Chapter 41#

In Luoying Valley after the rain, the sky was as blue as if washed, and a seven-colored rainbow bridge was faintly visible in the distance. But this once paradise on earth was now devastated. The fragrant grass was broken, the hundred flowers were withered, the clear Huanhua Creek was full of mud, and the water even rose to flood a small green area on the bank.

Hua Jinian closed his eyes tightly and sat quietly not far from the creek. His clothes were half-wet and clung to his body, the hem splashed with mud. He, who had always been fond of cleanliness, would never have thought that he would one day be in such a sorry state. His waist-length raven-black hair was wet and stuck to the side of his face. His thin cheeks had a slight unnatural blush, indicating that he had caught a cold after being in the rain.

An old man in black clothes walked lightly to the young man’s side, looked at this young man deeply for a long time, and then lowered his hand. Before he could touch the young man’s cheek, Hua Jinian had already woken up abruptly and quickly drew his dagger. But when he saw the old man’s face clearly, he was stunned for a moment, his body gradually softened, and he choked: “Long time no see, Master.”

The person Hua Jinian called Master was Luo Xiaofeng, the former Hall Master of Qiyun Hall who retired due to illness when the young man was fourteen. He had taught Hua Jinian martial arts since he was four years old. Now, after a separation of six years, the master and disciple were reunited, as if in a dream. Luo Xiaofeng said in a low voice: “Good disciple, I came to find you in a hurry after receiving the news… I heard that you… are no longer a member of Floating Pagoda Fortress. That person has always been ruthless in his actions. You are now penniless and can no longer transfer many disciples. You have made countless enemies in the martial world, and it will be very difficult to act in the future.”

As the old man spoke, he took out a stack of silver notes from his bosom: “This is some of my savings. Keep it, at least you have some travel expenses.” He looked at the young man who was somewhat silent, so he stretched his head and touched his forehead, saying in a low voice: “Alas, you have a fever. Forget it, forget it, come with me, let’s find a place to stay first.”

Hua Jinian hesitated for a while, but still stood up with him and said in a low voice: “No, I’d better go alone.” As he spoke, he thought for a while, reached out and took the stack of silver notes, and returned half of it to the old man. The high fever made him a little dizzy, and he had to shake his head to see things clearly. He stood up straight and said in a low voice: “Master, I can do it alone.”

Luo Xiaofeng looked at him and sighed. Just as he was about to say something, he saw someone coming down the stream from upstream. It was a giant man with two mountain-cleaving axes stuck in his waist. Both of them were overjoyed and went up to meet him. A smile appeared on the old man’s long-frozen thin face, and he smiled slightly: “Hall Master Geng.”

The person who came was Geng Yong, the Hall Master of Pojun Hall. He laughed for a long time when he saw Hua Jinian, patted the young man’s shoulder, and laughed: “I finally found you.” Hua Jinian also smiled and asked: “Uncle Geng, long time no see. I didn’t expect to meet you here by chance.”

Geng Yong laughed: “How can it be a chance encounter? I came here specifically to find you, but I didn’t expect to run into this old and undying thing at the same time…” After he finished speaking, seeing that both of their faces were a little stiff, he knew he had misspoken, and laughed again: “I came this time specifically for your medicine. The Fortress Master has instructed that after you leave the fortress, you must remember to take your medicine on time. In the future, no one will deliver medicine for you, so he instructed me to tell you the location of the medicine storage, which is not far from here. You will know when you go.”

As he spoke, he seemed a little embarrassed and said: “Of course, I can only take you alone. The location is not to be spread, this is what the Fortress Master instructed us long ago. After all, besides the Fortress Master, only I and that demoness Taoist priest know about this medicine storage place. With more people, it’s always a bit unstable.” Luo Xiaofeng’s face turned even more sallow with anger, and he shouted in a low voice: “Rude fellow!”

Hua Jinian hurriedly advised: “Master, don’t be angry. This place is not far from Bizhou. You go first. I will go with Uncle Geng for a trip, and then I will go to the inn in Bizhou to find you.” The old man snorted coldly, stood there and looked at the two of them for a long time, not knowing what he was thinking, and then turned and left.

