Chapter 1751

Qiqi said: "I don't know why, but I feel that this situation is unprecedentedly serious."

Zhou Shenyuan said: "It must have been planned for a long time."

Qiqi said: "Do you think Hu Xiaotian might have known about it all along? He could have conspired with the Empress Dowager of Tianxiang Kingdom to stage this."

Zhou Shenyuan pondered for a moment, then said: "I believe Hu Xiaotian would not do such a thing. In this incident he lost Redwood Creek; though Redwood Creek is merely a small place, its strategic importance is immense—it guards Xichuan to the north, controls Southern Yue to the west, links with Heavenly Fragrance Kingdom to the east, and faces the sea to the south, enjoying a superior geographical position. Hu Xiaotian spent considerable effort to obtain Redwood Creek initially; there is no reason he would so cheaply give it back to Heavenly Fragrance Kingdom. Moreover, he already controls the northeastern part of Xichuan, holding Redwood Creek, and could later launch a north‑south pincer attack, making it possible to seize all of Xichuan."

Qiqi slowly nodded and said: "I also feel that he would not do such a thing."

According to the map given by Li Wuyou, Hu Xiaotian headed for the headquarters of the Wuxian Sect; when he passed through Qingyun Xian city, he deliberately made a detour to the Hu mansion, only to find that the once splendid residence had become a pile of rubble. After inquiring, he learned that last year the Hu mansion caught fire and was burned to the ground, and no one among the family members or servants was seen—reportedly they all perished in the blaze, yet not even a corpse was found at the time.

Hu Xiaotian naturally did not worry that Xu Mitian would perish in a fire, and he believed the fire was no accident but likely Xu Mitian had set it deliberately, probably not wanting him to come looking for her. After checking the timing, he found the fire had occurred the month after he left, and he concluded in his heart that this matter concerned him. Hu Xiaotian unconsciously touched his chest; when he and Xu Mitian had parted, she had given him half a jade pendant, agreeing to meet again in three years. More than half of that time has already passed; on September 16 of next year she told him to go to Cloud‑Breaking Mountain, Idle Cloud Pavilion, where he would surely be able to see her.

Hu Xiaotian did not find Xu Mitian in Qingyun Xian, so there was no need to stay; he immediately left Qingyun Xian, went fifteen li out of the county seat, headed west all the way, and when he arrived at Black Stone Stronghold, night had already fallen. Because Meng Zizai had once lived in seclusion there, Hu Xiaotian originally wanted to detour around Black Stone Stronghold to avoid unnecessary trouble.

But when Hu Xiaotian looked at the map, he saw that the route indicated necessarily passed through Black Stone Stronghold. After some consideration, he still decided to go through Black Stone Stronghold. For this trip he had beforehand altered his appearance; with his current look even he himself would not recognize it, and as long as he did not encounter experts of Meng Zizai's caliber, there should be no slip‑up, and he also had no intention of lingering in Black Stone Stronghold.

Upon entering the gate of Black Stone Stronghold, four sturdy Black Miao guards stationed there blocked his way; the leader, speaking in a deep, muffled voice, shouted: "Hold it! Who are you? Why do you dare intrude upon Black Stone Stronghold?"

Hu Xiaotian returned a smile and said: "Sir, I am merely a traveling merchant who happened to pass through this blessed land; I only wish to borrow a road, with no other intention."

The four Black Miao men surrounded him, sizing him up from head to toe, and one pointed at the sword at Hu Xiaotian's waist and said: "Hand it over; let me have a look!"

Hu Xiaotian usually carried a black‑iron sword, but this time he did not bring it, mainly because the black‑iron sword was too conspicuous; he did not want to attract attention, so he swapped it for another sword. Though this sword was nothing special among his collection, to ordinary eyes it was still a rare fine blade. Hu Xiaotian gave it over without a second thought, drawing his side‑arm and handing it to the man.

The Black Miao man grasped the sword, waved it a few times in the air, then stopped and praised: "Fine sword, fine sword!" After complimenting it he had no intention of returning Hu Xiaotian's side‑arm; another Black Miao pointed at the bundle on Hu Xiaotian's back and said: "We need to inspect that."

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed, thinking these Black Miao folks were really pushing their luck—if he agreed, would they next demand a body search? He smiled and said: "Gentlemen, I am merely passing through; please do not make things difficult for me. If you like that sword, take it as my travel fee."

Several Black Miao men burst out laughing at his words, then stepped closer, clearly intending to block his advance; one reached out to grab the bundle on Hu Xiaotian's back, saying: "You're so nervous—what treasure could you possibly be hiding in there?"

Hu Xiaotian recalled that on his previous visit to Black Stone Stronghold the Black Miao people had seemed warm, straightforward, and extremely hospitable; this time, however, each of them behaved like highway bandits extorting travelers. If he remained passive and let them have their way, they would surely escalate their abuses. He sighed inwardly, realizing he had to act and knock these four down as quickly as possible. Just as he was about to strike, a furious shout rang out from afar: "What are you doing?"

