The Jianghu of Feng Qingcheng and Mo Xibei

Chapter 14

Then, naturally, others chimed in, their eyes darting around the arena while their mouths showered Mo Xibei with praise. Murong Songtao merely chuckled, occasionally glancing back at Mo Xibei, only to find him looking exhausted, as if he were about to fall asleep standing up. Thinking of his daughter, he felt a pang of pity, but since the room was filled with martial arts veterans, it wasn't convenient to let him sit down and rest. So he said, "Xibei, I've had all the necessary items prepared for your wedding with Yun'er. Now that you have some free time, why don't you go and check them? If anything is missing, you can quickly replenish it so as not to delay things."

Mo Xibei nodded and immediately understood what Murong Songtao meant. The Murong family was a famous and prominent family, so naturally an outsider wouldn't need to worry about such matters. The reason he said that was just to give her a way out so that she could go back to sleep. She was immediately in a good mood and walked lightly back to her room.

At this moment, Honglu was sitting at the table with a distressed expression. In the center of the table, a white porcelain soup pot was placed neatly.

Volume One: Ten Years in the Jianghu, Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mo Xibei disliked going out at night, especially to Mangshan in the middle of the night. She had heard that there were many tombs there, and based on the premise of respecting gods and fearing ghosts, going there after midnight was not a good suggestion. She hesitated for a moment, thinking that she hadn't promised him she would definitely go, so not going wouldn't be considered breaking her promise. Besides, the agreed time had already passed, and he might not still be waiting at the same place. After analyzing it this way, she felt somewhat at ease and lay back down on the bed.

However, she also understood that she really wanted to hear Chu Junfeng say for himself why he lost the competition in the end. Didn't he want to marry Murong Lianyun? Of course, he could also want to become the leader of the martial arts alliance, which could explain his deliberate actions at the end. But if the problem was already so obvious, why did he still go out of his way to meet her and ask her to clarify something?

Well, I might as well go and see. That way, I won't waste so many brain cells. Maybe the answer really is as simple as it gets. Mo Xibei rolled over twice, finally giving in to her curiosity. Women always like to ask why, and she was no exception. So, she got up, pushed open the door, and went out.

It was already early summer, and the night breeze was warm. Taking a deep breath, one could almost smell a faint floral fragrance in the air. This courtyard of the Murong family originally housed only Mo Xibei and his servants, but now, as the night deepened, only the swaying shadows of the grass and trees remained under the moonlight.

Mo Xibei arrived at the inn first, lightly tapped Chu Junfeng's window with his fingertip, and then listened carefully. The room was completely silent, without even a sound of breathing. It seemed that the host had not returned yet. Mo Xibei felt a little guilty and quickly slipped out of the inn. He aimed for the direction of Mangshan and ran there as fast as he could.

At the foot of the mountain, beyond an empty clearing, lay hills and trees. There was no sign of Chu Junfeng. However, deep within the trees, tiny fireflies flickered and danced, startling Mo Xibei. Fortunately, as she gripped the sword, she realized they were merely fireflies flitting about in search of food, preventing her from turning and fleeing in terror.

In the quiet night, apart from the sound of the wind and the occasional cooing of an owl flying by, Mo Xibei decided to go back. After all, Chu Junfeng was gone, and he had already come.

"ah!"

As she turned around, a howl suddenly came from the woods behind her. Without needing to think about it, one could tell it was a human cry. And without even looking, just by listening, one could almost feel the despair, the longing for life, and the understanding of death that a person must have felt when making such a sound. It turned out that a simple syllable could convey everything.

Mo Xibei drew her sword, feeling incredibly foolish, but still darted into the forest. She'd only taken a few steps when a figure flashed before her. Before she could think, her sword instinctively drew a brilliant arc of light, the end of which revealed the throat of her opponent. To take a life required only a slight movement.

"It's me!"

"It's you?"

Mo Xibei's sword did not move in the end, because she saw clearly that the person in front of her was Chu Junfeng, whom she thought had left, and lying at the feet of the two people was a person, or more precisely, a dead person.

"How did you end up here?" Mo Xibei asked, frowning.

"I'll wait for you." Chu Junfeng withdrew the sword that was pointing at Mo Xibei's ribs, and then casually pushed away the cold and sharp sword tip that was pressed against his own throat.

"I'm just asking why you're waiting for me here?" Mo Xibei also stopped, and the two of them looked down at the same time. They were shocked to see a familiar face lying at their feet.

