Chapter 47: Uncle and Nephew Recognize Each Other, A Beauty Makes an Appointment

  After much persuasion, Ling Yun finally convinced Guo Jing to abandon his plan to sneak into the Zhao Wang Fu to steal medicine and agreed to stay at the inn to take care of Wang Chuyi and Yang Tie Xin's daughter.

  Of course, although the persuasion work was done, Ling Muyun couldn't set off immediately, as it was still broad daylight. Going to the Zhao Wang Fu at this time wouldn't be called stealing medicine, but rather open robbery. Although Ling Muyun had confidence in his own martial arts skills, he wasn't arrogant enough to dare to openly force his way into a high-handed king's mansion where many experts were gathered.

  After speaking with Guo Jing, Linghu Chong let Guo Jing return to his room to take care of Wang Yuyan. He had a sudden thought and went to find Yang Tie Xin and his daughter, asking Yang Tie Xin: "Senior Mu, what are your plans for you and your daughter from now on? Are you going to continue with the martial arts competition to win her hand in marriage?"

  "This...," Yang Tie Xin hesitated for a moment before saying, "After this incident, that little Prince Wang will definitely hate us. Continuing the martial arts competition to win your hand is no longer possible. Once things are settled here, my daughter and I will leave Zhongdu."

  "It's also my fault that Guo Jing was too rash, otherwise things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand, and it's a bit unfortunate that you all got dragged into this." Ling Mu Yun said with feigned apology, slowing down his speech slightly when mentioning Guo Jing's name, while staring intently at Yang Tie Xin to see his reaction.

  "It's not that Guo Xiaoxia can't be blamed..." Yang Tie Xin suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence, but immediately a look of shock and excitement appeared on his face, and he grabbed Ling Mu Yun's hand and asked in a trembling voice: "What? Guo Jing? Are you saying that Guo Xiaoxia's name is actually Guo Jing?"

  Ling Yun saw Yang Tie Xin and indeed reacted, secretly delighted in his heart. However, on the surface, he pretended to be perplexed and said: "Yes, my brother Guo's name is indeed Guo Jing, 'Guo' as in city wall, 'Jing' as in peaceful and tranquil. What's wrong, Yang senior? Is there something on your mind?"

  "What's his father's name?"

  "He's his father? I heard him say that his father had passed away before he was born, and he was raised by his mother. As for what his father's name is, I really don't know."

  Upon hearing this, Yang Tie Xin's face suddenly showed excitement and joy, he ignored Ling Mu Xuan and rushed into the house to find Guo Jing. Mu Nian Ci saw her father's behavior was impolite, so she apologized to Ling Mu Xuan. Ling Mu Xuan naturally knew why Yang Tie Xin would suddenly lose his composure, so he smiled and waved his hand saying: "It doesn't matter, I think Mr. Yang must have something on his mind that made him behave like this."

  Things developed as Ling Yun had expected, and after Yang Tie Xin and Guo Jing clarified the situation, they recognized each other as uncle and nephew, hugging each other in tears. Then Yang Tie Xin called Mu Nian Ci into the room, where he explained things to Guo Jing and Mu Nian Ci. When they came out again, Mu Nian Ci was blushing with happiness, while Guo Jing looked troubled. After thinking for a moment, he went to find Ling Yun again.

  "Guo brothers, what's wrong with you?" Ling Mu Yun asked with a smile.

  Guo Jing's face turned gloomy as he said, "Ling brothers, things have become complicated."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Meng Yi's real name is not Meng Yi, but Yang Tie Xin, the sworn uncle who had a deep friendship with my father. Back then, my father and Uncle Yang made an agreement that if their children were both boys or girls, they would be sworn siblings, but if one was a boy and the other a girl, they would become husband and wife..." Guo Jing immediately told Ling Zhu the whole story in detail.

  Yang Tie Xin was luckily not killed when he was chased by the government soldiers led by Wanyan Honglie that year, and was later rescued by a kind-hearted family. After his injuries healed, he returned home to find that both his own house and his sworn brother Guo Xiang's house were empty, and his wife Bao Xiuzhen and sister-in-law Li Ping had disappeared without a trace. With no home to return to, he could only go back to the kind-hearted family who had rescued him and live with them again.

  Disaster does not come singly, and before long a local epidemic broke out. In that household of seven people, six died one after another within a few days, leaving behind only an infant girl who had just been born. Yang Tie Xin took the blame on himself and adopted the baby girl as his own, taking her with him to search for Guo Jing's wife and his own wife everywhere. But at that time, Li Ping had fled to the north and Bao Xiruo was taken by Wanyan Honglie to the northern regions, so how could they be found?

  Because he was afraid of being pursued by the government, Yang Tie Xin did not dare to use his real name again. Instead, he split the character "Yang" into two parts and changed the "wood" radical to "Mu", changing his name to Mu Yi. For over a decade, he wandered around, leaving his footprints in Jianghu. His adopted daughter, Mu Nian Ci, had also grown up and become a talented young woman like a flower. Yang Tie Xin thought that his wife was probably dead amidst the chaos of war, but he hoped that heaven would have mercy on him, and that his sworn brother Guo Jing Tian could leave behind descendants. Therefore, he wanted his adopted daughter to show her face in public, raise the "Martial Arts Competition for Marriage" banner, forge a pair of iron short spears, and insert them beside the flag, hoping to meet and marry Guo Jing.

  But in the vast sea of people, how easy is it to find someone to talk to? Therefore, after matchmaking for half a year, Yang Tie Xin's heart also faded, and he only hoped to find a man with good character and decent martial arts skills as a son-in-law for his adopted daughter, and he would be content. Who knew that during the day, he encountered the awkward matter of Wanyan Kang, and this young man who took action on behalf of justice turned out to be the son of his sworn brother whom he had been thinking about day and night.