Hu Xiaotian followed the sound and saw that the one approaching was the chief of Black Stone Stronghold, Teng Tianqi. He was tall, but had grown much thinner than before and his back was slightly hunched. Hu Xiaotian silently breathed a sigh of relief, glad the chief had arrived in time; as the stronghold's leader, Teng Tianqi should not allow his subordinates to run wild.

Those four Black Miao men indeed ceased their encirclement of Hu Xiaotian, looked toward Teng Tianqi, and one said: "Ah, it's the chief!"

Teng Tianqi limped over, and Hu Xiaotian then noticed that his right leg was lame and he was cradling a wooden crutch under his right arm. He approached the group slowly, and they went to meet him; one said: "Sir Chief, why are you so angry today?"

Teng Tianqi glanced at Hu Xiaotian, sighed, and said: "He's just a passing merchant; why bother him?" His tone actually carried a sense of negotiation.

The men nodded repeatedly and said: "Chief, your admonition is correct."

Hu Xiaotian also noticed that Teng Tianqi's clothes were torn in several places and filthy, and he wondered inwardly how the chief of Black Stone Stronghold could be so indifferent to propriety.

Two Black Miao men supported Teng Tianqi, one on each side, and one said: "Chief, let me support you."

Teng Tianqi replied: "No need; I am no longer your chief."

Several Black Miao men laughed at once; suddenly one snatched Teng Tianqi's crutch, another went behind him and shoved him hard in the back, causing him to lose balance and fall heavily to the ground. Before he could get up, the Black Miao men rushed at him like wolves, punching and kicking the fallen Teng Tianqi while shouting angrily: "You blind old fool, do you still think you're the chief?"

Teng Tianqi was beaten so badly he could not defend himself; all he could do was cover his head and face.

Seeing this scene, Hu Xiaotian finally understood that Teng Tianqi had lost his position in Black Stone Stronghold. He despised such opportunistic villains more than anything, and he had already been furious with those Black Miao sturdy men; witnessing them maltreat a disabled elder, he could no longer restrain his anger. He leapt forward like a panther, fists and feet flying; with his martial skill dealing with these men was no trivial matter—he almost knocked one out with the first strike, and in an instant all four lay defeated on the ground.

Hu Xiaotian picked up his own side‑arm, then also retrieved Teng Tianqi's crutch, went to his side and helped him up, asking anxiously: "Chief Teng, are you all right?"

Teng Tianqi looked at Hu Xiaotian with some surprise, having never seen this unfamiliar face before, and asked in astonishment: "Do you know me?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said: "You're the chief of Black Stone Stronghold—who in the Qingyun Xian area doesn't know you?"

Teng Tianqi sighed, having fallen to this state and no longer being any kind of chief; he leaned on his crutch, glanced at the several fellow clansmen lying on the ground, saw that Hu Xiaotian had already knocked them unconscious, and told Hu Xiaotian: "You'd better leave quickly; if you alert the other people in the stronghold, it will be too late to get away."

One of the Black Miao men twitched his limbs, as if about to wake; Teng Tianqi raised his crutch and dealt a heavy blow to the man's head, knocking him out again, then said to Hu Xiaotian: "Come with me!"

Hu Xiaotian followed Teng Tianqi into Black Stone Stronghold. Although Teng Tianqi's right leg was disabled, he knew the stronghold's inner paths well; he led Hu Xiaotian northwest along a narrow lane, winding through thickets. After walking about two li, they had already passed the stronghold, and Teng Tianqi pointed ahead and said: "Keep going straight, turn south after that banyan tree, then walk another five li to reach the main road."

Hu Xiaotian clasped his fist toward Teng Tianqi and could not help asking: "Chief, what happened?"

Teng Tianqi waved a hand and said: "No need to ask; just go."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Your daughter Teng Zidan once did me a favor; chief, there's no need to treat me as an outsider."

Upon hearing his daughter's name, tears welled in Teng Tianqi's tiger eyes, and he sighed: "Zidan is no more……" At that moment, firelight flickered in the direction of the stronghold's gate; roughly glancing over, there seemed to be several dozen flames, indicating that the other inhabitants of Black Stone Stronghold had already been roused.

Teng Tianqi urged: "Hurry, or it will be too late."

Hu Xiaotian was not afraid of the people of Black Stone Stronghold; even if the entire stronghold poured out, he felt confident he could cope, but he also worried that Teng Tianqi might bring trouble upon himself because of this, and he felt hesitant inside.

Teng Tianqi said: "Go quickly; don't worry about me—they won't do anything to me."

Hu Xiaotian nodded, thinking to himself that if Teng Tianqi wanted to leave he would have done so long ago; surely his heart could not bear to part with Black Stone Stronghold, which is why he chose to stay. Hu Xiaotian clasped his fist toward Teng Tianqi and strode forward.

When he reached the banyan tree, Hu Xiaotian turned to look back, only to see that the firelight had already gathered at the spot where he and Teng Tianqi had just parted; presumably Teng Tianqi would again suffer punishment for privately releasing a captive, and the man who once ruled Black Stone Stronghold with an iron will now finds himself in this plight—one cannot help but feel moved. (To be continued~^~)