coobybook Chapter 25, 3 River Town 13
Chapter 25, 3 River Town 13
The strangeness of Sanhe Town in the previous life was first discovered by a traveler who returned to Sanhe Town for the New Year.
The once bustling town wharf was deserted, and the entire town of Sanhe was as silent as a dead city.
It was indeed a dead city; the entire town was littered with the corpses of disciples from the three factions, not a single living person remained. The constables who arrived upon hearing the news saw the townspeople's bodies floating on the surface of Beiliang Lake.
Blood was everywhere on the shore of Beiliang Lake, as if a fierce battle had taken place there. However, apart from the unconscious Ji Zhongxuan, there was not a single corpse.
Upon receiving the news, the leaders of the three sects rushed to Sanhe Town overnight. Seeing the bodies of their disciples, everyone was heartbroken, especially the lord of Thunderbolt Fortress, who was devastated by the loss of his beloved son and vowed on the spot to fight the murderer to the death.
Just as everyone was turning Sanhe Town upside down in their search for the truth, Mu Qingfeng appeared out of nowhere, stumbling along. Mu Shize grabbed his beloved daughter's shoulder and asked her what had happened.
Mu Qingfeng kept shouting that there was a spider monster and that a woman had been put into a bottle, but she couldn't explain what had happened. The group searched all over Sanhe Town but found nothing.
The reason why the disciples of the three factions fought each other remains unclear to everyone. Mu Qingfeng's explanation was accurate; after a thorough search, they found the location not far from Beiliang Lake.
But the tunnel was empty; they hadn't seen a woman in the bottle, or even a spider. At this point, the three factions concluded that the beautiful young woman was probably babbling incoherently out of fear, and her words were not to be trusted.
Ji Zhongxuan, the junior brother who was rescued, remained unconscious. Fei Xi took his pulse and discovered that a powerful internal energy had inexplicably appeared in his body, along with a toxin that was intertwined with the internal energy.
To save her junior brother, Fei Xi had to put aside everything else. She painstakingly searched through ancient texts and tried many methods, but none of them could remove the poison from her junior brother's body without crippling his martial arts. Finally, she came up with a solution: using Langgan grass as a guide, theoretically, she could draw the excess internal energy and poison from her junior brother's body to the Langgan grass.
Langgan grass is the prized possession of Wushuang Manor.
There is a wondrous flower and a wondrous herb in this world.
The rare flower is the Immortal Flower. Consuming a fully bloomed Immortal Flower can grant one an additional sixty years' worth of internal energy. Many martial arts prodigies may possess a comprehension of techniques no less than that of established masters, but without abundant internal energy, the effectiveness of their techniques is less than satisfactory. Therefore, wherever news of the Immortal Flower spreads, a bloody storm ensues.
The extraordinary herb is called Langxuan Grass. Unless one is a martial arts prodigy born with their Ren and Du meridians open, it's virtually impossible for an ordinary person to receive internal energy from another. The eight extraordinary meridians of the human body are extremely sensitive, like heavily guarded fortresses. To successfully transfer internal energy to someone else, it must pass through these fortresses and reach the dantian. However, for ordinary people, their eight extraordinary meridians are like impenetrable walls, unable to accommodate the internal energy of others entering their dantian. But Langxuan Grass is like a magical artifact, perfectly absorbing a person's internal energy. As long as one consumes Langxuan Grass brimming with internal energy, no matter how poor one's aptitude, they can perfectly absorb the internal energy contained within the grass.
At that time, her sect was already in turmoil. Fei Xi snapped out of her thoughts while reading the medical book and found that everyone was very busy. Perhaps her master had a premonition of something and urged her to leave Qingcheng Mountain.
Knowing that Junior Brother Ji's injuries could not be delayed any longer, Fei Xi had no choice but to take Junior Sister and Junior Brother Ji on her back to visit Wushuang Manor alone.
They had barely arrived at Wushuang Manor when they heard the news that the Qingcheng Sect had been traitors who colluded with the enemy during the war to defend the country, and had been wiped out by Thunderbolt Fortress and several other families. Before Fei Xi could recover from the devastating news, an even greater calamity followed.
Not satisfied with wiping out the entire Qingcheng Sect, the group, upon hearing that there were three survivors, pursued them to Wushuang Manor overnight, forcing Wushuang Manor to hand them over.
Taking advantage of the situation, Xiao Zhengqing, the young master of Wushuang Manor, half-coerced and half-blackmailed his junior sister Mu Qingfeng into marrying him. Later, after a series of changes, Junior Brother Ji, who had come to his senses in time, led the two of them to escape from the perverted Wushuang Manor.
During her escape, she learned roughly what had happened that night from her junior brother Ji.
