The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 13

The bodies of these little figures are represented by lines, and their heads are drawn as circles. Their postures are all crooked and distorted.

Linghu Chong sneered after seeing one of the pictures.

"With these ugly moves, you dare to claim you can completely break the Huashan Sword Technique? I'd like to see how you manage to do it."

After saying that, Linghu Chong was about to practice the strange poses of these little figures when he was stopped by a hand that reached out from the side.

Linghu Chong turned his head and saw that it was Jiang Ning.

"Junior brother, what are you doing?"

Seeing Linghu Chong's puzzled look, Jiang Ning replied, "Senior brother, we've been here long enough. This place contains the lost sword techniques of our Five Mountains Sword Sect. We must inform our master as soon as possible."

Linghu Chong then seemed to wake up from his dream.

"Oh, right, right, we must tell Master. Let's go now."

After saying that, Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong went out along the narrow path they had come from. After exiting the cave, Jiang Ning used the boulder to block the entrance, and then he and Linghu Chong went down the mountain together.

While Linghu Chong was cursing, Jiang Ning memorized all the sword techniques and counter-moves on the stone walls of the cave, so he could practice them on his own when he had time later.

However, when Jiang Ning searched the cave, he did not find any exit or any signs of human habitation.

Feng Qingyang shouldn't be in that cave.

But this is fine too. It doesn't matter whether he sees Feng Qingyang or not, since Jiang Ning has no intention of learning the Dugu Nine Swords from him anyway.

The Jade Maiden Peak was steep and difficult to climb, but the descent was much easier. Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong were both second-rate masters, so they descended the mountain even faster.

After descending Jade Maiden Peak, the two headed towards the main peak, directly towards Yue Buqun's Suoyoubuwei Pavilion. They ignored the greetings from their fellow disciples along the way, leaving the Huashan disciples puzzled.

As they drew nearer, Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong could already see Yue Buqun standing in front of the Suoyoubuwei Pavilion.

At this moment, Yue Buqun had one hand behind his back and the other pointing at Yue Lingshan, speaking with a serious expression.

Yue Lingshan tilted her head, pouted, and looked defiant. Her eyes were wet, and she sniffed occasionally, as if she had just been crying.

Ning Zhongze, standing to the side, wore a helpless smile.

"Master~, Master~~"

Before he even got close, Linghu Chong started shouting and yelling.

Hearing the sound, Yue Buqun turned around and saw Linghu Chong running wildly like a big monkey, waving his hands.

Yue Buqun frowned slightly, and when Linghu Chong ran over, he scolded him: "Shouting and yelling like that, what kind of behavior is this!"

Linghu Chong, who was excitedly preparing to tell Yue Buqun the secret of the cave inside the Cliff of Contemplation, suddenly froze on his face and remained silent.

When Yue Lingshan saw Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong approaching, she raised the back of her hand to wipe her eyes, then took a deep sniff, as if nothing had happened.

Yue Buqun frowned as he looked at Linghu Chong and Jiang Ning and asked, "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Upon hearing the question, Linghu Chong blurted out, "Master, we discovered the lost sword technique of the Huashan Sect at the Cliff of Contemplation."

"what?"

Yue Buqun was immediately startled. He stepped in front of Linghu Chong and asked sternly, "Are you sure?"

Not only was Yue Buqun shocked, but Ning Zhongze and Yue Lingshan beside him were also dumbfounded.

"Uh-huh."

Linghu Chong nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

"It's not just the sword techniques of my Huashan Sect; the Hengshan Sect, Hengshan Sect, Taishan Sect, and Songshan Sect all have them."

"The lost sword techniques of our Five Mountains Sword Sect are all there."

Yue Buqun couldn't sit still any longer and immediately pressed, "Explain yourself clearly."

As he spoke, his imposing aura unconsciously burst forth, causing Linghu Chong to tremble and stammer, unable to even finish his sentence.

Upon seeing this, Yue Buqun frowned, then turned to look at Jiang Ning. Before he could speak, Jiang Ning said, "Master, the stone wall inside the Cliff of Contemplation is a hidden world. The inside of the stone wall is hollow, and below it is the belly of Jade Maiden Peak. There are many corpses that have been dead for decades in that cave, and many of the sword techniques of our Five Mountains Sword Sect are engraved on the stone wall of that cave."

