Chapter Fourteen: Ambushed

  "This thing was done with a human touch!"

  Yu Changkong rarely praises people, but today he stroked his long beard and made an exception: "You've done our hometown proud."

  Several disciples also chimed in with praise: "Master, Random Cloud has really shown his righteousness this time, bringing back a whole group of brothers!"

  "It's not just about being loyal, I think they all live up to the four words 'righteousness is as vast as the sky'!"

  "Well said! This time, Su Yun not only talked about loyalty, but also proved to be intelligent and brave. Who would have thought that he actually killed a Huihui general? Indeed, he is worthy of being Lan Niang's son!"

  "This counter-attack is brilliant. Fortunately, our master knows Rui Yun's nature best, and this is the only way to meet her, worthy of Lan Niang."

  Yu Changkong stroked his long beard with one hand and caressed the treasure sword with the other, but heard a disciple say: "If Lan Niang were still here, Master would surely have been enraged for the sake of a beauty!"

  He immediately gripped his treasured sword tightly: "What's the point of saying these things, I just wanted to take care of an old friend afterwards... Besides, that is already a matter of heaven."

  "He instructed them saying: 'Today's matter, no one is allowed to mention it outside, although we don't rely on the Tianyi gang for food, everywhere there are eyes and ears of Ma Qianjun, be careful.'"

  "Otherwise, there won't be any good fruit to eat!" Yu Changkong's warning was not that simple. He knew the strength of the Tianyi Gang best, let alone this time with the Tianji Pang family behind them. His group had clearly accepted the Tianma Gang's token, but they helped Liu Suoyun instead. If it were to be exposed, the consequences would be unthinkable: "Do you understand?"

  "Got it!"

  "Got it! Got it!"

  "Master, what's the point of talking so much nonsense."

  The clever disciple had already guessed Liu Suizhen's next move: "In order to avoid pursuit, I suppose Suizhen will take the small path you opened up? Now there is no other way but to take this road!"

  That was a truly hidden mountain path, which Yu Changkong had found after much difficulty. On the surface, it seemed to be deep in the Luoxing Mountains where monsters roamed everywhere, but in reality, it was often surprisingly safe. Yu Changkong estimated that Liu Suizhen would definitely take Gu Yinghua on this route: "Which road to take, Suizhen will have his own calculations in mind. Still the same phrase, keep your mouth shut."

  These are all his personally trained disciples, and they also have some connections with Liu Suizhen, so there shouldn't be any problem.

  Just then, he suddenly took a cold breath, looked at his disciples, counted them once, one, two, three, four, five, and again, one, two, three, four, five. There were still five disciples. His hand holding the heavy sword trembled: "Where's Double Ping? Where's Double Ping?"

  Half a minute later, he knew something was wrong: "You damned traitor!"

  At this moment, Liu Suiyun was carrying the stretcher and walking on a small path in the mountains. This road is not easy to walk, sometimes there is no road at all, and Liu Suiyun had to hold up Gu Yinghua's stretcher high.

  Sometimes he and Huo Qianshu had to climb steep peaks while carefully carrying the stretcher, then slide down from the top of the mountain. Sometimes it was a deep valley, and Liu Suoyun and Huo Qianshu had to swim across. Sometimes Liu Suoyun even had to jump hundreds of steps between mountains like a spirit ape, before throwing down the rope. And sometimes they simply marched forward in the dense forest where their hands couldn't see five fingers.

  Gu Yinghua had never felt like a burden as much as she did today. She wished she could help Liu Suoyun and Huo Qianshu, but there was no way for her to be of any assistance, so she could only sit on the turbulent sled, staring at Liu Suoyun's completely soaked back.

  The mountains were clear and the water was green, the scenery was like a painting. However, Gu Yinghua did not dare to raise her head to look up at the sky, she was afraid that her nightmare would repeat itself again. What scary thing flew over in the sky? In this situation, her eyes could only stare rigidly at Liu Suizhuan's back, which had already been soaked by the river water and carried a lot of things.

  Gu Yinghua saw two heavy bundles, one of which was sent by Yu Changkong, filled with Liu Suoyun's favorite cured sausage, smoked meat and osmanthus sugar. In addition to these, Gu Yinghua also knew that there was a hand-drawn map of Luoxing Mountain by Yu Changkong inside, which Liu Suoyun followed as he walked forward.

  She didn't know that Yu Changkong had also packed some medicine inside, including some commonly used medicines for driving away mosquitoes and insects on Luoxing Mountain, as well as some essential medicines for martial artists, such as golden wound medicine, rejuvenating pills, and yang energy pills.

  In addition to these two heavy loads, Liu Suizhen also carried a two-foot long shortsword on his shoulder, which Gu Yinghua had never seen him use before. This should be another of Liu Suizhen's trump cards. There was also a small black cloth package, said to contain the memorial tablet of Liu Suizhen's mother.

  Liu Suiyun obviously respected his mother, when they passed through the valley, Liu Suiyun was almost completely soaked from head to toe, only this small black cloth package was dry and clean. However, Gu Yinghua soon found another problem, why did Liu Suiyun only bring out his mother's memorial tablet? Did his father treat him badly?

