Wuxia 4

Everyone was shocked to hear Liu Zhong's question.

Bei Jinyi barked, "What nonsense are you spouting? Senior Sister Ji is Brother Yin's fiancée; they aren't even married yet, so how could she have a child?"

"Eh?" Liu Zhong tilted his head, putting on a look of confusion and bewilderment. "But the last time I snuck out, I saw this heroine with a girl who looked just like her. That girl even called her 'Mother'! And this heroine called the girl 'Buhui'. Buhui—is that a girl's name? Why would anyone give their daughter such a name?"

The faces of the Wudang Sect and Emei Sect members turned dark.

If what Liu Zhong said was true...

The leader of the Emei Sect delegation, Abbess Jingxuan, asked Yin Liting in a deep voice, "Sixth Brother Yin, since you and Junior Sister Ji already have a child, why not marry as soon as possible?"

"I, I don't have one." Yin Liting waved his hands in a panic. "I, I have a clean and proper relationship with Miss Ji."

Zhang Cuishan spoke up, "Abbess, my Sixth Brother practices the Wudang Nine Yang Skill. Before mastering it, he must maintain his virginity and cannot have relations with women. Miss Ji's child is not my junior brother's."

Abbess Jingxuan's face turned even darker.

She glared at Ji Xiaofu. "Junior Sister Ji, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I, I..."

What could Ji Xiaofu possibly say?

With her hidden secret exposed, she only wanted to flee—to take her daughter and run.

If Abbess Miejue found out who the child's father was, her daughter's life would be forfeit.

Ji Xiaofu could no longer care about anything else; she turned abruptly, unleashed her qinggong, and fled.

"Senior Sister Ji..." Bei Jinyi shouted loudly, but Ji Xiaofu ignored her entirely, exiting Zixiao Palace in an instant and vanishing from everyone's sight.

The Wudang members: "..."

The Emei members: "..."

Abbess Jingxuan was trembling with rage.

With Ji Xiaofu committing such a shameful act, how were they supposed to face the Wudang members, or force Zhang Cuishan to reveal the whereabouts of Xie Xun?

Abbess Jingxuan said to Zhang Cuishan with a wooden face, "My apologies. We were unaware of Junior Sister Ji's affairs. Once we return to the mountain, I will report this to our Master, and she will handle it."

Zhang Cuishan nodded. Having no heart to speak further with the Emei Sect, he pulled the dazed Yin Liting along. After leading the Emei group into the main hall, he took Yin Liting to the inner chamber and asked Mo Shenggu to look after him.

Mo Shenggu was furious after hearing Zhang Cuishan's account.

"How could the Emei Sect have such a shameless woman?! Sixth Brother, don't be sad. Once the birthday banquet is over, we will ask Master to make the decision to annul your engagement with that woman, and we'll find you a better girl."

Yin Liting shook his head and then nodded; he was more bewildered than heartbroken.

Although he was engaged to Ji Xiaofu, they had actually met very few times.

His affection for Ji Xiaofu was based solely on the fact that she was his fiancée; his feelings for her were not yet that deep.

Only after more contact in the future would he fall in love with her, suffer for her, and vow to kill Yang Xiao for revenge.

But now, while his feelings were still shallow, Liu Zhong had exposed the fact that Ji Xiaofu had a daughter. Yin Liting would be sad for a while, but he would recover quickly and would not get stuck in a rut.

Liu Zhong pulled Song Qinghua to a corner of Zixiao Palace, watching the Wudang members deal with the pressure from the various sects; watching Zhang Cuishan go to find Yin Susu and have her learn the Zhenwu Seven-Section Formation; watching the truth be revealed and Zhang Cuishan, unable to bear the shock, rush out to commit suicide in public; watching Yin Susu follow him in death; and watching Zhang Sanfeng save Zhang Wuji...

The people from the other sects left Wudang Mountain in low spirits.

Zhang Sanfeng and Song Yuanqiao and the others hovered around Zhang Wuji.

They were single-mindedly focused on saving Zhang Wuji and preserving Zhang Cuishan's bloodline, having no time for anything else.

Song Qinghua was very disappointed and said, "Grandmaster said that after the birthday celebration, he would let Father teach us the Wudang Nine Yang Skill."

Liu Zhong patted Song Qinghua on the head.

With the Wudang members so anxious about Zhang Wuji and so neglectful of Song Qinghua, it was no wonder the Song Qinghua of his previous life had been so jealous and hateful toward Zhang Wuji!

Liu Zhong said, "Shall we go visit Third Uncle?"

Yu Daiyan was in the same situation as them now, ignored by everyone.

He was actually the one who needed comfort the most.

His Fifth Junior Brother and his wife had died because of him, and the self-reproach and guilt were drowning him. Yet, he still had to pretend that nothing had happened, so as not to worry his Master and fellow disciples while they were busy with the Fifth Junior Brother's son...

"Third Uncle."

Liu Zhong and Song Qinghua walked into Yu Daiyan's room.

"Why are you two here?" Yu Daiyan forced a smile.

"Third Uncle." Liu Zhong walked to Yu Daiyan's side and pointed a finger at the corner of his mouth. "If you don't want to smile, then don't. If you want to cry, then cry. Qinghua and I will pretend we don't see it."

Yu Daiyan said, "I don't want to cry."

"You do," Song Qinghua said. "Third Uncle, Brother and I know that you are the one who is most heartbroken."

Liu Zhong nodded. "Third Uncle, we know you feel guilty about the deaths of Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt. But we feel that Fifth Uncle's death doesn't have much to do with you; you don't need to be so guilty."

Yu Daiyan said, "You don't need to comfort me like this."

Liu Zhong said, "No, we truly feel that Fifth Uncle's death has little to do with you. Fifth Uncle chose to die because he didn't want to expose Xie Xun's whereabouts; he did it for his so-called loyalty. Given the situation at the birthday banquet, if Fifth Uncle hadn't revealed Xie Xun's location, the other sects would have joined forces to attack the Wudang Sect. Even if the Wudang Sect had won, it would have suffered heavy casualties. If it had lost, the Wudang Sect would have ceased to exist. Fifth Uncle saw this, which is why he chose to commit suicide. If he didn't die, the Wudang Sect would not be safe. The danger to the Wudang Sect was brought back by him, and he had to resolve it himself."

Yu Daiyan had never thought about the problem from this perspective.

Hearing Liu Zhong put it that way now, it actually made quite a bit of sense.

However, Yu Daiyan still felt a deep sense of guilt.

His own situation had been the catalyst, and he could not simply erase that guilt just because of a few words from Liu Zhong.

Liu Zhong understood this as well; he only hoped that his words might make Yu Daiyan feel slightly better.

Liu Zhong and Song Qinghua chatted with Yu Daiyan for a while, and seeing that his mood had eased, the two of them bid him farewell and left.

Once they were out of Yu Daiyan's room, Song Qinghua spoke up: "Brother, let's head west after we go down the mountain. I have a feeling that there is medicine in the west that can heal Third Uncle's hands and feet."

Liu Zhong agreed immediately: "Alright!"

He had originally planned to head west as well.

The two of them packed their luggage and descended the mountain under the cover of night.

They left behind a letter, though they did not know how long it would be before it was discovered.

Zhang Sanfeng and his five disciples were entirely focused on saving Zhang Wuji, either channeling internal energy into Zhang Wuji's body to stop the spread of the cold poison or meditating to recover their own internal energy, leaving them absolutely no time to attend to anything else.

By the time Zhang Wuji's condition had temporarily stabilized, more than two months had already passed.