Chapter 23: Chong Yuchun

  Chang Yuchun (1330-1369), courtesy name Borén, pseudonym Yanheng. He was from Huaiyuan County, Fengyang Prefecture, Nan Zhili (now Huaiyuan County, Bengbu City, Anhui Province). He was a famous general of the Ming Dynasty. In the 15th year of Emperor Shun's reign in the Yuan Dynasty, he surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang and volunteered to be the vanguard. He fought bravely and defeated his enemies. He once said that he could command an army of 100,000 men and roam freely across the country. He was known as "Chang Shiwan" (Chang Ten Thousand) in the military. He held the position of Zhongshu Pingzhang Jun Guo Zhongshi and was enfeoffed as Duke of E. He died of illness in the army in the 2nd year of the Hongwu era and was posthumously promoted to King Kai of Ping.

  Chang Yuchun was born into a poor peasant family, with an unusual appearance and great physical strength, bravery beyond ordinary people, and skilled in archery. At the age of 23, during the late Yuan dynasty, when the government was in disarray and the country was in chaos, peasants from all over the country rose up in revolt. Chang Yuchun joined a group of bandits in the mountains and forests, following a notorious leader named Liu Ju. Later, seeing that Liu and his men were not promising, he surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang in Hezhou. On the way back, he fell ill and died in Liuheshui, Hebei Province. His descendants and troops remained stationed in Beijing.

  Of course this is the Constantly Encountered Spring in history, where the Constantly Encountered Spring refers to the Mingjiao sect, following Xiao Ming Wang Zhou Zi Wang to rise up in arms against the Yuan.

  Now is the time when Zhou Zi Wang was defeated and killed, Chang Yu Chun took his son to escape in a hurry, but was pursued all the way. Unfortunately, Zhou Zi Wang's only son still did not escape the fate of being killed, and was shot dead by the arrows of the barbarian monks.

  If it weren't for Song Qingchu and Zhang Sanfeng, even Chang Ercun might not have been able to escape death.

  "Uncle Chang!" Zhou Zhiruo couldn't help but cheerfully call out as soon as she saw Chang Yuchun.

  Chang Chun nodded and said to Zhou Zhiruo, "Go quickly to pay your respects to your master."

  Zhou Zhiruo walked cleverly in front of Song Qing and knelt down to kowtow three times, "Disciple Zhou Zhiruo pays respects to Master."

  "Alright, get up." Song Qing Shu helped Zhou Zhi Ruo up with both hands, looked straight into her eyes and said seriously, "Although I'm not as good as Shi Tai right now, and the Wudang Sect's martial arts aren't suitable for women to cultivate, I guarantee that I will find a high-level technique that suits you, so your achievements won't be any lower than if you had taken Shi Tai as your master."

  Zhang Sanfeng watched from the side, saying nothing, but his relieved expression still made people feel that he was satisfied with Song Qingchu. In fact, this is not surprising, as Song Qingchu, as the son of Zhang Sanfeng's great disciple Song Yuanqiao and the third-generation head disciple of Wudang Sect, is the hope of Wudang Sect, so it's natural for Zhang Sanfeng to have expectations of him.

  At this time, Chun walked up and fell to the ground, saying loudly: "I have eyes but do not recognize gold and jade, I did not know that the old Taoist master was actually Zhang Zhenren of Wudang Mountain. Today, I have been saved by Zhang Zhenren, it is truly my good fortune."

  Zhang Sanfeng smiled and said, "The old Taoist has only lived a few more years, what's the point of being an immortal or not. Please get up quickly, General, don't make your arrow wound worse." He saw that Chang Henchun was generous and heroic, with a strong and refreshing spirit, and he liked him very much, but thinking that he was a member of the demonic sect, he didn't want to talk deeply, so he said lightly, "You're not lightly injured, don't talk too much."

  Zhang Sanfeng was born with a broad mind, and originally had no great prejudice between the two paths of righteousness and evil. He once said to Zhang Cuishan: "The two words 'righteousness' and 'evil' are difficult to distinguish. If a disciple in the righteous sect is not righteous in heart, he is an evil follower; if someone in the evil sect is kind-hearted and virtuous, then he is a righteous gentleman." However, since the day of his 100th birthday celebration, when his own disciple Zhang Cuishan almost died because of the Ming Cult's Golden Lion King Xie Xun, he couldn't help but feel extremely resentful towards the Ming Cult. He thought that his third disciple Yu Dairen was crippled for life, and his fifth disciple Zhang Cuishan almost died in vain, all because of the Ming Cult. Although he didn't personally take action to teach the Ming Cult a lesson, no matter how broad-minded he was, he deeply hated and despised the "evil demons".

