Chapter 23: Setting Forth Once More

Page (1/3)

By the time Yu Renyan and Jia Renda left the brothel in utter despair, it was already well past midnight. Wang Jingyuan and Lin Pingzhi stood outside the brothel, watching the two men depart.

Lin Pingzhi asked uneasily, “Senior Brother, will humiliating the two of them so thoroughly bring trouble upon our sect?”

“Trouble has been brought upon the Mount Hua Sect,” Wang Jingyuan replied calmly. “Doesn’t that mean the Fortified Might Escort Agency has nothing to worry about?”

Hearing this, Lin Pingzhi was deeply moved. He felt that he had truly chosen the right sect to join. Then Wang Jingyuan continued, “Feeling touched? If you are, raise the Mount Hua Sect’s share of the profits a little.”

Lin Pingzhi suddenly found himself much less moved.

Then Wang Jingyuan added, “I was only teasing you. Given what we did, it hardly counts as offending the Qingcheng Sect. Even if Yu Canghai comes looking for trouble, it will amount to little more than a minor nuisance.”

Lin Pingzhi was puzzled. “We went so far that even I am worried Yu Renyan may never pick up a sword again. Will Sect Leader Yu really let this go so easily?”

Wang Jingyuan nodded firmly. “He certainly will, because Yu Canghai is a father, while Yu Renyan is merely a son.”

Lin Pingzhi could not quite understand. “What do you mean?”

Wang Jingyuan recalled the world he had come from before answering, “In this era, there is no such thing as educational psychology or child psychology. Parents may not be said to lack love for their children, but their methods of raising them are bound to be extremely crude.

“If we had killed or crippled him today, Yu Canghai would certainly have gone mad and done everything in his power to put the two of us to death. Moreover, he would have stood on the side of righteousness in doing so and won the approval of the martial world. After all, it would have been revenge for the murder of his son.

“But the blows I dealt Yu Renyan today caused nothing more than superficial injuries. Before he even sees Yu Canghai, he will probably have recovered seventy or eighty percent. Even if I wounded his mind and damaged his dignity, he is not insane. Yu Canghai will not care.

“As for his developing a fear of swordsmanship in the future—if he were a genius who had been ruined by me, Yu Canghai would certainly refuse to let the matter rest. But he was a good-for-nothing to begin with. If he stops practicing the sword, Yu Canghai will merely think he is using it as an excuse to avoid hard work.”

Wang Jingyuan had seen plenty of parents like that in the news. Only when their children actually took their own lives did they finally understand that the children had never been deliberately shirking their responsibilities.

“In any case, by provoking them so brazenly, I have probably made Mount Hua’s attitude clear to Yu Canghai.”

Having finished their business, the two returned to the Fortified Might Escort Agency. Lin Pingzhi went back to his room to rest, while Wang Jingyuan returned to his own quarters. Yet when he reached the door, he found Yue Lingshan standing guard outside it.

“Little Senior Sister, it is awfully late. You are waiting outside my room instead of sleeping. Did I trigger some kind of event?”

Yue Lingshan glanced at the “luxury outfit” he was wearing. “Why did you come back so late? Where did you go?”

“To a brothel.”

“Hmph! I told you that you were not allowed to go to such filthy places. Why did you go there?”

“To practice swordsmanship. I spent the entire night practicing my sword in there.”

“Liar!”

Yue Lingshan stamped her foot, returned to her own quarters, and slammed the door shut.

Wang Jingyuan scratched his head. “Has there really become so little trust between people?”

Page (2/3)

The next day, Wang Jingyuan summoned Yue Lingshan and Lin Pingzhi and told them that matters here had been settled. They ought to leave Fuzhou City, and Lin Pingzhi would be traveling with them to Mount Hua.

Lin Pingzhi naturally had no objection. Since he had already joined the Mount Hua Sect, he ought to go there and cultivate. From then on, he would probably be able to return to Fuzhou City only during the holidays.