The Qingcheng Sect disciples stationed in Nanxuan City, following Junior Brother Ji in his search for Junior Sister's whereabouts, arrived at Sanhe Town. The people of Pili Fortress, led by their young master Tie Yi, followed closely behind. However, Dongfang Rui, along with members of Xuehai Academy, secretly also arrived in Sanhe Town. Amidst the thick fog, the three sects, instigated by someone with ulterior motives, engaged in a vicious battle.
Ji Zhongxuan stumbled upon the shore of Beiliang Lake and overheard a pale-faced Confucian scholar and a group of men in black having a secret conversation.
From the conversation, Ji Zhongxuan learned that the shimmering, wondrous flower by the lake was called the Immortal Flower. Once all nine petals fully bloomed, swallowing it would grant one sixty years' worth of internal energy. This flower was a gift from the leader of the men in black to the scholar, in exchange for something from him. The scholar feigned agreement, but then launched a surprise attack on one of the men in black. Just as the fight was raging, the flower's petals rapidly closed, then suddenly bloomed again. Ji Zhongxuan seized the opportunity to run to the flower and swallowed it whole.
Upon seeing the flower taken away, the scholar, his eyes bloodshot, lunged at him. During their fight, Ji Zhongxuan felt intense heat, an unbearable heat, as if his body was about to explode. He struck the scholar with a palm, knocking him to the ground. The man in black, no longer engaging him, quickly pulled something from the scholar's body and threw it at him. Then, Ji Zhongxuan felt himself bitten and lost consciousness.
*
"The Immortal Flower, as the saying goes, grants an extra sixty years' worth of internal energy simply by consuming it. But those in the martial world only know one side of the story. There are no benefits in this world that come without a price. The internal energy increased by the Immortal Flower is actually all the internal energy a person can acquire in the future. It's not as miraculous as everyone thinks. Immortality, its true function is to allow a dying person to activate all their potential before death, thus achieving temporary immortality. Young Master Gu, after hearing all this, do you still want this Immortal Flower?"
"...How dare he lie to me!"
Perhaps it was because the flowers were gone, or perhaps it was out of some inexplicable trust, but Gu Mingfeng accepted Fei Xi's words very quickly. Moreover, he instantly realized the wickedness of the person who told him the news, and at that moment he desperately wanted to rush back to Yanshui Pavilion and tear that person to pieces.
but……
"What on earth are you doing?!"
Scattered on the ground were the things the girl had taken from the pale scholar: several booklets split in half, two brocade pouches, a token, and a white handkerchief with yellowed edges but well-preserved.
Unsure what the girl was looking for, her fair hands kept touching the man's body, and Gu Mingfeng's brows furrowed more and more as he looked at her.
Is this woman even a woman? Even if the other party is dead, what unmarried woman would so calmly strip a man's clothes and grope him like that!
How disgusting! Under the other person's shoe, Fei Xi finally found what she had guessed: a key.
The moment she touched the key, Fei Xi snatched it into her palm, then looked up and called out:
"Uncle Yin! Do you recognize this token?"
……
Damn it, is this woman ignoring him?!
Ignoring the man's gloomy demeanor, Fei Xi found the items, picked up everything on the ground, and walked towards her martial uncle.
After handing one of the booklets and the token to Uncle Yin, she handed the other booklet to the Master and said:
"Master, Sanhe Town was previously shrouded in miasma, and some people used various martial arts techniques to ambush us. Among them was your sect's unique skill, Ding Qian Kun. Later, my junior brother recognized the attacker as a dead person on the ground. I was thinking that perhaps we could find something on this person. Master, please take a look, is this manual your sect's unique skill?"
Upon hearing this, the Master, who was conversing with the Iron Decree, solemnly took the cleaved manual from Fei Xi's hand and began to peruse it. After a while, the old man put the manual away and stroked his beard.
"Thank you for returning it, young friend. The things you asked my student to borrow from me before were not only for this grand event, but also for the people of Sanhe Town, right?"
"Master, you are truly righteous! On behalf of the people of Sanhe Town, I thank all the students of Xuehai Academy!"
The teacher glared at the girl who was offered a ladder and climbed it without a second thought. He was old enough to be put on a pedestal by a little girl.
Well, this is a good deed, and Xuehai Academy will not suffer any loss.
"Young friend, since you helped me retrieve our sect's secret manual, I'll agree!"
"Thank you, Master."
After finishing his speech, the Master left the shores of Beiliang Lake, preparing to gather all his students. Having decided to save lives, this act of following the trend could also be an opportunity for his Xuehai Academy to rise to prominence.
Fei Xi sighed inwardly, thinking that all the old men who had made a name for themselves in the martial arts world were cunning and shrewd, and none of them had ever really suffered a loss!
Look, not only did they seize the opportunity immediately, but they also erased her favor. And yet, she still has to thank them.
"Xi'er, I know who's lying on the ground!"
Yin Zheng took the things handed to him by his junior apprentice, thought for a moment, and a past event surfaced in his mind.