Yue Buqun was greatly shocked and became anxious. After listening, he headed directly towards Jade Maiden Peak, leaving behind a sentence.

"Ning'er, Chong'er, Junior Sister, Lingshan, you all come along too."

Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong, who had just come down from Jade Maiden Peak, were about to accompany Yue Buqun on another trip.

Ning Zhongze and Yue Lingshan followed with solemn expressions.

The Huashan disciples outside had just seen Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong hurrying towards the Suoyoubuwei Pavilion when, not long after, they saw their master Yue Buqun and mistress Ning Zhongze rushing out of the pavilion and heading back out, ignoring their greetings and looking completely bewildered.

"Second Senior Brother, what happened to Master and the others?"

Lu Dayou asked Laudenuo, who was standing next to him, in a daze.

Laudenau frowned and shook his head.

"I do not know either."

……

"Ning'er, Chong'er, did you mention this to the other Huashan disciples when you came down from the Cliff of Contemplation?"

On the way to Jade Maiden Peak, Yue Buqun frowned and asked Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong.

Linghu Chong shook his head and said, "No, Junior Brother said that the cave inside the Cliff of Contemplation is of great importance and must be reported to Master as soon as possible. Before that, we must not tell anyone."

Yue Buqun was relieved and said, "Ning'er is steady."

Mount Hua is full of disciples of the Mount Hua Sect. Even if Linghu Chong had told Lu Dayou and Gao Genming about this beforehand, Yue Buqun wouldn't have thought there was a problem. But he was afraid that Lao Denuo would find out about this in advance.

Yue Buqun instructed Jiang Ning, Linghu Chong, and Yue Lingshan: "You must not tell anyone about what happened today except yourselves. You must not let anyone else know. If anyone asks, you must keep it a secret. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry, Dad."

Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan nodded; they knew the gravity of the situation.

Jiang Ning was even less likely to tell anyone else.

Chapter 23: The Heart of Jade Maiden Peak

Upon learning that the lost sword technique of Mount Hua was hidden on the Cliff of Contemplation, as well as the location of the entrance to the stone cave, Yue Buqun could not wait any longer. He used all his martial arts skills to head towards the summit of Jade Maiden Peak at an extremely fast speed, leaving Yue Lingshan and Jiang Ning far behind.

"Chong'er, Ning'er, how did you discover that there was another stone cave inside the Cliff of Contemplation?"

On the way, Ning Zhongze asked.

"Yes, senior brother, how did you know?"

Yue Lingshan also spoke up.

Linghu Chong immediately became smug: "Master's wife, junior sister, you don't know this, but there is a place on the cliff of Contemplation that makes a crisp sound when you tap it, while other places make a dull sound. I knew something was wrong, so I smashed the cliff with a stone and found the cave."

Yue Lingshan blinked.

"You've been to the Cliff of Contemplation so many times before, how come you didn't notice it before?"

Linghu Chong's smug expression froze, and he said awkwardly, "Because Junior Brother discovered that place first."

Yue Lingshan immediately mocked, "I knew it! Senior Brother went to the Cliff of Contemplation so many times and didn't find out, but you found out when you went with Junior Brother. If it weren't for Junior Brother, Senior Brother, you probably wouldn't have found out even if you went to the Cliff of Contemplation a hundred times."

Linghu Chong looked embarrassed.

Ning Zhongze then looked at Jiang Ning, who was remaining silent, and asked, "Ning'er, how did you find out?"

Jiang Ning replied, "I saw that the stone wall in the center had characters carved by the Sword Sect senior Feng Qingyang with his weapon. Out of curiosity, I tried the stone wall and found that something was wrong. Then my senior brother smashed the stone wall and that's how we found out."

Upon hearing this, Linghu Chong's eyebrows danced with excitement once again.

When Jiang Ning returned to the Cliff of Contemplation, the boulder he had used to block the cave entrance had been scattered to the side, revealing the deep entrance.

"Come on, let's go in."

Ning Zhongze said, and then went in first.

"Master's wife, junior sister, it's very dark inside, please be careful."

Linghu Chong shouted from behind.

The group walked through the narrow passage, with Ning Zhongze leading the way, followed by Yue Lingshan, then Linghu Chong, and finally Jiang Ning.

