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

Page 62

That wasn't all. After ordering new sect uniforms, Yue Buqun bought other new clothes for his disciples. For the female disciples, Ning Zhongze bought some cosmetics and powder to give them to them.

The disciples of Mount Hua now have a completely new look, and everyone is beaming with joy.

These are also Jiang Ning's opinions.

In July, the Huashan Sect wiped out a total of eighteen bandit dens and received a considerable amount of reward money from the government. In the following period, Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong personally led teams to sweep away bandits, wiping out the entire Shaanxi province.

The bandits and robbers they encountered along the way were alright if they met Linghu Chong, as they still had a chance to escape. But when they met the Huashan disciples led by Jiang Ning, they didn't even have a chance to run away and were directly wiped out.

They killed so many bandits and received a considerable amount of bounty from the government. It cannot be said that banditry has been completely eradicated in Shaanxi Province, but the large mountain strongholds have been wiped out, leaving only some smaller, well-hidden groups of bandits.

Since the Huashan Sect officially suppressed the bandits, the safety level of the environment in the entire Shaanxi Province has risen sharply, and the people no longer have to worry about being robbed on the way and losing their lives.

Many people in Shaanxi now know that there is a prestigious and righteous sect called the Huashan Sect on Mount Hua that is dedicated to eliminating evil and protecting the righteous path.

The government was also very pleased with the Huashan Sect's long-running anti-bandit campaign. These bandits and robbers who robbed people along the way were all achievements in their political careers and stepping stones for their advancement.

When the Huashan Sect learned that it was going to personally wipe out the bandits in Shaanxi, the prefects of the four prefectures of Hanzhong showed great concern for the Huashan Sect and cooperated very well. Whenever the Huashan Sect wiped out a bandit stronghold, the government was very generous with the rewards.

While eliminating the bandits, Yue Buqun also obtained a large sum of money. He originally planned to renovate all the buildings of the Huashan Sect, since some places had become dilapidated after decades.

Now that he has money, Yue Buqun wants to rebuild the Huashan Sect on a grand scale and improve its appearance.

However, Jiang Ning dissuaded Yue Buqun from his idea and instead told him to spend all the money on his disciples.

The prestige of the Huashan Sect is not maintained by these inanimate objects, but by people, by Yue Buqun, by Jiang Ning, by Linghu Chong, and by all the Huashan disciples. They are the true face of the Huashan Sect.

It wasn't that Jiang Ning thought renovating the Huashan buildings wasn't important; it's just that everything has to be done in order. Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation are all important, with clothing and food coming before shelter. Jiang Ning proposed a people-oriented approach, instructing Yue Buqun to pay more attention to the disciples, their food and clothing, their mental state, and their progress in martial arts. Only when the Huashan disciples felt that the sect valued them could they maintain a higher level of loyalty to the Huashan Sect.

Money is inanimate, buildings are inanimate, but people are the most valuable.

Yue Buqun trusted Jiang Ning and believed that Jiang Ning had a longer-term vision, so he readily adopted his advice.

"it is good!"

"Not bad!"

"Good work deserves reward!"

A burst of cheers rang out, and several Huashan disciples, feeling inspired, wanted to perform a sword dance. With Yue Buqun's permission, they began to dance in front of everyone, while the other disciples applauded and cheered.

Chapter 97: Young people spend money extravagantly

"Yes, Not Bad."

Watching his disciples finish their sword dance and bow to him, Yue Buqun smiled and nodded in encouragement. After the disciples returned to their seats, he said, "I have something to announce."

Hearing their master speak so solemnly, Lu Dayou and the other disciples straightened their posture and became focused, including Linghu Chong.

Yue Buqun treated them well, so they respected and loved him even more.

Jiang Ning, however, remained calm and composed.

He already knew what Yue Buqun was going to announce.

Yue Buqun looked at the disciples of Mount Hua and said slowly, "I plan to start recruiting more disciples after the spring."

Over the past five months, the strength of Lu Dayou and other second-generation disciples of Mount Hua has increased rapidly. The weakest among them are third-rate experts, such as Lin Pingzhi. Although the others are still at the level of third-rate experts in terms of cultivation and internal strength, their combat ability, combined with their swordsmanship, is comparable to that of some second-rate experts. Their overall strength has increased by more than one level compared to before.

Now, even if they were allowed to go down the mountain and roam the world alone, they would have the ability to protect themselves.

Based on this, Jiang Ning and Yue Buqun discussed and decided to recruit disciples from the four prefectures of Xi'an, Hanzhong, Fengxiang, and Pingliang after the spring to expand the sect's strength and influence.

Now that the Huashan Sect's reputation in Shaanxi has entered the public eye, expanding enrollment is a natural progression.

