Chapter 119: Battle! Thrilling!

Night, an autumn night.

The moonlight was like frost; cold had already descended.

Inside the pavilion, wine was being warmed; Lu Xiaofeng had drunk only three cups, yet he was already seven-tenths drunk.

"Actually, Lu Xiaofeng and Chu Chu really are…"

Lu Xiaofeng wanted to explain.

To be honest, when he met Chu Chu, Lu Xiaofeng felt he had encountered a peerless beauty, and mutual affection had eased his inner turmoil—but after being cornered by Jia Leshan and the events that followed, Lu Xiaofeng felt deeply distressed.

Lu Xiaofeng was a wanderer and could accept that a woman was not a virgin; he held proper values and respected the elderly, but he could not accept that an old man had taken Chu Chu.

Therefore, no matter what, Lu Xiaofeng's physical relationship with Chu Chu was severed.

"I understand."

Gu Qing smiled: "You're just hungry."

You went out starving and took a bite—only to bite into something vicious.

As Gu Qing spoke, Xue Bing beside him smiled faintly.

"You should know I'm not the type to take other men's women."

Lu Xiaofeng tried to save face.

Gu Qing's face fell, and he protested loudly: "Who are you talking about? I was just instructing Xue Bing in the Yoga Secret Transmission!"

Not long ago, Gu Qing had been instructing Xue Bing in the Yoga Secret Transmission inside the room; Lu Xiaofeng had come to knock, and immediately seen Xue Bing's hairpin askew, hair disheveled, face flushed with sweat.

Xue Bing pinched Gu Qing hard, then said: "I'm not someone else's woman!"

Lu Xiaofeng had suspected it, but when the moment came, his heart still tightened; he downed a cup of wine, swallowing his thoughts whole, and said: "Don't misunderstand each other—this trip to the Songhua River is solely to rescue someone, since the matter involves the Demon Cult and will cost many lives."

"Don't misunderstand each other"—for Lu Xiaofeng, these words were like a dagger to the heart.

Yet Lu Xiaofeng still had to clarify—he had not meant to imply anything, and he wanted Gu Qing and Xue Bing to avoid misunderstanding.

As for the trip to the Songhua River and facing the Demon Cult… at this moment, due to Gu Qing's presence, Lu Xiaofeng had lost nothing but Xue Bing, and curiosity stirred in him about many things; hearing of Yuluocha's death and the lost Lohan Token, he sensed deeper mystery and wished to investigate.

"As for Chu Chu, Jia Leshan's remaining wealth is enough to support her for life."

Though Lu Xiaofeng said this, he knew Chu Chu was no quiet soul; with her beauty, even penniless, she would never suffer.

Gu Qing lifted a cup of wine, thinking of Lu Xiaofeng's upcoming events on the Songhua River—Lu Xiaofeng would have many romantic encounters there with Fang Yufei's wives—and said: "You may meet many women on this trip to the Songhua River."

Lu Xiaofeng calmly drank a cup of wine.

"Perhaps even your friend's women."

Gu Qing added.

Lu Xiaofeng and Fang Yufei were indeed friends.

Hearing this, Lu Xiaofeng raised an eyebrow, treating it as gossip from the Green Robe Pavilion or the Red Shoes, and said calmly: "If I meet them, I meet them—I'm the Guan Yun Chang of this age; I won't make any mistakes."

Gu Qing leaned close to Lu Xiaofeng and said: "What if your friend tells you not to hold back?"

Lu Xiaofeng stared at Gu Qing in surprise… are you implying something?

After all, Lu Xiaofeng had just told Gu Qing and Xue Bing not to misunderstand.

Lu Xiaofeng fixed Gu Qing with a piercing gaze and said: "If I truly had such a friend, and if I showed the slightest disrespect to his woman, I'll cut off these two fingers!" Lu Xiaofeng extended his Lingxi Finger.

"Too much, too much."

Gu Qing pressed down Lu Xiaofeng's finger and said: "How about this instead—if you do something to your friend's woman, do the same thing to your friend when you meet him?"

Lu Xiaofeng's heart turned cold—he felt Gu Qing meant something more… could Gu Qing have multiple intentions? Was he trying to replicate what he'd done to Xue Bing onto him?

The thought struck him deeply.

"When does our wager end?" Lu Xiaofeng asked; there must be a deadline.

"The next time we meet."

Gu Qing said: "If you truly remain pure, I'll teach you another of my martial arts."

"If you lose, besides replicating it on your friend, you'll also accept my silver as compensation."

Losing a bet is still losing.

Lu Xiaofeng muttered: "I've gambled for years—never before have I heard you get paid for losing. Fine, I'll take the bet!"

Lu Xiaofeng had confidence in himself.

As they spoke, Hua Manlou arrived; this time, his eyes were unobstructed, bright and clear. After a moment of mutual gaze, all three burst into laughter—Hua Manlou had seen Lu Xiaofeng's four eyebrows for the first time.

The three faced each other and drank heartily.

All good feasts must end.

!

Lu Xiaofeng took Chu Chu and went to the Songhua River.

Gu Qing returned Xue Bing to the Xue family, entrusted Gong Sun Lan with caring for Ouyang Qing and Shangguan Feiyan and Shangguan Xue'er, then headed to the sea to find the Invisible One's ship, per Wu Ming's information.

Hua Manlou's eyes were healed; Gu Qing naturally had to keep his promise.

It was a two-decked riverboat; when Gu Qing arrived, the vessel was loading cargo. On the bow stood over a dozen sailors, some in martial attire—likely guards—and several sea merchants chatting among themselves.

Gu Qing boarded the boat, gave the secret password, and the lead elder immediately blocked his path.

"We've heard you're the new arrival on the island."

The elder said: "But to set foot on the island, you must pass a test."

"Oh?"

Gu Qing raised an eyebrow.

"There are forty-five people on this boat."

The elder said: "Your first test is to find the 【Invisible One】 on board and defeat them."

The 【Invisible One】 are not truly invisible—they are masters of concealment, with various identities in the Jianghu, secretly serving the island. Their assassinations are never direct killings; instead, they engineer accidents, coincidences, or manipulate situations so no one can trace the cause.

These Invisible Ones are now hiding aboard the boat.

Gu Qing looked up at the boat, observing the varied expressions of those inside, then suddenly smiled.

"When I first began training, some people whispered behind my back—but I never caught who they were."

Gu Qing looked at the boat and said to the elder beside him: "Then I thought of a solution—I finally caught those whisperers… can you guess what it was?"

The elder shook his head.

Gu Qing smiled brightly: "I beat them all!"

Gu Qing did not see this as a puzzle—he saw it as a test of his combat strength. As he spoke, he seized the elder's chest, unleashing the might of the Dragon and Elephant Samadhi and the Nine Yang Divine Art, hurling him toward the boat.

"I'm not on the boat—I don't count!"

The elder cried out midair, crashing into the mast with a bang, spitting blood, then falling heavily onto the deck.

Battle! Thrilling!

Gu Qing leapt forward, charging onto the ship!

(End of Chapter)