Just before they departed, Lin Zhennan privately called Wang Jingyuan aside. “Now that the Qingcheng Sect matter has been settled, as for the Songshan Sect that Young Hero Wang mentioned earlier…”

Wang Jingyuan shook his head. “The Songshan Sect operates on an entirely higher level than the Qingcheng Sect. They will not appear openly. Besides, you need not worry. The Songshan Sect regards our Mount Hua Sect as a thorn in its flesh and a nail in its eye. I have already announced that you gave the Sword of Bane Repelling to Mount Hua, so their attention is probably focused entirely on us.”

Lin Zhennan understood. He escorted Wang Jingyuan all the way to the entrance of the Fortified Might Escort Agency. After clapping his hands, he summoned an escort carrying a tray of silver notes to serve as travel expenses.

Out of politeness, Yue Lingshan had intended to refuse, but Wang Jingyuan did not even bother with the usual formalities. He simply accepted the money. This irritated Yue Lingshan greatly, and once they had left, she complained that he was far too rude.

Wang Jingyuan merely shrugged and said that, back in the capital, he had once asked Liu Jinyuan’s mother for pocket money—thirty thousand at a time, three times in succession.

Simply accepting Lin Zhennan’s travel expenses now was already exceedingly courteous. At the very least, during the several days he had spent at the Fortified Might Escort Agency, Wang Jingyuan had restrained himself from searching through their cabinets.

Yue Lingshan was puzzled. “Who is Liu Jinyuan?”

“An idiot.”

Lin Pingzhi was puzzled as well. “Is there something wrong with the cabinets in my home?”

Yue Lingshan rolled her eyes. “It is merely Junior Brother Wang’s peculiar habit. When he was still at Mount Hua, he opened every cabinet and trunk on the mountain. No matter what anyone said to him, he refused to change.”

Wang Jingyuan spread his hands. “When you enter someone else’s home, how can anyone possibly resist opening trunks and rummaging through cabinets?”

“Hmph! You are the only one with such a strange habit.”

Yue Lingshan immediately squeezed her horse’s sides and rode ahead of them.

Wang Jingyuan and Lin Pingzhi could only follow. Although Lin Pingzhi was the Fortified Might Escort Agency’s Young Master Escort, he had been taken along on escort missions from a young age and was not one of those spoiled by luxury.

Page (3/3)

This time, like Wang Jingyuan and Yue Lingshan, he set out with only a bundle and a swift horse. Nothing more. Wang Jingyuan, who had expected to ride in a lavish carriage, was disappointed for a long while.

The three rode in single file and soon left the city. But just as they were about to take the main road, Wang Jingyuan called out to Yue Lingshan.

“Little Senior Sister, you are going the wrong way.”

Yue Lingshan glared at him. “Could I possibly forget the road back to Mount Hua? We clearly came this way.”

“Who said we were going back to Mount Hua?”

Yue Lingshan’s eyes widened slightly. “If we are not going back to Mount Hua, where are we going?”

Wang Jingyuan pointed toward another road. “We are going to Hengyang City first. Judging by the timing, Master and the others should be nearly there. We can meet up with them this time.”

At his words, Yue Lingshan remembered. “You mean the Golden Basin Washing-His-Hands Ceremony hosted by Third Master Liu of the Hengshan Sect?”

“That is right.”

Yue Lingshan pouted. “If we go and meet them, Father and Mother will start keeping an eye on us again. Father never told us to meet them after finishing our business before we set out. Why don’t we simply travel and have fun on the way back to Mount Hua?”

Wang Jingyuan shook his head. “I should never have tried negotiating with a child. Listen to me now—we are going to Hengyang City first.”

“I am the senior sister!”

“Your martial arts are not as good as mine.”

“Our Mount Hua Sect does not rank people by martial prowess.”

“I mean that if you refuse to come with me, I can force you to go.”

“...Junior Brother, you are a terrible person!”

“Is this the first day you have known me?”