Geng Yong watched him walk away, and only then did he feel relieved. He laughed loudly and led the young man forward. The road was covered with lush grass, and they walked on secluded mountain roads. It was unknown how long they walked, even their wet and dry clothes were dried by their body temperature. Geng Yong finally stopped, bent down in front of a mountain wall covered with vines, separated the vines with both hands, and squeezed his sturdy body into the cave. Just as Hua Jinian was about to follow him in, he suddenly heard Geng Yong let out a surprised cry in the cave, and hurriedly asked: “Uncle Geng, what happened inside?” Seeing no one answered, he also hurriedly followed in, only to see a huge natural cave with a huge limestone tree in the center. A natural cold pool was soaked under the tree, and a faint layer of bluish-green floated on the surface of the pool.

Hua Jinian looked at Geng Yong with a puzzled expression. Geng Yong pointed at the pool with a shocked face. Before the young man could understand what he meant, he began to grope around on the ground, and soon found jade fragments everywhere on the ground. Geng Yong said with a trembling voice: “Little Young Master, these fragments… these are all fragments of medicine bottles. I don’t know who destroyed all the medicine.”

Hua Jinian was stunned for a moment, looked at the pool water which was obviously not a natural color, and said hesitantly: “Then this pool water, is the floating layer on top all medicine juice?”

Hearing this, Geng Yong’s face was overjoyed: “That’s right, that’s right, we can re-collect the layer of medicine juice on the water.”

Hearing his words, Hua Jinian thought for a while, took out the silver flute from his back waist, touched it lightly in the water, and saw the end of the flute turn black in an instant. He said with some confusion: “This method won’t work, the water has already been poisoned.”

As the young man spoke, he looked at Geng Yong’s panicked look and asked in confusion: “Why are you so panicked? If the medicine is gone, we can just make it again. Besides, I think my illness has long been cured.”

Seeing Geng Yong shaking his head repeatedly, he was at a loss for a moment, and the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger and stronger. He carefully observed Geng Yong’s face and asked hesitantly: “What’s wrong, is my illness not cured yet?”

Seeing that Geng Yong did not refuse, he couldn’t help but continue to ask: “At that time, someone said I was poisoned. Am I really poisoned?” Seeing Geng Yong’s face as dejected as if the sky had fallen, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and he said in a panic: “Could it be that if this medicine is destroyed, it can never be made again?”

Geng Yong was silent for a long time before saying in a low voice: “Because there is a kind of hibiscus ganoderma in the medicinal materials, which has been completely collected by us.” Hua Jinian was stunned, and his body, which was tormented by the cold, became even weaker. He had not eaten for days, and had suffered a great change, which had already tormented him to the extreme, not to mention the whole night of rain yesterday and the long trek on the mountain road not long ago. He only felt that his vision was turning black in patches. He whispered to himself: “The medicine is destroyed, it can’t be made again. I’m poisoned. If I don’t take the medicine, I’ll probably die soon.”

In this desperate situation, the young man suddenly found that his heart had hardened, become ruthless, and what he wanted to do suddenly became clear. People often confuse the two extremes of this young man, one is the timid child who is useless in front of his father, and the other is Hua Jinian who is meticulous in his thoughts and ruthless in his actions after leaving his father—

He heard his somewhat cold voice ringing clearly in the cave: “Uncle Geng, you seemed to have said just now that besides the Fortress Master, only you, Sister Su, and Uncle Wu know this place.”

Seeing Geng Yong nodding hesitantly, he slowly closed his eyes, remembering the box of angelica that had tricked him into a trap last time. His heart was burning with anger, and a murderous aura flowed in his eyes, making him surprisingly resemble that man—the young man filtered everything in his mind, and then cursed in his heart through gritted teeth: It’s you, Su-Mei-Niang—!

Once this thought came to Hua Jinian, the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. He immediately suppressed his anger and asked Geng Yong in detail about the beginning and end of being trapped in the underground palace. Only then did he say in a low voice: “Thinking about it carefully, this siege of Floating Pagoda Fortress by the world, although it caused us heavy losses, the leaders of the six major sects all died in the underground palace, and the abbot of Jiaye Temple also passed away because of this. In addition, Floating Pagoda Fortress set up an ambush around Luoying Valley, causing everyone who entered the valley to die here. Calculating carefully, the losses of the righteous path are a hundred times more tragic than ours. However, there is still a place in the martial world that has not lost any soldiers… Alas, I really underestimated him.”

Geng Yong was stunned and said: “There is still a place that has not lost any soldiers? Are you talking about Huanzhen Mountain Villa?”