  Song Qingchu, who was standing aside, saw clearly and knew that Zhang Sanfeng had a knot in his heart because of the affairs between Zhang Cuishan and Yu Dayer, so he took the initiative to step forward and say, "Master said it right, Brother Chang has injuries on his body, let's rest well for now."

  "Thank you, Sir Song." Chang Yun-chun nodded gratefully. "I am a humble servant of the Ming Cult, and the imperial court and officialdom consider us to be the most heinous of villains. The orthodox heroic sects have always looked down on us, and even those who rob and murder say we are demons and monsters. You knew my identity and background, yet you still lent a hand to save me. I truly don't know how to repay this kindness."

  Zhang Sanfeng had heard something about the origin of the Demon Sect, knowing that the Great Demon King worshipped by the Demon Sect was called Mani, and the people in the sect called him "Ming Zun". The sect was introduced to China during the Yuanhe period of the Tang Dynasty, and was then called "Manichaeism", also known as "Dà Yún Guāng Míng Jiào" (Great Cloud Bright Teaching), while its followers called themselves "Míng Jiào" (Bright Teachings), but outsiders referred to it as the Demon Sect.

  He hesitated for a moment and said: "Chang Yingxiong..."

  Chang Chun said hastily: "Zhang Zhenren, don't talk about heroes being long or great men being short, just call me Chang Chun directly."

  "Good! Yun Chun, how old are you this year?"

  Chang Yu Chun said: "I am exactly twenty years old."

  Zhang Sanfeng saw that although he had a thick beard, his speech and mannerisms seemed very young, so he asked this question. He nodded and said: "You're just an adult, although you've joined the demonic sect, but you haven't fallen deeply into it yet. It's not too late to turn back now. I have some unpleasant words of advice for you, I hope you won't take offense."

  Chang Chun said: "Zhang Zhenren has given instructions, how dare a humble person like me see anything strange?"

  "Good! I advise you to wash your heart and change your ways from today, abandon the evil cult. If you don't think the Wudang Sect's skills are too lowly, the old Taoist will order my senior apprentice Song Yuanqiao to accept you as a disciple. In the future when you travel the world, you'll be able to hold your head high and who dares look down on you."

  Song Yuanqiao is the leader of the Seven Heroes, his name shakes the world. It's not easy for ordinary people in the martial arts world to see him even once. The Wudang heroes only started accepting apprentices in recent years, but they are very strict in their selection. If one doesn't have excellent roots and bones, talent, conduct, and temperament, they will definitely not be allowed to join the Wudang sect. Chang Chun was born into a demonic cult, and ordinary people would already frown upon hearing this. Yet, he was favored by Zhang Sanfeng and invited to join Song Yuanqiao's school. For someone who studies martial arts, this is an extremely rare and great fortune.

  Song Qing saw it from the side and whispered, "It's bad, something is going wrong."

  Indeed, he heard Chongyang Spring say in a loud voice: "The humble house is favored by Zhang Zhenren, and it is extremely grateful. However, the humble one belongs to the Mingjiao and will never dare to betray the teachings."

  Zhang Sanfeng advised a few more words, but Chang Yun-chun refused to comply. Zhang Sanfeng saw that he was obstinately refusing to understand and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

  Changchun Dao said: "I really don't know how we are so sinful and evil, to be looked down upon by others. As soon as we become Mingjiao people, we seem like venomous snakes and ferocious beasts. Since that's the case, then the green mountains will not change, the long rivers will continue to flow, and our sect will have a future meeting."

  As he spoke, he wanted to get up and leave.

  Song Qing Shu hastily pulled back Chang Yun Chun, smiling and saying, "Don't mind, Big Brother Chang. It's not that the Grandmaster looks down on all of you Ming Cult people. As they say, 'one rotten egg can spoil a whole pot of soup.' Although there are many heroes in the Ming Cult, there are even more heretics."

  Chang Yun Chun stopped in his tracks when he heard Song Qing Shu say that, and didn't mention leaving again. In fact, he also knew that there were too many people in the Ming Cult, and it was said that "a big forest has all kinds of birds", with many people doing things without regard for methods, ruining the reputation of the Ming Cult, but they couldn't be bothered to explain themselves, so the Ming Cult's reputation on the Jianghu became even more notorious.