Before even leaving the passage and entering the mountain's interior, Jiang Ning heard loud laughter coming from inside.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Heaven will not forsake Yue Buqun, Heaven will not forsake the Huashan Sect!"

"With these sword techniques, my Huashan Sect can finally rise again! Hahahaha!!!"

Unlike the darkness we experienced when we first entered, torches hung on the stone walls, illuminating the cave.

Yue Buqun stood in front of one of the stone walls, his arms outstretched above his head, laughing heartily.

"Master, what's wrong? With these lost sword techniques of our Huashan Sect, our rise is certain, but even without these sword techniques, how could our Huashan Sect, as one of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects, perish?"

Linghu Chong was puzzled.

Jiang Ning glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Of course he doesn't know.

Before this, he had always lived in the comfort zone that Yue Buqun had given him, with Yue Buqun bearing all the responsibilities. How could he have known?

Jiang Ning had never seen Yue Buqun like this before.

In Jiang Ning's memory, Yue Buqun was always a gentleman, speaking with elegance and propriety, and his interactions with others were like a gentle breeze. He never lost control of his emotions, let alone laughed so wildly as he was now.

Yue Buqun released all his pent-up emotions at this moment.

Even after Jiang Ning and Ning Zhongze entered, Yue Buqun did not restrain his emotions.

Among these people, one is his wife, one is his biological daughter, and the other two are his outstanding disciples, with whom he has a father-son relationship. Linghu Chong, in particular, needs no introduction. If nothing unexpected happens, his daughter Yue Lingshan will marry Linghu Chong in the future, at which point Linghu Chong will be both his son-in-law and his son.

In front of these family members, or those who were as close as family, Yue Buqun did not hide his excitement.

"Let's not go over there yet, let your master vent for a while."

Ning Zhongze stopped Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan from going over, while Jiang Ning had no intention of going over in the first place.

Seeing Yue Buqun's loss of composure, Ning Zhongze felt an indescribable pang of discomfort.

After venting his emotions, Yue Buqun calmed down. He turned to look at Jiang Ning and the others and called out.

"Come here, all of you."

Jiang Ning walked over.

Yue Buqun looked at Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong with a gratified expression on his face.

"Ning'er, Chong'er, you have done a great service this time. The sword techniques carved on this stone wall are all lost sword techniques of our Huashan Sect. These sword techniques are all extremely exquisite. It is precisely because of the loss of these sword techniques that our Huashan Sect has declined. Now that our Huashan Sect has regained these sword techniques, the revitalization of Huashan Sect is just around the corner!"

Linghu Chong, who rarely received such praise from Yue Buqun, couldn't help but scratch his head and grin foolishly.

To him, Yue Buqun was like a strict father who had very high expectations of him. No matter how hard he tried before, it was difficult to get praise from Yue Buqun. Besides his own lazy personality, the inability to get praise from Yue Buqun was also one of the reasons why he started to slack off.

Jiang Ning, however, remained calm.

After chuckling for a while, Linghu Chong seemed to remember something and said to Yue Buqun, "By the way, Master, besides the sword techniques of my Five Mountains Sword Sect, there are some patterns on this stone wall. Those are left by these withered bones on the ground, especially that one named Zhang Chengfeng, who even said he could break my Huashan sword techniques."

"Hmph! My Huashan swordsmanship is profound and extensive, how could it be broken by some unknown junior?"

As Linghu Chong spoke, an indignant expression returned to his face. If Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze hadn't been there, he would have wanted to kick that skeleton again.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing Linghu Chong's words, Yue Buqun finally noticed the small figures and the words carved on the stone wall that insulted the Five Mountains Sword Sect.

Previously, his attention was entirely focused on the Huashan sword technique, and he neglected these things.

However, after reading it, he didn't analyze it carefully. He just glanced at it and then put it away, and his reaction was similar to Linghu Chong's.

Yue Buqun chuckled and said, "These thieves must be enemies of my Five Mountains Sword Sect. They were imprisoned here and couldn't escape, so they're just spewing slander and insults at my Five Mountains Sword Sect. We don't need to pay them any mind."

"I'll just say it."

Linghu Chong nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Jiang Ning listened from the side and his eyes flickered, but he still didn't say anything to break Yue Buqun's interest.