Chapter 29: Golden Basin for Washing Hands

  Yue Lingshan's eyes dimmed, and she said in a low voice: "Ling Jing, I really don't have anything with Big Brother Shifu, why do you always not believe me?"

  Lu Da had already left when Yue Lingxuan found Ling Jing, but now he was not far away, occasionally turning his head to look at the two of them, shaking his head and sighing from time to time.

  Gao Genming beside him saw his appearance and asked strangely: "Lu Houer, why are you always sighing?"

  Lu Da pouted, pointing to Ling Jing and Yue Lingshan behind him. Gao Genming followed his gaze and looked back, only to see the two brothers exchange a glance, shake their heads in unison, and let out a sigh of resignation.

  These two people were originally the epitome of pampering, one being a younger sister and the other a younger brother. In their hearts, they were already the most compatible pair, with appearances as beautiful as those depicted in paintings of golden boys and jade maidens. Everyone had been looking forward to attending their wedding banquet someday, but who would have thought it would end up like this now? It's truly heart-wrenching for others to watch.

  Ling Jing furrowed her brow and glanced at Yue Lingshan, saying: "Sister, what's going on between you and Big Brother is your private matter, I naturally don't have the qualifications to ask about it, and you also don't need to explain it to me again."

  Yue Lingshan's eyes reddened as she said, "Just because of a sword technique, you plan to treat me like this forever?"

  Ling Jing sneered, "A single sword move?" He snorted and continued, "Sister, if you had even a little bit of concern for me in your heart, how could you have created the 'Green Plum Like Bean' move with Big Brother?"

  "He coldly hummed: 'Green plums are like beans, willows are like eyebrows, long days and butterflies fly.' It's a good relationship, indeed." With words that couldn't be spoken, there was an unspoken sarcasm.

  His words directly pointed to Yue Lingxuan's true intentions, without leaving any room for politeness. Since Lin Pingzhi appeared, he had been feeling indescribably annoyed, and at this moment, he couldn't help but glance coldly at Lin Pingzhi who was walking in a straight line at the back of the crowd, with a hint of disdain in his eyes.

  Yue Lingshan's heart was filled with unspeakable sorrow, and she explained in a low voice: "Ling Jing, it's not what you think, at that time..." She had been staring at Ling Jing's face all along, but suddenly saw him glance coldly at the newly arrived Lin Shidi, and her heart skipped a beat. She followed his gaze and looked over, and at this moment, she seemed to understand something, and a flash of light suddenly appeared in her eyes.

  "Are you angry?" Yu Ling Shan looked at Ling Jing and asked tentatively, the gloom between her eyebrows seemed to have dissipated a bit.

  "Huh?" Ling Jing gave Yue Lingshan a puzzled look, unsure how her mind could jump so fast, and said, "What am I angry about?"

  Yue Lingshan, however, seemed to be in a slightly better mood, her eyes curving upwards slightly as she said, "I know you still care about me, don't you?"

  Ling Jing glanced at her and thought, "What is this woman's problem now?" He didn't continue talking to her and walked towards Lu Da You and the others.

  Lin Pingzhi walked at the end, and was looked at by Ling Jing and Yue Lingshan one after another. He felt inexplicably awkward when he was looked at, so he immediately walked to Yue Lingshan's side and said in a low voice: "Lingshan Shijie, are you and Ling Shixiong looking for me with something?"

  Yue Lingshan smiled and said, "Little Linzi, do you know that after you came, I finally became a senior sister, and even Ling Jing became an older brother? You really made a great contribution."

  Lin Ping smiled humbly, intending to say a few more words to get closer to the beautiful senior sister, but Yue Lingxuan only said this one sentence and then kept looking at Ling Jing's back, hastily chasing after him again.

  His eyes flickered as he stared at Ling Jing's back, scanning back and forth between him and Yue Lingshan, seemingly having already formed an idea in his mind.

  ......

  The next day at noon, Liu Zhengfeng finally arrived at the moment of washing his hands in the golden basin. At this moment, the Liu Mansion had already gathered all the heroes, and the front hall, back hall, and flower hall were all filled with Jianghu's various heroes, more than double the number of people yesterday.

  In the front hall, all those who sat were famous figures in Jianghu. The deputy leader of the Beggars' Sect, Zhang Jin'ao, Zhengzhou Liuhe Gate Xia Laquan led three sons-in-law, Sichuan and Hubei Three Gorges Shennü Peak Tie Lao, East China Sea Sand Association leader Pan Hou, Qujiang Er You Shen Dao Bai Ke, Shenbi Lu Xisi and others arrived one after another.

  Some of them knew each other, while others were just admirers who had never met before. For a time, the hall was filled with greetings and introductions, amidst great noise and commotion.

