bamboo Elder knows about wine, and Zu Qianqiu knows about wine cups. With these two helping you, I don't think there will be any major mistakes."

"it is good."

Xiang Wentian nodded, then hesitated: "You've made such a big move this time, exposing your strength. I'm afraid it will be even more difficult for you to act within the Divine Sect in the future."

Ren Yingying felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this.

This siege of Mount Hua was not her idea; it was a move she had no other choice.

Since being seriously injured by Jiang Ning, she was carried all the way to Kaifeng by the Four Immortals of Peach Valley to be treated by Ping Yizhi. During this time, she remained in a coma.

Jiang Ning's final blow to her was almost fatal, but thanks to the miraculous healing skills of the Four Immortals of Peach Valley, her injuries were so severe that even Ping Yizhi shook his head in dismay.

Ping Yizhi went to great lengths to save her, barely managing to keep her alive for several months before she was finally brought back to life.

But soon after she woke up, she heard that news of her being hunted down by Jiang Ning had spread throughout the martial arts world. The forces and experts she had subdued couldn't sit still, and since they couldn't find her, they took this action.

By the time she realized it, these people had already marched off towards Shaanxi in a grand procession, chanting the slogan of avenging her.

When Ren Yingying heard the news, she almost couldn't catch her breath.

These people were unaware of her situation within the Sun Moon Cult, and this exposure caused her considerable trouble.

After taking power, Yang Lianting had been carrying out a major purge within the sect, even more ruthlessly than Dongfang Bubai. He spared no one who was Ren Woxing's former subordinate, and many of the elders of the Sun Moon Sect died, not to mention her, the orphaned daughter of the former sect leader.

Although her status within the sect remained extraordinary and Yang Lianting did not touch her, her situation was becoming increasingly difficult. In the past, Dongfang Bubai did not touch her because she had something that Dongfang Bubai needed. However, Yang Lianting acted without restraint, and she feared that she might be assassinated by him one day.

Now that the forces she secretly controlled have been exposed, Yang Lianting has taken notice and sent the Seven Stars Envoys of the Sun Moon Sect to Mount Hua in Shaanxi to monitor Sima Da and his group. In order to prevent the situation from escalating further and more of her forces from being exposed, Ren Yingying quickly sent people to suppress the most powerful forces under her control and make them go into hiding again, such as the Five Poisons Sect.

Since things had already developed to this point and there was no turning back, Ren Yingying decided to stir things up and make Yang Lianting focus his attention on Shaanxi. She then sent Xiang Wentian to Meizhuang to rescue Ren Woxing.

Although this is somewhat hasty, it is better than letting things develop unchecked.

"If we can successfully rescue my father on this trip, that would be best. If all else fails, then we'll have her take action."

Ren Yingying looked at Lan Fenghuang beside her.

Lan Fenghuang remained silent from the beginning, and nodded slightly when Ren Yingying looked at her.

Xiang Wentian glanced at Lan Fenghuang, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

He never expected that Ren Yingying would actually subdue the Five Poisons Sect and make Lan Fenghuang obey her every word.