However, this time the Huashan Sect only accepts children for the recruitment, and does not accept those who have already acquired skills and want to become disciples. People like Lao Denuo are an exception.

Yue Buqun set a standard for recruiting disciples this time: only children, only those with a clean background, and priority will be given to children from ordinary families.

The presence of children means that incidents like Laudenau's, where he is an undercover agent sent by another faction, are unlikely to occur, although the probability still exists, it is extremely low.

People from ordinary families can represent their stance, and their background makes it easier for them to accept the Huashan Sect's ideals of eliminating demons, protecting the righteous, and helping people.

As for the orphans without parents, those with talent were taken in by the Huashan Sect, while those without talent or with poor talent were taken in Huaming Village and raised by the villagers, with the Huashan Sect providing the financial support.

Of course, it was still the money obtained from eliminating evil; Jiang Ning and the other Huashan disciples found a considerable amount of silver in those bandit strongholds.

After setting this standard, Yue Buqun planned to recruit thirty people at once. Originally, Yue Buqun also planned to recruit a hundred or eighty people, but Jiang Ning persuaded him in time. If he recruited that many, not to mention whether there would be enough talented people, the Huashan Sect would not be able to handle it. Thirty people was already the limit that could be handled.

"At that time, I will have Ning'er and Chong'er recruit disciples together. Ning'er will be in charge of Pingliang and Fengxiang prefectures, and Chong'er will be in charge of Xi'an and Hanzhong prefectures. Each of you will have fifteen recruitment slots. If there are suitable ones, it doesn't matter if you recruit a few more. But if there are no suitable ones, remember to be selective and not accept inferior ones."

Upon hearing Yue Buqun's words, Linghu Chong and Jiang Ning stood up, cupped their hands in greeting, and said, "Yes."

Yue Buqun nodded slightly, gesturing for the two to sit down, and then looked at his disciples.

“You have all worked very hard in the past year, and some of you have made great progress. I am very pleased with you.”

"In the new year, I hope you will continue your efforts, practice your skills diligently, and carry forward the glory of the Huashan Sect. The future of the Huashan Sect is in your hands."

The disciples of Mount Hua were invigorated and shouted:

"Yes!"

Dozens of disciples shouted at the same time, their voices echoing throughout the entire training ground.

Yue Buqun nodded in satisfaction.

Finally, amidst the cheers and expectations of the Huashan disciples, Yue Buqun also danced with his sword in the swirling snow, his figure ethereal and otherworldly.

……

February.

More than half a year has passed since Jiang Ning killed Lao Denuo. During this time, Mount Hua has been peaceful, without any major incidents.

Zuo Lengchan must already know about Lao Denuo's death, but he hasn't taken any action yet. Jiang Ning and Yue Buqun are both very vigilant and haven't let their guard down.

Several things have happened in the outside world during these six months.

Liu Zhengfeng, formerly of the Hengshan Sect, became acquainted with Qu Yang of the Demonic Sect and was hunted down by the Songshan Sect. All of his disciples were killed by the Songshan Sect, and Liu Zhengfeng's whereabouts are still unknown.

For some unknown reason, the Demonic Sect also issued a kill order against Qu Yang, and began hunting him down everywhere. Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang, these two unfortunate brothers, are being hunted by both the righteous and the evil factions at the same time, and their whereabouts are now unknown.

Besides these two things, Master Mo Da, the leader of the Hengshan School, announced that he had accepted Liu Zhengfeng's only remaining son, Liu Qin, as his last disciple, and Liu Qin would inherit his mantle.

These are basically the major events in the martial arts world right now. Other minor events are also common in the martial arts world. Yue Buqun and Jiang Ning have been quite busy lately.

They need to start preparing to recruit disciples.

……

February 15th.

Guests from the Huashan Sect have arrived.

"Uncle-Master Dingyi, please come inside and have a seat, fellow disciples of the Hengshan Sect. Master and Mistress will be here soon."

Lu Dayou and Liang Fa spoke to Ding Yi and a group of Hengshan disciples.

"Ah."

Master Dingyi nodded calmly, sat down in the main hall, and a group of Hengshan disciples stood behind her.

After a while.

Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze arrived in haste.

"Master Dingyi, your presence at Huashan Sect is an honor. We apologize for any lack of proper welcome."

Before he even arrived, Yue Buqun's voice could be heard from afar.

Yue Buqun was wearing the black and gold-trimmed clothes that Jiang Ning had bought for him in Xi'an Prefecture, and Ning Zhongze was also wearing the clothes that Jiang Ning had bought for her.