  Yue Buqun, as the leader of Mount Hua Sect of the Five Mountains Sword Schools, also had a great reputation in Jianghu as "Gentleman Sword". At this time, he sat in one of the most prominent positions at the top with Tianmen Daozhang and Ding Yitai, while He Sanqi and other famous Jianghu figures sat beside him.

  Ling Jing and Yue Lingshan stood behind Yue Buqun, feeling utterly bored. What's the point of this Golden Basin Hand-Washing ceremony? It had nothing to do with them young folks, and they didn't even have a chance to chime in.

  Now he can only stand properly behind Yue Buqun, watching those several Jianghu big shots chatting and laughing freely over there, while he himself can only stand like a wooden stake, it's really boring.

  He had no intention of standing up originally, but among the disciples under Yue Buqun, he and Yue Lingxuan were the most handsome. Lin Pingzhi was also good-looking, but as a newcomer, Yue Buqun was afraid that he didn't understand the rules, so he chose him and Yue Lingxuan to come over. Now, in front of all the heroes in the world, they naturally couldn't lose face for the Huashan School.

  Ling Jing listlessly swept the hall a few times, discovering that there were at least two hundred tables of people in these several halls. It seemed that Liu Zhengfeng's reputation in Jianghu was indeed not small.

  But he was always thinking about the second mainline task mentioned by the system in his heart. Now, the 16-hour countdown is about to end, and he knows that the task will be released soon, so he dare not be careless at all.

  At this time, the guests at Liu's house had almost all arrived. Liu Zhengfeng, wearing a brand new silk shirt, hastily walked out from the back hall and came to the center of the main hall. He bowed to everyone and said with a smile: "Today, I, Liu, have washed my hands in a golden basin. I am grateful for the love and support of all of you, who have traveled from afar to attend this ceremony. I am truly grateful." As he spoke, he bowed again to the crowd.

  Everyone stood up and returned the courtesy, saying "you're too kind".

  At this time, Liu Zhengfeng's disciples Xiang Danyan and Mi Wei had already carried up a square table, covered it with brocade, and then placed a golden basin with a diameter of half a foot on it, which was filled with clear water.

  "Liu Zhengfeng waved his hand to let the two disciples retreat, and said to the crowd: "Fellow seniors, fellow heroes, young friends. You have all come from afar, Liu Zhengfeng is truly honored, grateful beyond words. From today on, I will wash my hands of the world, no longer concern myself with the affairs of the Jianghu. From now on, Liu Zhengfeng will retire from the martial arts world. If any of my disciples wish to switch to another school or sect, they are free to do so. I invited you all here today to bear witness as friends. In the future, when you come to Hengshan City, we will still be good friends, but as for the various grudges and disputes in the martial arts world, Liu Zhengfeng will no longer concern himself with them."

  The crowd sighed in regret, as if the Jianghu had lost another outstanding figure, and in their struggle against the demonic sects, they had lost a bit of strength.

  But at this moment, Ling Jing stared unblinkingly at the countdown timer in his mind, only to see the numbers on it slowly approaching zero, and then the system finally made a sound.

  "Countdown ends, below is the second mainline task of Host Ling Jing after arriving in the world of Laughing in the Wind and Rain"

  "The Main Quest: The Melody of Laughing in the River"

  "Mission content: Ensure that Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang are not killed by the Songshan Sect before meeting Linghu Chong, and assist Linghu Chong in obtaining the jointly written "The Proud Smiling Wanderer's Tune" by Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang. Mission time limit is six hours."

  "Mission completion conditions: Linghu Cong successfully obtains 'The Smiling Proud Wanderer's Melody' and ensures that Linghu Cong will not die within three hours."

  "Quest Completion Reward: 5 Talent Points, Root Bone +20, Body Technique +20, Internal Energy +40, Enlightenment +2"

  "Mission Failure Penalty: All attributes permanently reduced by 50%"

  "Task release is complete, countdown begins"

  Ling Jing was taken aback after hearing this, thinking to himself: "I'm going, and I really have to rescue Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang?" Although he had mentally prepared for the main storyline to be related to Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang, he hadn't expected the difficulty of this task to be so great. He knew that several of the famous "Thirteen Taibao" from Mount Song had come, each one a high-ranking master of the third or second grade, while he was just a lowly fourth-grade cultivator. To rescue someone from their hands would be even harder than ascending to heaven!

  Finally managed to code it out, I've been moving houses for the past few days and in two more days I'll be taking the train back home, so annoying. The battle is about to begin, Ling Jing will soon face off against a top-notch master above three stars, let's see how he handles it.

  By the way, can I get a ticket? Brothers...