Chapter 52

The history of the Huashan Sect is indeed long; although Qin Wujou appears to have betrayed Huashan, his words still show quite a feeling for the Huashan Sect—after all, a person who has practiced martial arts and studied literature at Huashan since childhood, grew up with fellow disciples, and been taught by the master for over ten years, would inevitably have affection.

It turns out that this Huashan Sect was originally the direct transmission of Hao Datong's line of the Quanzhen Sect during the Southern Song, which by principle should have been a Taoist inheritance, but at the end of the Yuan it turned into a secular transmission. Qin Wujou says that, according to his scholarly research, this probably no longer counts as the authentic line of Hao Datong's generation—"Master Guangning ascended to become an immortal; how could the secular Daoist lineage be passed down?" In fact, the true Huashan line had already moved south again in the mid‑Yuan period. Qin Wujou is rather proud of this, calling it a great achievement of his scholarly career.

Up to now, among all of Huashan, this traitorous disciple has the highest cultural level; based on the sect's records and the faint clues in some book notes, he derived a conclusion that he dared not voice within the sect, and now finally someone is listening to his research, which makes him extremely pleased. "So this means the Huashan Sect is essentially 'fake'?" Bai Lang is truly interested in this kind of historical talk because it's fun.

Gossip has always been one of humanity's greatest hobbies, and Bai Lang and Qin Wujou, as martial‑world figures, are no exception. "No, we can't call it false. The Huashan Sect's techniques also contain the Quanzhen school's… philosophy." At this point Qin Wujou blinked slightly, but Bai Lang pretended not to hear. "It's just a pity that the sect's inherited divine skill has already been lost…" Qin Wujou lamented.

Bai Lang did not press further about the Huashan Sect, because Qin Wujou seemed to have many things he still would not say, but discussing other sects was fine. "Is there really a Shaolin Sect?" Bai Lang asked, genuinely surprised, since Qin Wujou's description was unfolding a whole martial‑world panorama.

Shaolin and Wudang remain the Tai‑shan and Bei‑dou of the martial world, and there are also the Five‑Mountains sects such as Songshan, Hengshan, and any famous mountain has a sect… Qingcheng, Emei, and so on. In fact, the martial world is far more vibrant than when Bai Lang first arrived—he simply hasn't encountered any yet, given the vastness of the world.

What a coincidence indeed. "It's truly a coincidence! I have never met a martial‑world person before meeting you, sir." Bai Lang said likewise. Both host and guest laughed. "Indeed, indeed, young hero, you speak well. Before I went up the mountain I had only heard of the Huashan Sect; after descending I met many martial‑world people, yet after I, as a scholar, passed the imperial examination amid the chaos of the realm, I have again seen few martial‑world figures."

"Could this be the typical web‑novel law? Once you reach a certain rank, that rank appears everywhere? If you're not a gang, you can't even encounter a single gang?" Bai Lang thought to himself, but he didn't intend to keep asking. The conversation ended amicably, and after Qin Wujou achieved his aim of winning Bai Lang over, he took his leave—Bai Lang promised that, when the time came, he would certainly serve as the vanguard of the whole army, leading elite troops to strike the bandits.

Governor Sun also understands this well; ultimately it must be the person's own willingness. Issuing orders, not to mention that the two sides are already separated by a layer, even under his own command—if he himself is unwilling, he cannot achieve the heroic feat of breaking through the elite bandit cavalry in a single strike—because that requires total self‑sacrifice and full commitment. Can the Ming Dynasty still appeal to this fierce general's heart with loyalty and righteousness? It seems perhaps it can now…

Bai Lang does not overthink; he simply wants to cultivate amid battle and slaughter. Having practiced martial arts to this level, he can be said to be unable to stop. A chivalrous one, forbidden by war, bearing a sharp blade and a murderous heart, Bai Lang already enjoys honing himself on such battle formations—perhaps this is the poison of the battlefield?

Training the true meaning of killing on a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, this tiger‑like fellow will only become more terrifying, but that does not mean his martial skill is increasing… Bai Lang thinks that if there were an Innate Expert, they could probably slay him easily—yet if everyone charges into a battle array, Bai Lang feels he might not be inferior, because his martial skill is actually well suited to such circumstances.

When he was a hired thug, what Bai Lang saw was that almost none of the surrounding gang members wielded heavy or long weapons; those who originally used double iron hammers were as rare as phoenix feathers. As for the gang's higher‑ups, he does not know, but probably none would use a Qinglong Crescent Blade. Yet in the rankings of heaven, earth, and humanity, perhaps someone truly does wield such weapons? If so, Bai Lang hopes to meet them in the future.

At present he follows Governor Deng, rapidly approaching Xiangyang. At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong, who should have captured Xiangyang last year, surprisingly did not take the city; instead, this year he brought a large army to besiege Xiangyang… not a surprise attack but a siege. Inside Xiangyang morale is low; a few days ago the city's commander Qin was defeated outside, fled back into the city to make a stand, while Zuo Liangyu's army sits outside, watching but daring not to approach.

Governor Deng went to Zuo Liangyu's camp; the notoriously unruly Zuo Liangyu did not even leave the camp to greet the superior. Yet Governor Deng could not say much; his forces numbered only three thousand and were already disunited, so he could only gently persuade Zuo Liangyu to dispatch troops to rescue Xiangyang. Zuo Liangyu's military discipline is as poor as that of the bandits, yet his numbers are vast—this method of expanding the army is no different from the bandits'.

Upon entering the camp gate, Zuo Liangyu received Governor Deng in the central command tent; the generals of the Left Army sat on either side, Zuo Liangyu stepped out to invite Deng to take the seat, then summoned women for song and dance banquet, never mentioning the rescue of Xiangyang. The generals of the Left Army all wore false smiles, equally indifferent to rescuing Xiangyang—perhaps they still thought that after Zhang Xianzhong takes Xiangyang, they could claim the great merit of recapturing it, even profit from Zhang Xianzhong.

Bai Lang also smiled, "Governor Deng, forgive my rudeness." With that he stepped forward—this camp tent was lavishly decorated; aside from Zuo Liangyu, his personal guards, and a few generals with their retainers bearing weapons, it seemed that Bai Lang, who came with the governor, carried no weapon. Yet Bai Lang needs no weapon; wherever his body moves, the tightly restrained aura around him can no longer be controlled.

A foul wind rose inside the tent, and the dancing women were instantly terrified, collapsing to the ground; they had seen a brilliantly patterned tiger flash past them. The generals and their retainers recovered, for Bai Lang's striking speed was not fast at all, but deliberately slowed.

"What nerve, you're courting death…" a nameless general, who had just been watching the dancing women with lecherous eyes, saw Bai Lang lunge toward Zuo Liangyu and suddenly lunged forward, shouting. Before he could finish his sentence, Bai Lang's claw had already clamped onto his head…