It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but Yue Buqun and his wife used to save money for the Huashan Sect, so their clothes were always simple and worn for a long time. The two sets of clothes that Jiang Ning bought for them were actually the best they ever had.

Following Jiang Ning's advice, Yue Buqun used all the money obtained from the last bandit suppression campaign to give to his disciples, while keeping none for himself.

When Jiang Ning was re-ordering the sect's uniforms, he also wanted to order new clothes for Yue Buqun, but Yue Buqun refused. In his words, clothes are meant to be worn, and there's no need to wear them too well; as long as they fit, that's enough.

The same is true for Ning Zhongze.

These two pieces of clothing were too expensive for Yue Buqun to wear normally. He would keep them in his wardrobe unless it was an important occasion, and he would wear his everyday clothes.

But today was different. The sudden visit of Abbess Dingyi surprised him greatly. To show respect, Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze changed into this outfit to signify the solemnity.

"Senior Brother Yue, Madam Yue, it's been a long time."

Upon seeing Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze arrive, Abbess Dingyi smiled, stood up, and bowed to the two. The Hengshan disciples behind her did the same.

Yue Buqun returned the greeting, then said with a smile, "Why didn't you send a message in advance if you were coming to Mount Hua? I would have been able to come down the mountain to welcome you in person."

Master Dingyi smiled and said, "This humble nun has already troubled you by coming uninvited; how could I possibly ask Senior Brother Yue to personally welcome me?"

After she finished speaking, Abbess Dingyi noticed that Yue Buqun's clothes were different from those she had seen before.

In the past, when Yue Buqun led his Huashan disciples to visit Hengshan, although their clothes were not exactly shabby, it was clear that Yue Buqun and the Huashan Sect were in dire financial straits.

But this time when she came to Mount Hua, she found that the disciples' clothes were brand new and their spirits were also very different. For example, Gao Genming and Lu Dayou and a few others had met in Hengshan City last June. The changes in just a few months greatly surprised Master Dingyi.

Master Dingyi looked at Yue Buqun's obviously expensive clothes and exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Brother Yue, your clothes are quite nice. They must have been expensive!"

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun immediately smiled, waved his hand, and said seemingly unconcernedly, "Oh dear, this was bought for me by my disciple Jiang Ning when he went on a trip. He also bought one for his master's wife. Young people always spend money recklessly and without any sense of propriety."

"As for how much this outfit costs..."

As he spoke, Yue Buqun seemed to forget and looked at Ning Zhongze beside him, asking, "How much was it again?"

Seeing Yue Buqun's expression, Ning Zhongze felt a little embarrassed, but she still cooperated with her husband and said, "Forty taels."

"Oh, yes, yes."

Yue Buqun suddenly realized and said, "Young people don't know the value of money when they're not in charge of the household. Why buy such expensive clothes? The ones you had before are still wearable. It's just that Ning'er meant well, and as her master, I can't refuse."

"..."

Master Dingyi looked at him speechlessly.

She just asked that casually...

Chapter 98: An Irreconcilable Hatred

The female disciples of Hengshan behind Abbess Dingyi couldn't help but cover their mouths and giggle.

They never expected that Yue Buqun, known to outsiders as the Gentleman Sword, was actually a maniac who loved to show off his disciples.

Remove the filter of the "gentleman's sword" image, and Yue Buqun becomes more approachable in their eyes.

"correct."

Yue Buqun looked at Abbess Dingyi and asked, "Abbess, what important matter brings you to our Huashan Sect?"

Mount Hua is nearly 1,600 li away from Mount Heng. If it weren't for a special purpose, Abbess Dingyi wouldn't have come all this way.

When it came to serious matters, Abbess Dingyi frowned slightly, unsure of where to begin.

Seeing her like this, Yue Buqun knew that this was not something that could be explained in a few words, so he said, "Please sit down, Master."

Master Dingyi nodded and then sat down, but her brows were furrowed, as if she didn't know what to say.

Yue Buqun was slightly surprised by her attitude and asked, "Is there something you're trying to hide?"

Upon hearing Yue Buqun's words, Abbess Dingyi's face immediately turned ugly.

After a while.

"Brother Yue, you may not know this, but my disciple Yilin left Hengshan last month."

Yilin?

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun lowered his head and recalled, a thoughtful look in his eyes. After a moment, he remembered that the name was that of the nun that Linghu Chong had saved at Hengshan.

After remembering, Yue Buqun looked up at Abbess Dingyi and asked, "Did you come down the mountain this time for your niece Yilin?"

Master Dingyi nodded with a grim expression: "Not bad."

Yue Buqun was even more surprised upon hearing this.

What are you doing sending your disciples to my Mount Hua?

Although Yue Buqun remained silent, Master Dingyi's expression grew increasingly grim.