Mu Wanfeng smiled bitterly: "In the entire martial world, only you, Baili Qingyi, can withstand my seventh Soul-Destroying Form without changing your expression." She suddenly felt a little disheartened. Her proud Soul-Destroying Form had actually been thwarted in front of a junior. Could it be that the younger generation is truly surpassing the older generation, and that the talents of the younger generation in the Central Plains are now far beyond her reach?
Baili Qingyi smiled faintly: "Senior's unique skill is indeed extraordinary. If it weren't for Senior's mercy, I would have died right now."
Mu Wanfeng snorted. Show mercy? She had used every ounce of her strength.
"Let's go." She mounted her horse and cracked the whip.
"Senior!" Baili Qingyi called out to her.
"You must be very familiar with the skilled healer and poison master Yu Nan'er, senior? Could you please tell me what you know about her?"
Mu Wanfeng didn't even turn her head: "Those who betray their faith are not worth mentioning to outsiders."
"Was this person killed by the legendary healer who asked a hundred questions?"
Mu Wanfeng was silent for a moment: "...You could say that."
"The Master Poisonous Healer possesses a unique poison called 'Unattainable Desire.' Does the Master know how to counteract it?"
Mu Wanfeng turned her head to the side: "Why should I tell you?"
Baili Qingyi solemnly asked, "Senior, your journey to the Central Plains this time is to find your sect's 'Soul-Destroying Killing Technique' and 'Sacred Poison Scripture,' isn't it?"
The wind rustles through the osmanthus trees.
"Although you have practiced the Soul-Destroying Strike, it seems you have only reached the second level. Why didn't you practice the third level? Is there some secret technique hidden in the original scripture? Perhaps I can help you with this."
Mu Wanfeng took a deep breath and sneered, "I'm afraid you can't help with this."
"To reach the third level of the Soul-Destroying Kill, one must endure the torment of being burned by raging flames. This pain is unbearable for ordinary people. Therefore, our sect leader must have something by his side to slightly alleviate the torment of being burned by raging flames and to successfully reach the third level of the Soul-Destroying Kill. This thing is not even recorded in the original 'Soul-Destroying Kill' manual."
Baili Qingyi remained silent.
After a while, he suddenly took something out of his pocket and handed it over.
"Is this what the leader is referring to?"
Mu Wanfeng glanced at it casually, and what she saw shocked her beyond measure. She never expected to see this item in Baili Qingyi's hands!
"You...how could you have..." Her finger trembled as she pointed at the object. Even with her experience of countless strange and bizarre events, she was speechless at this moment.
This was a sacred object of her Qiong Sect, lost many years ago. She was telling Baili Qingyi this today, the first time she'd ever mentioned it to anyone. How could such a treasure be in Baili Qingyi's possession? What kind of coincidence could possibly have brought this together?
Baili Qingyi's expression was ambiguous.
It really is it.
This item is said to have been pawned by a down-on-his-luck wanderer at the Xu family pawnshop in Luoyang many years ago. The pawnshop owner, Xu Dade, was killed by the assassin Fang Yanzui, known as "Traceless," because he carried this very item. Fang Yanzui, under orders from "Traceless," obtained the treasure but was then captured by Baili Qingyi. Unable to extract the item from her, Baili Qingyi devised a trap, luring Yin Bitong to retrieve it. Yin Bitong hid the item on Yin Wuxiao, who then accidentally encountered Baili Qingyi and returned it to him.
Baili Qingyi grasped the treasure and said, "If you, senior, are willing to tell me the solution to 'the desire that cannot be fulfilled,' I will immediately return your sect's most precious treasure."
Mu Wanfeng stared at the treasure and suddenly sighed: "I can tell you the solution to 'unable to obtain what you desire.' But if you want to cure the poison, you still need to find someone."
"Senior, are you referring to Xuan He, the Divine Physician of a Hundred Questions?"
Mu Wanfeng smiled mysteriously: "Baili Qingyi is a treasure of my sect. Originally, it was a pair, but now you only have one. When you find the other one, I will tell you the solution to 'unfulfilled desire'."
In Baili Qingyi's hand was a delicate blood jade pendant.
Bai Can stared at the thing that had fallen from Yin Wuxiao's sleeve and exclaimed, "What exquisite blood jade!"
Zhang Baitong leaned closer to take a look, and his expression changed slightly.
"Girl, how did you get this on you?"
Yin Wuxiao forced a smile: "This is a family heirloom, is there a problem?"
Zhang Baitong stared at her for a while, as if trying to discern something from her face.
