Although Yue Buqun had already made quite an effort—even treating the martial artists who had been present that day to a lavish feast that cost him at least two or three hundred taels of silver—some of them still couldn't keep their mouths shut after eating his food. As a result, the story spread far and wide in no time.
In any case, Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze had been traveling north from Hangzhou along the Grand Canal aboard two large ships with their disciples for only three or four days. They had just arrived at a port outside Jiangyin when two rumors from the martial world reached the Huashan Sect like the wind.
What's more, the mysterious organization calling itself "the All-Knowing Scholar of the Martial World," which had appeared out of nowhere not long ago, had even published a martial-world gazette. It contained a whole section about Annie and his daughter, Yue Lingshan!
That very evening, in a fairly spacious cabin aboard one of the ships, Linghu Chong—the eldest disciple, who had gone ashore to purchase supplies—handed Yue Buqun a copy of the gazette. Yue Buqun quickly skimmed the section about himself and the Huashan Sect, then angrily slammed the paper down on the table.
"Absurd!"
"Nothing but utter nonsense!"
"When did several elders of the Five Mountains Sword Sects jointly question me?"
"Why don't I know anything about it?"
He stood and paced back and forth a few times, but still couldn't contain his anger. Then he continued bitterly:
"In my opinion..."
"That 'All-Knowing Scholar of the Martial World' organization came out of nowhere. It's obvious they're up to no good!"
"Who knows what they're plotting? The Huashan Sect had better stay on its guard!"
The more Yue Buqun thought about it, the angrier he grew. After pacing