  In front of her was a thorny shrub, and Gu Yinghua felt a pang of heartache as she thought of Huo Qianshu. She thought about how Liu Suizhen had to carry 70 or 80 kilograms of luggage while also carrying herself on the slide, and she couldn't help but resent her own weight, even resenting her current self.

  Why did I have to raise my head and look at the sky? If I hadn't raised my head, we wouldn't be in this awkward situation now! Watching Liu Suoyun take difficult steps, Gu Yinghua wished she could bear some of Liu Suoyun's pain: "Liu Suoyun, Huo Shu, slow down, Miss wants to rest for a while!"

  Liu Suiyun's suffering was just a figment of Gu Yinghua's imagination, in fact he felt his state was extremely good, having returned to the peak of three years ago, all thanks to Gu Yinghua's pill of Surprising Spirit Fragrance. Such divine incense should be something that only Golden Elixir or even Nascent Soul cultivators could enjoy, and he had been fortunate enough to use it once, truly a blessing for three lifetimes: "Miss Gu, don't worry, we've already delayed our journey by a day, now we must take the shortcut to make up for lost time!"

  Huojian Shu added from behind, "The road chosen by Su Yun is really good, it looks extremely dangerous, but walking on it is surprisingly safe and sound, indeed a seventeen-year-old boy who treats Luoxing Mountain as his backyard."

  Upon hearing such praise, Liu Suizhen was visibly delighted: "Too kind, too kind! I've only explored the Fallen Star Mountain a few times myself. This path was actually discovered by Master Yu Changkong. By the way, since we're all traveling together, may I ask, why is the Pang family trying to kill Miss Gu?"

  Gu Yinghua could answer any of Liu Suizhen's questions, but for this one she couldn't give a real answer. She furrowed her brow and thought for a while before saying: "I don't know either, why the Pang family suddenly started chasing me, killing all my attendants, luckily Huo Shu brought me back safely, by rights they shouldn't dare offend me."

  Liu Suiyun was willing to accept this explanation: "Pang Tian Mountain has always been like this, mysterious and wonderful. In the past, we were very close with the Pang family, just a day before the incident, Mrs. wanted to invite Pang Tian Mountain to our home to preside over, and the next day he suddenly turned against us, Ah..."

  Gu Yinghua had also heard about the situation of Gu's family change. It was tolerable to secretly calculate past allies, but what was most humiliating was that not only did the secret calculation fail, but they were also defeated and fled in disarray, and this was done under absolutely advantageous circumstances, being unexpectedly turned over successfully.

  That one crucial turning point was unexpectedly a person who was considered insignificant, and that person was Yan Ruojiang. He was someone who had previously been viewed as a clown by everyone, an extremely favored nephew of the Yan family, who normally indulged in all vices, and except for being able to embezzle money with an iron fist, his actual abilities were all lacking. He completely relied on his connections to become a key figure in the Gu household, and everyone said that if Yan Ruojiang could rise to power in the Gu household, then the Gu household was truly finished.

  No one expected that Yan Ruojiang, a prodigal son, would stand out in the turbulent situation and remain loyal to the Gu family. With his loyalty and bravery, he defeated the Pang family repeatedly, suffering heavy losses, and it took him a year and three months to finally win. After the event, the aristocratic families of the Great Han often said: "To have Yan Ruojiang is better than having a strong foundation."

  Only Gu Yinghua also remembered that Liu Suizhen seemed to have a lot of opinions about Yan Ruojiang, but the one he admired most was actually Xu Zhaorong, who ranked second among the "Gu Family Four Dogs" who had gained great fame at that time: "Hmm, I don't understand either! However, as long as we arrive in Yuanzhou, I will naturally think of a way to take down the Peng family. Peng Tianshan is just a beginner in building his foundation, and he dares to provoke me."

  "Miss Gu! I knew you must have a big background." Liu Suoyun was very happy: "As long as we get to Yuanzhou, that's all?"

  "That's right, we'll be fine once we reach Yuanzhou!" Gu Yinghua was very confident: "My brother will pick us up there, this small road is safe, right?"

  "Except for Yu Shifu, only I know this small path." After passing through a forest of pine trees, he climbed up another small hill again. Liu Suiyun's footsteps were very steady: "Ma Qianjun wants to go so deep, it's not possible without using some great effort."

  "Don't worry!" Huo Qianshu also assured on the side: "This small path is already considered deep in the depths of Luoxing Mountain, if it wasn't for Brother Liu leading the way, we would have suffered greatly by venturing so far in."

  As he spoke, Liu Suizhuan had already carried the sled to the top of the mountain. He was about to sit down and slide down along the slope with his shoulders carrying the sled. Gu Yinghua also blinked her eyes, she loved this feeling of sliding down the slope, and the feeling of the mountain wind blowing through her hair was great!

  She lowered her head and took another look at the back of Liu Suizhen, but found that the two-foot short sword was no longer there. Liu Suizhen had already crouched down and shouted towards Huo Qianshu: "There's a stray dog!"

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