Hua Jinian pondered: “That’s right. Huanzhen Mountain Villa is the leader of the righteous path, giving orders to all directions, but this time they stayed out of the siege. If I’m not mistaken, the people who spread the rumors about the treasure of Floating Pagoda Fortress may also be them. When the snipe and the clam grapple, the two tigers get injured, but they watch from the sidelines and act according to the situation. What a despicable mind.”

As Hua Jinian spoke, he looked at Geng Yong’s surprised expression and continued in a low voice: “I was really foolish to have sought a tiger for its skin back then.” Geng Yong’s face showed a look of sudden realization: “Could it be that the destruction of the medicine this time is also related to Huanzhen Mountain Villa?”

The young man nodded and said softly: “The number of people who have a grudge against me is countless. Instead of thinking in that direction, it’s better to think carefully about who has benefited the most from this series of events. Now, both Floating Pagoda Fortress and many sects of the righteous path have been greatly damaged and are no longer able to compete with them. Huanzhen Mountain Villa can really be said to be calling the wind and summoning the rain, at the height of its power.”

As Hua Jinian spoke, he frowned slightly, and his face became more and more worried. “If Huanzhen Mountain Villa has evil intentions, now is a good time to catch us off guard. How could that person let Floating Pagoda Fortress have leisure to rest and recuperate? It must be… in these few days. At this time, the internal traitor has not been eliminated, and the external enemies are watching. How could I be so stupid as to leave his side at this time…”

Seeing that he was not thinking about his own numbered days at all at this time, Geng Yong’s face suddenly became a little strange. He advised in a low voice: “Little Young Master…” He stopped here, but didn’t know what to say, and could only stare blankly at the mess in front of him for a while.

Hua Jinian followed his direction and looked, then his gaze fell on his own hands. He seemed to be a little weak, so he leaned against the cave wall and laughed in a low voice: “Uncle Geng, it was only at this moment that I understood why I became so ridiculous and useless every time I was by his side. I actually knew a secret from the bottom of my heart. The more useless I was, the more he would put his mind on me. The more trouble I caused him, the more he would focus on blocking the trouble for me. The more unreasonable I was, the more I went against his wishes, the longer he would stay by my side. Because we were once father and son, as long as I never grew up, he would always teach me and accompany me.”

Seeing Geng Yong’s expression of not knowing whether he should listen or not, Hua Jinian smiled and said: “In these few years in the martial world, no one has seen these things, but I know that in my heart, there are still some childish thoughts. I always thought that as long as my father was there, I didn’t have to worry about anything…”

As he spoke, his tone became slower and slower, with an indescribable melancholy: “It was only at this time today that I understood how much trouble I had caused him…”

Geng Yong’s face became more and more strange, as if he was suppressing some painful emotion. He said after a long time: “Little Young Master, I just hope that you can also understand my difficulties, and that you can also understand the father-son relationship of others in the future.”

Geng Yong had never spoken in such a low voice before. Hua Jinian was suffering from tinnitus and dizziness from his illness, and didn’t hear clearly what he was saying for a moment. The young man laughed in a low voice: “Counting the days, I probably only have about ten days to live. The things I haven’t done well, even if I can’t make up for them, I want to go back to his side. What else do I have to be afraid of? Afraid that he will know the truth? I’m not afraid anymore. I’m so stupid. He hits me, scolds me, hates me, and will remember me. If he kills me, I’ll be happy even if I die. No, since the situation is so dangerous, I not only want to go back to his side, but also help him get rid of all the trouble by any means necessary, so that I can go in peace…”

Seeing Geng Yong’s dazed look, he suddenly knelt down on both knees. His eyes were wide open, shining with a strange light. His face was flushed with an abnormal red due to the cold. He pulled Geng Yong’s sleeve forcefully and begged with extreme seriousness and urgency: “Uncle Geng, please go back and tell him, tell him that Jinian knows he was wrong, and beg him to let me go back. Only he is my father…”

Geng Yong pulled his sleeve out of his hand and said quickly in a low voice: “I know.”

Hua Jinian was overjoyed and said: “Then I’ll entrust everything to you. Tell him, I’ll wait for him in the mountain pavilion on the mountainside. I’ll wait for him all day, even if the sky falls…”

— It waited there for him to come again, blooming every year, no matter how many times it withered.

As he spoke, his face suddenly darkened, as if he was enduring fear: “But I can’t wait any longer. If he doesn’t come, you must also tell him for me that I am still alive and well, somewhere else…”