He suddenly chuckled: "Girl, your family must be very wealthy. This jade is of good quality."
Bai Can glared at him: "Not just good, with my superb appraisal skills as a master thief, this is simply a peerless piece of jade!"
Yin Wuxiao smiled bitterly. If he were truly unparalleled in the world, that would be better.
"How come I didn't know you had such a fine piece of jade before?" Bai Can stared at the blood jade pendant with ill intent.
Yin Wuxiao quickly put the jade pendant back into his pocket: "I used to wear it around my neck with a red string. That red string happened to break, and I was just about to find a new one."
"Oh..." Bai Can's expression was meaningful.
Zhang Baitong glared at him sternly: "You brat, don't you dare lay a finger on other people's treasures. What have I taught you? Even thieves have their code of honor!"
Bai Can exclaimed, "How could I possibly steal my friend's things?"
Yin Wuxiao smiled awkwardly.
She's a friend. She and Bai Can are friends.
Zhang Baitong stared intently at Yin Wuxiao, and after a long while, he suddenly said with a sigh, "Girl, you really resemble an old friend of mine."
"An old friend?" Bai Can and Yin Wuxiao blinked.
Do you know who the most dazzling couple in the martial arts world was more than twenty years ago?
"Young Master Baili Chan and the Carefree Heroine Ruan Wuyou?"
"That's right, the old friend I'm talking about is the carefree heroine Ruan Wuyou."
When Zhang Baitong reminisces about the past, a hint of sadness and melancholy always appears on his usually easygoing face.
"You old fool, are you and the carefree heroine old acquaintances?" Bai Can asked with a look of suspicion.
Zhang Baitong couldn't help but give the brat another whack: "Your master is a grandmaster of martial arts, how could I not be worthy of being an old friend of the carefree heroine?"
Bai Can deftly dodged the pipe, grinning mischievously: "Maybe you were rejected by the carefree heroine, which led you down the path of a womanizer."
Zhang Baitong glared and puffed out his cheeks.
After a long silence, Yin Wuxiao suddenly spoke up: "Grandpa Zhang, there are rumors in the martial arts world that the carefree heroine was in love with the Golden Cicada Prince, but was rejected and heartbroken. In anger, she gave up on herself and married a merchant. Is that true?"
Zhang Baitong looked at her in surprise: "How could you think that?"
Yin Wuxiao smiled wryly: "Isn't that what everyone in the martial arts world says?"
She was the biological daughter of the legendary heroine Ruan Wuyou. From a young age, she knew that her mother had married her father on a whim because the man she loved had no intention of reciprocating. The man her mother loved was Baili Chan, the Golden Cicada Prince of the Baili Manor. Baili Chan rejected her stunningly beautiful mother for a simple country woman, leaving her mother resentful and unable to die in peace.
Zhang Baitong listened with increasing curiosity: "Where did you hear all these rumors from?"
"Isn't that right?" Yin Wuxiao stared at Zhang Baitong with hopeful eyes.
"Of course not!" Zhang Baitong said decisively, "You...the carefree heroine has never liked Baili Chan!"
Yin Wuxiao's body trembled violently.
She was orphaned at birth. If it weren't for the difficult childbirth that led to her death, the world of martial arts would not have lacked the carefree heroine, and her father would not have committed suicide out of love for her mother. People say she is the murderer who killed her own parents.
She doesn't think so.
She didn't feel she deserved such undeserved guilt. But she felt sorry for her father, and was even more confused by her mother's intentions. In her heart, her father was a gentle-looking man, holding a flute in one hand and a scroll in the other. She often wondered, if her mother didn't love her father, why did she marry him, why did she ruin this man's life? And why did her father die for a woman who didn't love him, abandoning even his infant daughter?
No one wants their parents to be a happy couple, and she was no exception.
"You mean, the carefree heroine and her husband are in love?" Yin Wuxiao asked, trembling.
Zhang Baitong seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world: "If they didn't love each other, how could they have gotten married?" He paused, then added meaningfully, "And how could they have given birth to the most talented woman in the world later?"
Yin Wuxiao lowered her head and stammered, "But...but didn't she marry Baili Chan because she couldn't win his heart?" Whenever she thought of her father, she felt that he had a pair of sad eyes.
Zhang Baitong said seriously, "Girl, I can assure you that Wuyou Heroine and Yin Yong are truly in love, which is why they got married. There was not a trace of coercion in their relationship."
Yin Wuxiao suddenly looked up: "Really?" It wasn't that she didn't believe it, but everyone was saying the same thing...