"Liu—" Mo Xibei thought he seemed to have heard Murong Songtao introduce him, but he hadn't listened carefully at the time, so he was still hesitating and couldn't remember the person's name. Chu Junfeng had already spoken up, "Liu Yizhou, a lay disciple of the Shaolin School, is proficient in at least ten of the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts. He is one of the best lay disciples. This time, he should be one of the seven disciples representing the Shaolin School in the battle."

"Who killed him?" Mo Xibei turned his head slightly, not intending to look any further, but simply asked the question.

"I don't know." Chu Junfeng squatted down and carefully examined Liu Yizhou's body before saying, "He was stabbed twice, once in the throat and once in the ribs."

Volume One: Ten Years in the Jianghu, Chapter Twenty-Nine

"What a coincidence?" Mo Xibei was stunned and couldn't help but look down. Chu Junfeng had already pulled open Liu Yizhou's clothes, exposing his pale body. There were two narrow wounds, both left by the tip of a sword. In the darkness, the depth could not be seen. Only blood could be seen gushing out.

“It’s just such a coincidence.” Chu Junfeng didn’t seem surprised. He quickly covered his robe again, stood up, and stood next to Mo Xibei. “Doesn’t this scene look just like when he was standing between us, and thus took the brunt of our swords?”

“If that were the case, it would be easier to explain. The problem is, unless he’s invisible, and besides, he was already dead when I drew my sword. You saw the wound; he was stabbed twice. Which one was fatal?” Before Mo Xibei even spoke, she felt a chill run down her spine. She hadn’t actually entered this forest, but it wasn’t deep or dense. If several people had been hiding there, she might not have sensed Chu Junfeng’s presence, but she shouldn’t have been completely unaware of Liu Yizhou. Unless… Mo Xibei thought, unless Liu Yizhou was already dead before she arrived, then who did it? And who made that shout just now? Chu Junfeng, or perhaps a third, mysterious person?

"The depths were roughly the same, they pierced almost simultaneously. The throat area seemed vulnerable, but the sword under the ribs pierced the heart diagonally. To say which one was fatal, I can't really judge." Chu Junfeng shook his head, then looked around and said, "I've been waiting over there, wondering if you'd come after all this time." As he spoke, he pointed to the edge of the forest on his right, a slightly self-deprecating smile on his face. "Just now, I was no more than twenty feet away from here. Within twenty feet, I always thought that even if half a petal fell to the ground, the sound would definitely not escape my ears. But this time, it wasn't until the screams came that I realized there was someone in the forest. I rushed in and only saw this. I wonder if there's always someone stronger among the strong."

Mo Xibei didn't speak immediately. Just now, she was about ten feet away from the north side of the forest, which should be about twenty to thirty feet away from here. At such a close distance, if she heard the sound and rushed into the forest, all she would see was Chu Junfeng, a living person. So, there were only two possibilities. She should have suspected him, but intuitively, she felt that he was not lying.

"What if someone else comes now? Won't we be unable to explain ourselves?" Although the situation before her was confusing, Mo Xibei also felt a vague unease, as if a pair of eyes were watching her from the shadows. She had no idea what she had that was worth watching, and this feeling was absolutely terrible.

“Some might say that I assassinated fellow martial artists who had a chance to compete for the position of martial arts alliance leader, and that you were my accomplice.” Chu Junfeng smiled, squatted down again to look at the traces around him, then casually broke off a branch and swept the ground around him. At this moment, not far from outside the woods, the chaotic footsteps of many people could be heard.

"It seems this is really bad. We have to get out of here. Let's go!" Chu Junfeng quickly scanned the surroundings again, clearing away any traces on the ground. Then, he took the lead and stealthily moved towards the direction from which the sound came.

Both of them possessed superb lightness skills. They emerged from the woods, darted across the clearing, and barely concealed themselves under a row of low trees. A group of people, carrying lanterns and torches, quickly approached them. The person in the lead was calling out, "Senior Brother!"

Mo Xibei had already guessed that these people must have come to find Liu Yizhou, so he dared not hesitate any longer. As soon as these people left, he followed behind Chu Junfeng, crouched low, and took advantage of the cover of night to hurry to the city wall. He then jumped over the wall and entered the inner city.

“I have a feeling that what happened today may not be over yet.” Two streets away from the Murong residence, Mo Xibei stopped. “Do you think someone who put us in such a dramatic situation would let us get away with it so easily?”

