The Jianghu Struggle

"Senior Brother Han, you really do turn a deaf ear to everything outside your window. You don't know about something this big? Even if you were in seclusion, your master should have mentioned it to you." Little Abacus sounded suspicious again.

Without another word, Han Li quickly pulled a waist token from his person and held it out to Little Abacus.

"Senior Brother Han, what are you doing? How could I not trust you? I thought you looked familiar the moment I saw you. We must have met before, haha!" He quickly glanced at the waist token out of the corner of his eye and, seeing that it was genuine, hastily put on a smile.

"Can you tell me now?" Han Li was still concerned about the question he had just asked.

"Of course, of course."

This is bad. I'm afraid I've offended this fellow. Little Abacus muttered to himself, but out loud he honestly spilled everything.

As it turned out, the conflict between the Seven Mysteries Sect and the Wild Wolf Gang had grown fiercer over the past few years. The two sides had fought more than a dozen battles, large and small, over several prosperous towns whose ownership was unclear, and both had lost many men. The Wild Wolf Gang's members were trained like horse bandits, and every one of them fought without regard for his life, growing even more frenzied at the sight of blood. The Seven Mysteries Sect's disciples had greater martial skill, but lacked that ruthless streak and held back in battle. As a result, the latter often suffered heavier casualties. After several battles in a row, several important figures in the Seven Mysteries Sect could no longer sit still. They sent out most of the sect's inner disciples to take part in the series of clashes that followed. On the one hand, they could not afford to lose those territories; on the other, they wanted the disciples to see the cruelty of the jianghu, temper themselves, and gain practical combat experience.

As a result, the Seven Mysteries Sect gained the upper hand in some of the later fighting, but far too many inner disciples were killed or injured. Many of the older senior brothers went out and never returned. At this point, Little Abacus sighed repeatedly.

Later still, the sect leaders changed their strategy again. They had the inner disciples carry out less important missions first, sending them elsewhere to gain experience. Only after they had gained some experience in the jianghu would they take part in the fighting against the Wild Wolf Gang. Sure enough, casualties dropped considerably. Thus, over the past two years, this strategy had been formally incorporated into the sect rules: all disciples were required to go down the mountain and gain experience after completing their training, and only upon their return could they be granted an official post in the sect.

And so, nearly all the older senior brothers on the mountain had been sent down. Now they were either locked in conflict with the Wild Wolf Gang or off gaining experience elsewhere. Apart from the disciples needed to guard the mountain, only the younger disciples who had yet to complete their training remained.

Hearing this, Han Li finally understood why the mountain was so different from before.

Clang! With a tremendous crash, a flexible sword flew into the air.

Zhao Ziling pressed his left hand against the web between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, injured by the impact. His face pale, he staggered back several steps, panting heavily.

A moment ago, unable to dodge Senior Brother Li's swift succession of saber strikes in time, he had been forced to parry with his flexible sword. The tremendous force transmitted through the saber had knocked the weapon from his hand.

"Senior Brother Li, you truly are formidable. I admit defeat." Zhao Ziling forced a smile and cupped his hands in salute.

Cheers immediately erupted all around them.

"Senior Brother Li, what splendid kung fu!"

"Senior Brother Li, what saber skills!"

"Senior Brother Li, give me some pointers!"

Shout after shout rang out across the entire training ground as no one wanted to be left behind in calling out to their idol.

Senior Brother Li put away his long saber, a faint blush appearing on his face. He was just about to say something when his expression suddenly changed. He frowned, as though he had remembered something.

He cupped his fists and said coolly, "I have urgent business to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

Turning around, he floated lightly out of the training ground, displaying a fine bit of lightness skill before disappearing into the pine forest by the cliff.

"Tsk, tsk! Senior Brother Li isn't just good with a saber. His lightness skill is excellent too."

"That's right!"

"That's right!"

Another chorus of praise rang out.

Han Li frowned. Senior Brother Li's kung fu was good, but he seemed rather fond of showing off. Perhaps he was a little young and headstrong.

Then, thinking it over, he could not help smiling wryly. He didn't seem to be any older than these people, so why were his thoughts always so old-fashioned, as though he were already a little old man? It seemed that practicing that Mnemonic had made his entire outlook old.

"Junior Brother, I still don't know your name." Han Li glanced at Little Abacus, who was standing beside him, and suddenly asked his name.

"My name is Jin Dongbao, but you can just call me Little Abacus, Senior Brother Han." Little Abacus brightened at once when Han Li asked his name. It seemed he thought he had found a great tree to shelter under.

"If you get sick or injured in the future, just come to me. I'll treat you for free." Han Li patted him on the shoulder and glanced at the crowd, where another dispute had broken out, before walking into the pine forest beside them without looking back.

Jin Dongbao remained where he was, staring blankly in bewilderment. For a while, he had no idea what Han Li meant.