Zhang Baitong laughed loudly: "You underestimate Ruan Wuyou too much. How could she rashly decide her lifelong happiness for a man? A woman like her, even Jiang Li, the leader of the Northern Desert Qiong Sect, fell at her feet. How is her spirit inferior to that of a great hero?"
"But how could she not like Baili Chan? Back then, all the women liked Baili Chan!"
Zhang Baitong glared at him: "What are you saying? According to you, all women should like Baili Qingyi now? Do you like Baili Qingyi too, girl?"
"..."
Yin Wuxiao's face flushed slightly, and his clever mind was at a loss for how to answer.
Does she like Baili Qingyi?
I like the size.
Zhang Baitong, oblivious to her embarrassment, continued, "Ruan Wuyou once told me that Baili Chan and she were good friends and confidantes, but both of them were living too tiring lives. Wouldn't it be even more tiring for them to be together? What she wanted was a man who would love her wholeheartedly and pamper her."
Yin Wuxiao remained silent.
After a long pause, she smiled slightly.
The image of her mother remained extremely vague in her young mind. The outside world described her as a woman Yin Wuxiao couldn't understand. But the Ruan Wuyou described by Zhang Baitong felt so familiar and dear to her. She could almost see a smiling, spirited, and cheerful woman slowly walking towards her.
She even began to envy her mother, who died young, envying her wonderful life and beautiful emotions, envying that everything she had ended at the most brilliant moment of her life.
Zhang Baitong winked at her affectionately, as if asking her: Girl, do you understand now? What kind of person is your mother?
Yin Wuxiao wanted to smile back at him, but suddenly remembered her current situation, so she hurriedly lowered her head.
She must never reveal her identity, absolutely not.
Bai Can glanced at Zhang Baitong, then at Yin Wuxiao, a strange look flashing across his eyes.
Chapter Nine: The Golden Bridle of Ximatai (Part One)
Madam Yuwen's surname was Su. In her youth, she was renowned throughout the martial arts world for her two Guan Dao (a type of halberd). At the age of nineteen, her father set up a martial arts tournament to find her a husband. At that time, the Yuwen family's swordsmanship was still ranked first in the martial arts world, and the Yuwen family's only son was named Yuwen Zhuo, who was exceptionally handsome.
Yuwen Zhuo passed through Su Family Village and, on a whim, challenged everyone to a martial arts duel, easily defeating all the other fighters. Only after the duel ended did he learn that the winner was to marry Miss Su with proper marriage rites. He was immediately displeased, saying, "The woman I, Yuwen Zhuo, will marry is the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world. How can I just marry a woman from a humble family?"
Three days later, Miss Su stormed into the Yuwen residence with twin swords, demanding that Yuwen Zhuo fight her. After a hundred moves, Yuwen Zhuo had the jade hairpin securing his hair cut off, and three parts of his youthful heroism were also removed. He had no choice but to willingly marry Miss Su.
This shows that Madam Yuwen could not tolerate the slightest bit of nonsense from others throughout her life.
She couldn't even stand being angry; how could she forget the deep-seated hatred of killing her son more than twenty years ago?
Recently, the Yuwen Manor is about to encounter two major enemies. One is the Black Jade Goddess Shi Mansi, who has threatened to attack today, and the other is Mu Wanfeng, the leader of the Qiong Sect, who is said to have entered Hubei Province.
After weighing her options, Madam Yuwen realized that her hatred for her two enemies was actually roughly equal. Qiongjiao's Mu Wanfeng had poisoned her three sons with the "Seven Nights of Ephemeral Melody," causing her to outlive them all; she wished she could tear them apart, skin them, pull out their tendons, and feed their flesh to pigs and dogs. However, the young maid Shi Mansi, who claimed she would be coming today, also possessed considerable skill, making Madam Yuwen grit her teeth in hatred.
This wasn't the first time Shi Mansi had openly provoked Old Madam Yuwen. Old Madam Yuwen was the most senior figure in the martial arts world, and everyone treated her with utmost respect and deference. Yet this callow youth, the Black Jade Goddess, had repeatedly mocked her in front of everyone, even threatening to raze Old Madam Yuwen's antique wardrobe to the ground and burn all the tattered clothes inside to avoid lowering the standards of the martial arts world. This was truly intolerable!
Not long ago, Shi Mansi was ambushed and reportedly suffered minor injuries. Several people witnessed the ambush, and the person who attacked her was none other than the old lady of the Yuwen family.