Chapter 43 Down Mount Wudang Again

  Autumn wind, autumn wind, autumn wind rises. Geese come, too. A golden well's paulownia leaf floats down, and I sigh over the fleeting nature of human life! Alas, how little time we have in this life!

  On this day, Song Qingxue left the Zixiao Palace after breakfast, under the escort of the Wudang Seven Heroes and a group of third- and fourth-generation disciples.

  Three days ago, Song Qing Shu defeated Mo Sheng Gu in a martial arts competition in front of the Zi Xuan Palace, shocking everyone in Wudang. Even Song Yuan Qiao couldn't help but agree to Song Qing Shu's request to leave the mountain.

  After three days of preparation, Song Qing had already packed everything that needed to be taken and made all the necessary arrangements. When it was time to leave, he simply returned to his room, picked up the package he had already packed, put on his long sword, and set off with a light load.

  Arriving at the gate of Wudang Mountain, Song Qing and Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Songxi turned around to bid farewell to everyone, asking them to stay here and not to see him off. As the saying goes, 'people have joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, the moon has its phases of fullness and emptiness, this matter is difficult to be complete'. Besides, it's not that they will never meet again.

  Zhou Zhiruo walked to the front of Song Qing, lowered her head, rubbed the hem of her clothes with both hands, and said with a reluctant expression: "Master, I don't want you to leave."

  Song Qingchu stroked Zhou Zhiruo's head and said, "Master also can't bear to part with you, but as a master, I have no choice but to go. Don't worry, it will only be a matter of ten days or so before Master returns."

  Although Zhou Zhiruo was still reluctant, she nodded obediently and said, "Then let the disciple send Master off on his journey."

  Song Qing shook his head and said, "There is no banquet that does not disperse, sending you a thousand miles away, we must part ways eventually. We are people of the Jianghu, let's stop being so sentimental."

  "Master, take care on your journey, I'll wait for you to return on the mountain." Zhou Zhiruo said with tears in her eyes as she bowed down to bid farewell to Song Qingxue.

  Song Qingyu helped Zhou Zhiruo up and said, "You too, remember what I told you. Alright, let's part ways here."

  Having said that, he bowed again to Song Yuanqiao and others, bid farewell, turned around and went down the steps. Following behind Yu Lianzhou.

  "Master, take care on your journey." Zhou Zhiruo called out again from behind.

  Song Yuanqiao led the crowd a few steps forward, gazing straight at Yu Lianzhou. The figure of Song Qingchu turned around the bend and disappeared from his sight. He stood silently for a long time before leading the crowd back.

  Song Qing Shu was completely unrelenting, at this moment his feet were swift as the wind, taking big strides like a shooting star, and he could only regret that he couldn't immediately rush down the mountain to gallop freely in the rivers and lakes.

  Although he had been down the mountain before, to Xiangyang, and went to Jianmo Valley, at that time, he was just a minor character who didn't know the ropes, being careful everywhere, not only to avoid Wudang's eyes and ears but also to beware of the killings on Jianghu.

  But now it's different, first of all, my own martial arts skills have been practiced with Mo Shenggu, and I can be very certain that as long as I am careful, traveling the world will no longer be a problem. I couldn't help but feel "the sea is vast and the fish jump freely, the sky is high and the birds fly at will".

  Although this time down the mountain, mainly to investigate Zhang Cuishan's whereabouts and find out who ambushed and injured Zhang Cuishan, it did not hinder Song Qingxue's desire to travel the world.

  A few days later, a group of people came to the Butterfly Valley. The leaders were two middle-aged men in their thirties, followed by a white-clothed young man and a group of green-clothed men.

  The Yangtze River flows southeast from Hankou to Jiujiang, then turns northeast into Anhui Province after passing Jiujiang. The Butterfly Valley is located on the north shore of Nüshan Lake in northern Anhui.

  Entering the Butterfly Valley, all along the way is a golden glow, and the mountains and fields are full of chrysanthemums. Although everyone came here to investigate things, seeing such a beautiful scene also couldn't help but elicit an astonished gasp!

  After turning several bends, I saw a mountain wall in front of me, and the road had come to an end. Just as I was at a loss what to do, I saw a few butterflies fly into a row of flowers.

  Zhang Songxi said: "Since there is no road here, why don't we follow the butterfly and take a look? How about it?"

  Yu Lianzhou nodded and said, "Alright!" Then he also crawled into the flower cluster. Since the elders had already made a decision, Song Qingchu and others naturally did not have any objections.

  Beyond the flower cluster, a small path appeared in front of me. After walking for a while, I saw more and more butterflies, either yellow or white, black or purple, dancing around. The butterflies were not afraid of people, and when they flew close, they would stop on everyone's heads, shoulders, and hands.

  After another cup of tea, I saw from afar a clear stream with seven or eight thatched cottages beside it. In front of and behind the cottages were flower beds, all planted with chrysanthemums.

  It is indeed an autumn scene like Tao's home, with chrysanthemums surrounding the thatched cottage and the sun gradually slanting over the fence. It is not that I particularly love chrysanthemums among flowers, but once these flowers have bloomed, there are no more flowers left.

  Unfortunately, everyone's face is now heavy, and there are more than a dozen corpses lying horizontally in front of the thatched cottage, with various weapons scattered all over the ground. Although the bloodstains on the ground have dried up, a strong smell of blood can still be smelled.

  "Everyone scatter and search around, see if you can find any clues." Yu Lianzhou said with a bad expression.

  "Yes."

  The crowd dispersed and searched in all directions. Song Qing Shu also chose a direction and started searching.

  This time, I did find something unusual, such as golden flowers scattered on the ground.

  Song Qing picked it up and examined it carefully, combining what he knew, he determined that this was indeed the Golden Flower Granny, also known as the Purple Shirt Dragon King's usual thing.

  "He indeed came." Upon reading this, Song Qingchu couldn't help but secretly think that although it deviated from the original work, those who were supposed to come still did.

  Raising my eyes, I found something else behind the house. There were two graves, with two tombstones in front of them. One was inscribed "The Tomb of Hu Mr. Qingniu, the Medical Immortal of Butterfly Valley", and the other was inscribed "The Tomb of Mrs. Hu, nee Wang".

  "Second Master, come quickly." Just then, Zhang Songxi suddenly called out, as if he had discovered something.

  Song Qing rushed over and saw Zhang Songxi holding a broken sword and an incense pouch in his hand.

  "This is the sword and perfume pouch of Fifth Master." Zhang Songxi handed over the items in his hand to Yu Lianzhou.

  Yu Lianzhou carefully examined it and said, "Not bad, this is indeed the sword and sachet of Fifth Young Master."

  He paused for a moment and then said, "Since Fifth Brother has lost even the sword at his side and his perfume pouch here, it seems that he was indeed in extreme danger."

  "Not bad, now our top priority is to find them as soon as possible. If the enemy finds them first, I'm afraid it won't be good for Fifth Brother and the others." Zhang Songxi said.

  "But perhaps at that time the situation was urgent, and Fifth Brother didn't have time to leave a hidden signal. Where should we go to look?" Yu Lianzhou furrowed his brow and said.

  "Why don't we go to the nearby village town and ask around before saying anything else?" Song Qing suggested.

  "It's also good this way." Now there is no other way, Yu Lianzhou thought about it and agreed with Song Qingchu's opinion.