CH 70

This crowd was mostly made up of martial artists from Jiangnan. Cheng Zhou was very familiar with Jiangnan; that was where he had first met Xue Lang and where they had become sworn brothers. They’d gone on to roam the martial arts world together after that.

Cheng Zhou might not have been the brightest of the bunch, but he had always placed a high value on friendship, and had a wide circle of friends as such. Even though he’d left the martial arts world for many years, he was still able to garner many supporters for his cause. Of course, his promise to publicise ‘Open the Heavens’ was also a very good hook. 

This group of people walked to the Heavenly Fairy Peak from Jiangnan, and more people joined them along the way. Many of these were roaming martial artists that didn’t belong to any sect. They weren’t really interested in the cause, and merely hoped to get a bowl of soup in return for their participation in this excitement.

“Hey, brother, what’s the plan for later?” Chen Ziqi asked quietly, tapping the person next to him.

That person saw that Chen Ziqi was a clean-shaven young man who looked rather unfamiliar, and assumed that he was one of those who had just joined. As one of the “old-timers”, he took it upon himself to give him a rundown of what was about to happen.

“Warrior Cheng wants to get his revenge on Abbess Wuyin. We just need to make a din outside the Suxin Sect’s entrance to force the Abbess Wuyin to come out. She will self-destruct in front of the crowd.” 

That sounded easy, but the Abbess Wuyin was an immoral, unscrupulous person who had not batted a single eyelid when she killed off an entire satellite sect. She wasn’t someone who would self-destruct just because you wanted her to. Chen Ziqi pursed his lips in disapproval of this plan. When he turned his head, he saw another group coming up the mountain road.

That group of people had about fourteen people, and their leader was a middle-aged man in brocade huafu.

“Halt!” Cheng Zhou barked. He was walking right at the front of their group, and he motioned to everyone to stop. He looked up at the second group of people, then moved to cut off their path. “Family Head Zhang, I trust you’ve been well?”

The Zhang family was similar to the Cheng family in that they were also a satellite sect of the Suxin Sect. This middle-aged man was the head of the Zhang family.

“Cheng Zhou…” the Zhang family head looked at Cheng Zhou and sighed wearily, looking rather haggard. He saw that one of Cheng Zhou’s legs had become disabled. He reached out to pat his shoulder.

The Zhang family’s relationship with the Cheng family wasn’t the best, but all the satellite sites were united in that they were in the same boat. Now that it was known that the Suxin Sect had destroyed the Cheng family for no good reason, all the satellite sects were in a panic.

Chen Ziqi looked around. No one was watching him, and he took advantage of the fact that Cheng Zhou was making polite small talk with the Zhang family head to squeeze in front and poke Chen Zimo, who was standing towards the front of the group.

That idiot Brown Berry had come along for this endeavour because he’d promised Cheng Zhou that he would repay him for teaching him martial arts. 

Chen Zimo turned and got a shock when he saw Chen Ziqi winking at him. He pulled him further into the group. “Why did you come here?” he asked quietly.

“Ktja yibbvs biv cec Qeslc xlvcjqqfv ws wbatfg. Vtf rjlv P tjv ab ulnf tfg Jtfcu Aljhtfc lo P kjcafv tfg yjmx,” Jtfc Ildl rjlv, uglaalcu tlr affat.

“Jtfcu Aljhtfc vlrjqqfjgfv j ofk vjsr jub,” Jtfc Ilwb rjlv, tlr ygbkr mgfjrlcu. “Gbc’a kbggs. Qtfc atlcur ufa wfrrs lc j yla, sbe mjc ajxf jvnjcajuf bo atf mbwwbalbc ab rcfjx lc jcv ibbx obg tfg.”

“I know,” Chen Ziqi said, grinning toothily at Chen Zimo. He knew exactly where Cheng Jiazhen was. He’d give that old nun a nice surprise today. 

After muttering a few instructions to Brown Berry, Chen Ziqi thrust a bag of grey-coloured powder into his hands, then slipped back into the crowd again.

They met a lot of other sects as they made their way up the road that led to Heavenly Fairy Peak. It wasn’t just the Suxin Sect’s satellite sects that joined them – even large martial arts families and large sects like the Lushan Sect also came along.

The Suxin Sect’s grounds were built on the side of the mountain. There was a wide open space covered with thick, solid greystone slabs in front of their main entrance. The Suxin Sect’s motto was inscribed to the left and right of the huge, black-painted double doors that blocked their entry into the Suxin Sect’s grounds. “Clear in thought, pure of heart.” These principles that the Suxin Sect’s disciples were supposed to follow were laid down by the founder of their sect.

The Suxin Sect’s founder was a female martial artist of upstanding character. She was not only very powerful, she had strong ideals and a great sense of justice. She couldn’t stand seeing girls getting bullied by boys, and so she built the Suxin Hall on top of Heavenly Fairy Peak to take in women who had been abused by their husbands, and to care for female babies who had been thrown away after birth. She taught them martial arts, taught them how to read, and also kept them safe. 

Later, the Suxin Hall became the first martial arts sect that accepted only women – the Suxin Sect.

“The Abbess Wuyin is utterly devoid of a conscience! She massacred an entire family just to obtain their treasure!”

This beautiful, sacred place was now filled with martial artists screaming for the Abbess Wuyin’s blood. The Suxin Sect’s current leadership had clearly forgotten their founder’s teachings long ago.