“Both possibilities exist.” Chu Junfeng smiled. He was quite certain that he preferred Mo Xibei to be like this. Some worry and fear were written on his face, but he remained calm, and there was a childlike cunning in his eyes.

"So what do we do now?" Mo Xibei leaned against the wall of a courtyard, tilted his head, winked playfully, a smile appearing on his lips, but his voice was as soft as a goose feather falling on the snow.

“I thought you should have a solution, instead of asking me what to do.” Chu Junfeng couldn’t help but take a step closer. The night breeze had stopped by now, and when he got close, he could almost smell a very faint fragrance wafting around them. He was already very familiar with that scent; Mo Xibei’s ship was always filled with this extremely faint fragrance. It was the finest agarwood, which had been burning for years to allow the fragrance to permeate every corner of the ship.

"If you hadn't sneaked me out, I'd be soundly asleep in the Murong mansion right now. How could I have gotten myself into this mess? So, whoever made this mess should clean it up." Mo Xibei leaned against the wall with a roguish air, waiting confidently. Seeing that Chu Junfeng was just smiling, he asked, "Don't tell me you don't know how to cover up where we went in the middle of the night either." As he spoke, Chu Junfeng took another step closer. Mo Xibei could only tilt his head slightly to see his eyes. He realized that he hadn't noticed his height before, but it was just an illusion caused by the distance from other objects. Now that he was closer to Chu Junfeng, he realized that he was indeed shorter than him.

"Of course—I've thought about it, let's go." Chu Junfeng composed himself, casually took Mo Xibei's hand, and turned to walk west. Mo Xibei had become very familiar with Henan Prefecture these past few days, and after only a few steps, he knew where they were going.

The red-light districts and brothels were no stranger to Mo Xibei. She herself ran a pleasure boat on the Qinhuai River. In recent years, who in Jiangnan didn't know the saying, "Qingfengju's fine wine, Xieyilou's cuisine, the beauties on the pleasure boats, and the Jade Pavilion's residents"? Although vulgar, it was true. The dozen or so beauties on her pleasure boat, all of whom were talented and beautiful, were all people she had spent a lot of effort, time, and money to find. So when she was in a good mood, she would join them to watch the fun and listen to the music. Since she frequented these places, she naturally felt at ease. When Chu Junfeng looked over, she chuckled softly, "I didn't know Brother Chu was into this. Next time you come to Jiangnan, you should also visit my pleasure boat. I'm not bragging, but if the beauties on my pleasure boat are second to none, no one in Jiangnan would dare to claim to be the best."

Chu Junfeng was stunned by her words and paused for a moment, but he didn't say anything and quickly walked ahead to lead the way.

The two did not take the main road, but instead passed through walls and courtyards, finally stopping in front of a quiet little building.

"Whose boudoir is this? Just looking at the building, it's already extraordinary. I didn't expect the interior to be even more elegant and refined." As he went upstairs, he looked around for a while and couldn't help but ask.

"My name is Qingchen. It is an honor to have you grace my humble abode with your presence tonight, Boss Mo." A soft female voice answered Mo Xibei's question. A moment later, a figure moved on the second floor. When Mo Xibei looked up, the light upstairs was dim, and he could only see a slender profile. Her hair was styled in a flowing bun, with a gold hairpin swaying at an angle. The delicate gold tassels swayed slightly beside her face. When she saw someone coming upstairs, she gave a graceful curtsy. Even without looking at her face, it was enough to make one's heart flutter.

"I have long heard of Li Qingchen's great name in Henan Prefecture and should have paid her a special visit. I never expected to offend such a beauty on such a night." Mo Xibei also bowed and waited for Li Qingchen to step back and lead the way before following her.

A table was neatly set with delicacies and fresh fruits. Chu Junfeng invited Mo Xibei to sit down, but Li Qingchen did not come forward. Instead, she turned around and went behind the screen. After a moment, melodious music came from behind the screen.

"Did you arrange this all along? Did you know something would happen tonight?" Watching Li Qingchen walk behind the screen, Mo Xibei picked up a piece of white jade pastry with his fingers and examined it for a long time.

"I told you I didn't know something would happen tonight, I don't know if you believe me, but I'm always one to leave myself a way out, and I never thought it would actually come in handy today, that's all." Chu Junfeng's brows furrowed, he picked up the wine pot beside him, poured two cups of wine, and drank one himself before saying, "You're probably upset that I dragged you into this again, so since I had such a good way out prepared, why didn't I just invite you here?"

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