Chapter - 341 Broken Marriage of the Purple Dress King (4)

Zhou Zhiruo broke up in tears. "Who made eyes with him?" she sobbed, "Your vicious words are falsely accusing others."

Ding Minjun laughed coldly and said, "My words are vicious; but what about you? Aren't you afraid others may say ugly words of your unsightly conduct? Are your words pleasant to the ears? Humph, how did you ask that innkeeper a while ago? 'Mister Innkeeper, is there any guest by the surname Zhang in here? Mmm, he is about twenty, rather tall. Perhaps he did not use the surname Zhang, but some other family name?'"

She talked slowly with a sharp throaty voice, imitating Zhou Zhiruo's slow intonation; with an exaggerated action imitating a demonic seductress, absolutely horrifying those who heard her. Zhang Wuji was very mad; he thought this Ding Minjun was Emei Pai's most sly and nasty disciple. The gentle and soft-spoken Zhou Zhiruo was definitely not her match. But he could not come out to stand for her; because first of all it was Emei Pai's internal affair, it was inappropriate for outsiders to butt in, second, he would only make Zhou Zhiruo's situation more disadvantageous. In the end, he could only see Zhou Zhiruo was cornered without him able to render any help.

The majority of the Emei Pai disciples were originally submitting to their Shifu's wish; they were ready to support Zhou Zhiruo as the new Sect Leader. But listening to Ding Minjun's fiery argument, which was actually logical and reasonable, they thought, "Shifu's hatred to the Devil Cult was so deep. Zhou Shimei and that Devil Cult's Jiaozhu have nothing in common. Supposed she is selling our Sect to the Devil Cult, how can that be good?"

Ding Minjun continued, "Zhou Shimei, you entered Shifu's school by Wudang's Zhang Zhenren's recommendation. That Devil Cult's pervert little thief is Wudang's Zhang Wuxia's [Fifth Hero Zhang] son. Nobody knows the details to what kind of intricate plot you are scheming." Raising her sharp voice again she said, "Martial brothers and sisters, even though Shifu left us her will that Zhou Shimei is to take over the Sect Leader position, surely she could not know that while her skeleton is not yet cold, this new Sect Leader would look for the Devil Cult's Jiaozhu to nurture their personal relationship. This is a grave matter concerning the life or death, the prosperity or decline of our Sect. If Xian Shi were here tonight, she would definitely appoint another Sect Leader. Shifu's desire was certainly the bright future of our Sect, not its destruction under the Devil Cult's hands. In Xiao Mei's opinion, we must lift high Xian Shi's lifelong desire; we will respectfully ask Zhou Shimei to hand over the Iron Ring, the Sect Leadership's token of authority. And then we will nominate someone else with both ability and integrity, a senior martial sister whose martial art can be an example to our fellow disciples, to take the position of our school's Sect Leader."

As she finished her oration, some six, seven disciples voiced their agreement.

Zhou Zhiruo said, "I have received Xian Shi's order to take over this school's Sect Leader position; in no way I can hand over this Iron Ring. In all honesty, I did not want to become the Sect Leader; but I have made a heavy oath in front of her. I simply cannot … simply cannot betray her trust." Her voice was so weak that some disciples could not hear clearly what she was saying. They could not restrain from inwardly shaking their heads.

In a stern voice Ding Minjun said, "This Iron Ring, you must hand it over, whether you want it or not! One of our school's strictest rules is prohibition against deceiving masters and ancestors; the other is strict abstention against immorality and shameless act. You have violated these two most important rules; how can you even be the disciple of our school?"

Zhao Min put her lips close to Zhang Wuji's ears and in a very low voice said, "Your Miss Zhou is done with! You call me 'good elder sister', I will come out to her rescue."

Zhang Wuji's heart was stirred; he knew this girl was shrewd, certainly she could think of some way to get Zhou Zhiruo out of trouble. But she was a few years younger than he, so if he called her 'good elder sister', he thought it was just too corny. He hesitated and did not open his mouth.

"You want to call or not, it's up to you," Zhao Min said, "I'm leaving."

Zhang Wuji had no choice; he whispered on her ear, "Good elder sister!"

Zhao Min stifled her laughter. She was about to stand up and come out when the people in the pavilion had already cried out in alarm.

"Who's there?" Ding Minjun shouted, "Hiding in the dark eavesdropping to other people in here?"

From outside the wall came several coughing noises, a clear and crisp female voice was heard, "What are you, Emei Pai people, doing in the middle of the night, stealthily gathered in here?" The sound of flapping clothes swept by and there were two more people standing outside the pavilion.

These two people were facing the moon. Zhang Wuji was able to see clearly. One was a frail hunchback old lady, with a walking stick in her hand; it was none other than Jin Hua Popo [Golden Flower Granny]. The other was a young lady with a graceful figure, but her face was strangely ugly; it was Yin Yewang's daughter, Zhang Wuji's own cousin Zhu'Er [Spider Kid] Yin Li.

Zhu'Er was captured by Wei Yixiao the other day; but before he reached the Brightness Peak the cold poison in his body flared-up. He did not want to suck her blood, so finally he collapsed to the ground. Afterwards he was rescued by Zhou Dian, but by the time he tried to find Zhu'Er, she was nowhere to be found. Ever since Zhang Wuji argued with her, he had never forgotten her. He was pleasantly surprised to unexpectedly see her here that he almost opened up his mouth to call her.

"Jin Hua Popo, what are you doing here?" Ding Minjun coldly asked.

"Where is your Shifu?" Jin Hua Popo asked her back.

"Xian Shi passed away yesterday," Ding Minjun said, "You have eavesdropped outside the wall for a while, why are you still pretending?"

"Ah, Miejue Shitai has passed away!" Jin Hua Popo exclaimed in a weak voice, "How did she die? Why didn't she wait for me? Ay, ay, what a pity, what a pity …" Before finished speaking, she had already bent down and was coughing incessantly.

Zhu'Er gently patted her back. She sneered toward Ding Minjun and said, "Who eavesdrops on your conversations? Popo and I are simply passing by; we heard someone was mumbling nonstop. I recognized your voice, so we stopped by to take a look. Popo asked you, have you not heard? How did your Shifu die?"

Ding Minjun indignantly said, "What business is it of yours? Why do you expect me to answer you?"

Jin Hua Popo slowly exhaled, she calmly said, "In all my life dealing with other people, I only suffered defeat one time under your Shifu's hands. It was not because her martial art was better than mine, but because the sharpness of the Yitian Sword. These past several years I have been wandering everywhere, trying to find a comparably sharp weapon so that I can challenge your Shifu once again. Finally my wandering to the end of the world has not been in vain; an old acquaintance has agreed to let me use a precious saber of his. I heard Emei Pai people were imprisoned at the Wan An Temple by the royal government. I had a thought of rescuing your Shifu, so that we can decide whose skill is better. Who would have thought that as I arrived today, the Wan An Temple has been reduced to rubble. Ay! This is fate; for the rest of her life Jin Hua Popo will not be able to wash away the shame of this defeat. Miejue Shitai, oh, Miejue Shitai, can't you wait just one and a half day later to die?"