  After learning about Guo Jing's identity, Yang Tie Xin was both surprised and delighted, and immediately brought up the old matter, wanting to betroth Mu Nian Ci to Guo Jing as his wife. As for Guo Jing, he had a bitter taste in his mouth that he couldn't express. If he accepted, he had already made an engagement with Huazheng in Mongolia, wouldn't he be having two boats at once? But if he refused, Yang Tie Xin was his sworn uncle and also the one who had a prior agreement with his father, wouldn't refusing him be disobedient and unfilial? Moreover, it would make Mu Nian Ci lose face. Another very important point was that his impression of Mu Nian Ci was actually not bad, and whenever he thought about refusing her, his heart would surge with a hint of reluctance.

  After listening to Guo Jing's story, Ling Muyun was not worried because he knew that Guo Jing and Huazheng would never be together. The seemingly insurmountable obstacle between Guo Jing and Mu Nianci actually couldn't last long. However, Ling Muyun couldn't tell Guo Jing now that he and Huazheng were definitely not going to work out, so he shouldn't worry about it and just go ahead and romance Mu's sister. Even if he said that, Guo Jing wouldn't believe him anyway. So Ling Muyun irresponsibly told him a very simple solution: when there's a problem, find mom, just be together for now, and after finishing things in Central Plains, return to Mongolia and tell Li Ping about it, letting his mother help him make a decision.

  Ling Yun's goal was to let Guo Jing drag this matter on, until the world made a choice for him, and he wouldn't have to struggle with it anymore. As for whether Guo Jing would be troubled by this in his heart during this period, that wasn't Ling Yun's concern; after all, he was only Guo Jing's friend, not his nanny, and couldn't possibly take care of everything for him.

  Guo Jing had no choice but to follow Linghu Chong's words, and for the time being, he could only muddle along like this. He would let his mother make decisions for him in the future.

  Just then, the shop assistant hurried in and asked, handing a letter to Ling Mu Yun. Ling Mu Yun took it and saw that on the envelope were written the five words "Ling Dà Yé Qīn Qǐ".

  "Who gave me this letter?" Ling Yun thought to himself, tearing open the seal and pulling out a piece of paper from inside. On the paper was written: "Big Brother Ling, I'm waiting for you at the lake ten miles west of the city, there's something important I need to tell you, come quickly." Below it was drawn a small beggar girl, smiling happily, who looked exactly like Huang Rong.

  Ling Mu Yun's heart skipped a beat as he lifted his head and asked the shop assistant, "Who brought this letter?"

  The shop assistant said: "It was brought by a loafer from the street."

  Ling Yun nodded and turned to Guo Jing, "Brother Guo, you stay here and keep an eye on the shop. I'll go now and definitely bring back the medicine Wang Daochang needs before dawn."

  Guo Jing said: "Brother Ling, you must be extremely careful."

  "Alright, don't worry about it." Ling Mu Yun smiled and nodded, then walked out of the store.

  Ling Muyun left the small inn, inquired about the route to Ximen from passersby, and then set off towards Ximen with big strides. With Ling Muyun's lightness skill, even though he was hindered by the many pedestrians in the city and couldn't fully display his skills, his pace was still extremely fast, and it didn't take long for him to arrive at the west gate of Zhongdu City.

  After passing through the west gate and leaving the city, Ling Mu Yun no longer had any scruples and quickened his pace, rushing rapidly towards the western outskirts of the city. At this time, the snow was falling more heavily, with snowflakes swirling around him, and all he could see was a vast expanse of white as far as the eye could see, with no signs of human life in sight. Ling Mu Yun sped along for nearly ten miles, until he saw a glimmer of water ahead, which turned out to be a small lake. At this time, the weather wasn't particularly cold, and the lake hadn't frozen over yet. The snowflakes falling onto the surface of the lake melted into the water, while the banks were lined with plum trees, their blossoms mixed with frost and snow, making them appear even more radiant.

  Ling Mu Yun gazed out in all directions, but didn't see Huang Rong's figure. He thought she hadn't arrived yet, so he stood by the lake to appreciate the snowy scenery of the suburbs. The white snowflakes danced and fluttered in the air, falling onto the clear and calm lake water, creating tiny ripples that were almost imperceptible. The plum trees and flowers emitted a subtle fragrance, their shadows reflected in the water, creating an enchanting and captivating scene.

  After admiring the snowy scene by the lake for a while, Ling Mu Yun suddenly heard the sound of quarreling coming from the woods on the west bank of the lake. His curiosity piqued, he quickly walked over. Before he even got close, someone with a rough voice said: "At this point in time, what's the point of putting on airs as the eldest senior brother? Everyone is equally matched, and you're also just swinging in mid-air."

  "Damn it! If you hadn't been so cowardly and turned to run away just now, the four of us would have beaten him up, wouldn't we?"

  Another one said: "You're not also fleeing in a sorry state, having even tripped and fallen, what qualifications do you have to speak of others?"

  Ling Muyun's mouth corners slightly curled up, and a thick smile appeared on his face. Because he had already recognized from the voice who the speaker was, it was indeed the four top disciples of Gui Men Long Wang Sha Tong Tian, Huang He Si Gui. No need to ask, these four guys must have been manipulated by Huang Rong again!

  As expected, when Ling Muyun walked into the forest, he saw four people hanging in mid-air again, swaying back and forth, still arguing with each other. The scene was surprisingly similar to the one in the black pine forest last time.

  ;