Of the Jiangnan martial artists shouting energetically in front of the Suxin Sect’s main entrance, some were actually from the Arcane Sects. 

“The Abbess Wuyin has hairs on her chinny chin chin!”  the fat old man who was the head of the Thousand Poisons Sect shouted exuberantly, brandishing a fist in the air in excitement.

“Sect Leader, that’s not how you do it,” the Thousand Poisons Sect’s Left Hufa said awkwardly, pulling on his Sect Leader’s robes.

“Huh?” Sect Leader Huang’s eyebrows twitched, and he threw a handful of Sneezing Powder at his Left Hufa. “I’m having fun, stop lecturing me!”

The Left Hufa waved his arm in a circle to fend off the powder, but he still caught a whiff of some and sneezed a few times without stopping. He held his nose as he silently pulled out an antidote and ate it. A few people around him breathed in the powder as well and started sneezing their heads off. 

Chen Ziqi reached out and pulled the fat old man towards him. “Uncle Huang, when they start fighting later, throw some smoke powder or something, so that I can sneak in easily,” he said.

“No problem,” the fat old man said, grinning. This was what he was best at.

Chen Ziqi looked around. The Lushan Sect had sent around fifteen people, most of which were second generation disciples, save for one first generation disciple who seemed to be their leader. That first generation disciple wasn’t Li Yuhan, and it wasn’t convenient for Chen Ziqi to go and say hello, so he just remained where he was.

The Lushan Sect’s people hadn’t participated in the shouting. They just stood to one side holding their swords, as if they were just here to watch the fun. 

The Suxin Sect’s satellite sects all heaved a sigh of relief when they saw that the Lushan Sect had come along. After the Cheng family’s matter had been broadcast by the Cloud Palace, these small sects had all secretly contacted the Lushan Sect. If things took a turn for the worse, they would immediately change their allegiance to the Lushan Sect. That the Lushan Sect was here today was a real confidence booster for these sects, and they became more daring in creating a fuss.

“My name is Cheng Zhou, and today, all of you martial arts warriors are gathered here to seek justice for the ninety-three people in my family who died that fateful day. I thank you sincerely for your support!” Cheng Zhou said, standing on a tall stone in front of the Suxin Sect’s tightly closed doors. He bowed respectfully to the audience. “The Cheng family was originally the Suxin Sect’s satellite sect, and we never thought that one day, our entire sect, our entire family, would be exterminated. I have wasted ten years trying to find the culprit, and I finally know now that the mastermind is the Abbess Wuyin of the Suxin Sect…”

Meanwhile, the mob was using their neili to project their voices as they shouted, and the racket could be heard even in the part of the Suxin Sect that was furthest from the entrance.

Chang Er walked out of the house and stood on the balcony, stretching her neck to try and see what was going on. “What’s happening outside?” she asked the old nun who was sweeping the floor. 

“It’s a martial arts affair. Taifei, you need not worry yourself about it,” Yu Linglong and Yu Furong said, suddenly appearing at the entrance to Chang Er’s residence.

“Yo, I was wondering who it was, and it turns out that it’s you two,” Chang Er said, giving these two girls the side-eye. They had removed their veils and looked very much alike, though they weren’t completely identical. Yu Furong was more mature and sultry-looking, whilst Yu Linglong looked more lively and innocent. Even though Chang Er was now a hostage in the Suxin Sect, she still looked at those two girls as if they were shameless trollops.

Yu Linglong really hated it when Chang Er looked at them that way. She gave a cold sniff. “There’s unrest in the sect, so the two of us are here to protect the Taifei. You’re not to set even one foot out of your residence,” she said.

Chang Er’s lips curled in irritation. She turned to lie down on the bamboo easy chair. “Laoniang can’t be bothered to move, really. Come here and massage my legs,” she said. Protect her, her ass! They were probably just afraid that she’d try to run off amidst the commotion. Her little brat had probably arrived or was on the way – that was why these people were so anxious. 

“You…” Yu Linglong saw that Chang Er was pointing at her, and she grit her teeth in anger. “Do you think you’re still in King Jian’s mansion? You’re in the Suxin Sect right now!”

“And so? So what if we’re in the Suxin Sect? Laoniang is still your mother-in-law, and you’re nothing but my son’s concubines. You’ve slept in King Jian’s mansion for so many days – you can’t possibly deny that now!” Chang Er retorted. She stuck one hand on her hip and pointed the other at the two of them accusingly. She hadn’t seen these two cheap hussies in the last few days, and now that she’d seen them, she really wanted to vent her anger.

On hearing this, a few of the younger second generation disciples who were passing by all stopped in their tracks. Even the old nun who was sweeping in the yard stopped what she was doing.

The author has something to say: Mini-theatre 

“The mother-in-law is too fierce”

Qiqi: Mother, someone sent me two concubines

Little Fairy: If those two little hussies dare to seduce my son, Laoniang will scold them to death

Birdie Gong: Yes, scold them to death 

Qiqi: Mother, recently, I’ve realised that I like someone

Little Fairy: Which asshole is this? Who seduced my son? I’ll scold him to death

Birdie Gong: Yes, scold him to death

Qiqi: It’s Dan Yi 

Birdie Gong: Exactly, it’s… me? Huh?

Little Fairy: Oh, so it’s Dan Yi. Then I won’t scold him

Birdie Gong: (⊙v⊙) Does Mother-in-Law approve of me?

Little Fairy: We’ll have braised chicken tonight! (╰_╯)# 

Birdie Gong: QAQ