Chapter 184: Martial Arts Practitioners in the Rain

In the dead of night, just as the Qishan Five Tigers were preparing to make their move.

Rain suddenly began to fall from the sky.

Each autumn rain brings a chill, and the rain grew heavier and heavier.

In just a few minutes, the falling raindrops were as large as beans.

Immediately following, thunder rolled from the horizon; amidst the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, the dilapidated temple halfway up the mountain appeared even more eerie.

Fortunately, the shadows of people inside reduced the sense of terror somewhat.

Just then, noisy sounds erupted from outside again; this time the sounds were more urgent, and it seemed as if a conflict had already broken out.

Following a clap of thunder, Zhu Gaoxu opened his eyes.

Seeing the torrential rain outside, Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly.

A ruined temple, heavy rain, the dead of night, seeking shelter...

No matter how one looked at it, it was not a good sign.

Listening to the noisy commotion outside, Zhu Gaoxu called Ada over once more.

"What is going on outside?"

Ada had already put on a straw raincoat; hearing Zhu Gaoxu's question, he replied: "It started raining, and a group of martial arts practitioners has arrived outside, wanting to come in to take shelter from the rain. Looking at the numbers, there are at least forty or fifty of them, and this subordinate is afraid..."

Before Ada could finish, Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand.

On this trip to the North, another of Zhu Gaoxu's goals was to make contact with some martial arts practitioners.

Don't forget, his next check-in location was none other than Yihua Palace.

When the time came, dealing with martial arts practitioners would be unavoidable, and since the opportunity had arrived, Zhu Gaoxu did not mind meeting these people first.

Thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu said directly: "What is there to be afraid of? Let them in. With such heavy rain outside, we can't really turn these people away, can we?"

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Ada nodded, then went out to give the orders.

Before long, Zhu Gaoxu saw a crowd of people bustling in.

There were both men and women in this group; although men were in the majority, there were at least a dozen women, a much higher ratio of men to women than the merchants from before.

This group was clearly different from the group of merchants earlier.

The group was much more bold and unconstrained, and their temperament was clearly different from those people before.

Crucially, everyone had weapons at their waists—swords, sabers, and some weapons Zhu Gaoxu did not recognize.

The key point was that these people were different from the merchants before.

When these people saw Zhu Gaoxu and his group, they did not show much nervousness or fear.

Many even dared to meet the gazes of Zhu Gaoxu and his men.

And they did not shy away in the slightest.

Seeing this, the corners of Zhu Gaoxu's mouth lifted slightly, and he then said to the Embroidered Uniform Guard at his side: "Everyone move, make some room for the heroes who have arrived."

The other Embroidered Uniform Guards saw this and stood up one after another, walking toward Zhu Gaoxu's side.

They barely managed to clear out a third of the space for those people outside.

Seeing this, the people standing in the courtyard were not polite; some cupped their hands over their swords to give Zhu Gaoxu a martial arts salute, while others simply ignored them and walked straight in.

The Great Hall of the ruined temple was not large; it had been spacious enough for the Embroidered Uniform Guards before, but with forty or fifty extra people, it appeared much more crowded.

Yet these people did not complain about it, clearly satisfied as long as they had a place to stay.

Even so, Zhu Gaoxu still discerned some clues from their behavior.

From the big picture, these people were collectively resisting Zhu Gaoxu and his group.

Although they were divided into three small groups, the three groups formed a mutual defense, all secretly guarding against Zhu Gaoxu and his men.

But besides that, the three small groups were also guarding against each other; as they sat down, there were always people occasionally observing the other two parties.

Zhu Gaoxu saw it all, knowing that he probably wouldn't get a good night's sleep.

And just as Zhu Gaoxu had thought, only a few of these people closed their eyes.

Most of them gathered around the campfire, taking out dry rations and wine to start chatting.

Even so, Zhu Gaoxu discovered the differences among them.

Among the three groups, one group was clearly speaking much louder than the others.

Even he could hear them clearly from his side, while the other two parties were much quieter; although they were talking, they clearly lowered their voices, audible only in a small range.

This situation was easy to understand; it was likely due to regional differences.

Loud voices and unconstrained manners—Zhu Gaoxu felt there was a high probability they were martial arts practitioners from the North.

The others were likely from further South.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu was only guessing; after all, it could also be due to the cultivation techniques they practiced.

Zhu Gaoxu did not understand such things.

But thanks to these loudmouths, Zhu Gaoxu roughly understood what these people were here for.

This time, a sect north of the Yangtze River had provoked an existence they could not afford to offend, so they were widely inviting fellow martial arts practitioners to help them overcome the crisis.

It was said that as long as one came to help, there would be a large sum of silver and the like.

In any case, under the lure of a heavy reward, combined with the sect's existing reputation, quite a few martial arts practitioners went to assist.

And these people, needless to say, were naturally also going to help.

It was just that it rained on the road, and this was the only ruined temple for miles around, so they came here by convenience.

The identities of Zhu Gaoxu and his men naturally could not be hidden from these old, seasoned martial arts practitioners.

However, between the government and the martial arts world, most of the time, they kept to their own paths.

The government walks its own main road, and the martial arts world crosses its own single-plank bridge.

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