Chapter 835

Arriving at a spacious place, Liang Yinghao stopped his steps, and he and Huo Shengnan helped Hu Xiaotian sit on an earthen platform. Huo Shengnan anxiously examined Hu Xiaotian's arrow wound on his right arm, finding that although the arrow had penetrated deep into the flesh, fortunately it had not injured the tendons or bones.

Hu Xiaotian gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, if I don't chop this bastard to pieces, I won't rest!" When it comes to close-quarters combat, Hu Xiaotian now has a certain master's bearing, but facing an opponent skilled in long-range attack, he has few options; unless he trains his outward sword qi to the point of effortless release and retrieval, he can only endure being struck passively.

Huo Shengnan said, "Don't get angry, first pull out the arrow then we'll talk!"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Don't pull it out forcefully, or you'll tear out a chunk of flesh."

Huo Shengnan couldn't help laughing, raising the willow-leaf blade she had just found: "All day you help others with surgery; now it's finally your turn."

Hu Xiaotian sighed, adopting a look of readiness to die, closed his eyes and said, "Come on! Hurry up, I'm afraid it'll hurt!"

Huo Shengnan had a talent for using surgical knives; her incision was clean and neat, and without taking much time she extracted the arrowhead from Hu Xiaotian's right arm, then applied Golden Trauma Medicine to the wound and bonded it with Mo Jade Regenerating Ointment.

At this moment the bandits participating in the operation returned one after another; they had captured seventeen female disciples of Tang Jingyu in total, a veritable bumper harvest. These girls were all lovely in appearance, and the bandits of the Hunshui Gang, already no good people, had begun to grope them along the way, making the women cry out continuously.

Huo Shengnan furrowed her brows; Hu Xiaotian saw her expression and knew she disapproved of the bandits' conduct, so he told Liang Yinghao, "Yinghao, pass the order down: they are not to harass these women."

Liang Yinghao hurried over to deliver the order. These bandits still feared Hu Xiaotian, since their lives were in his hands; upon hearing the command they indeed restrained themselves considerably.

Liang Yinghao had them first lock the women in an underground cell; someone carried Lin Jinyu in. Seeing Lin Jinyu appear before him, Hu Xiaotian coldly smirked and walked up. Lin Jinyu, having escaped death, felt something amiss from Hu Xiaotian's expression. He hurriedly said, "Brother Huo, thank you…" He had meant to say thanks for saving his life, but before he finished, a punch struck his jaw, seeing stars and he plopped down on the ground.

Lin Jinyu raised both hands and said, "Brother Huo, hold off on the violence. Let's talk…"

Hu Xiaotian kicked him in the belly again and spat, "What nonsense, you bastard actually tried to screw me over! If I don't beat you until your teeth are scattered all over the ground, I can't swallow this anger." He swung his fist, ready to strike.

Lin Jinyu, terrified, clutched his head; two feathered arrows were still embedded in his hands, their palms pierced through, and blood continued to flow freely.

Seeing his miserable state, Hu Xiaotian felt a pang of compassion, stopped his hand, pointed at Lin Jinyu and said, "Speak! What grudge do you have against me that you must scheme against me in every way?" Actually Hu Xiaotian also understood that Lin Jinyu had not meant to harm him intentionally.

Lin Jinyu let out a long sigh and said, "Benefactor! This is a long story. I am Lin Jinyu, residing in Shaoyuan Pingqiu Town of Da Yong. Locally we were considered a wealthy family; I have practiced martial arts since childhood and never involved myself in family affairs, so later my father handed over the family business to my elder brother. I am obsessed with martial arts, traveling the world to seek teachers and arts; my living expenses over the years have all been supported by my elder brother, who has a good head for commerce, and the ancestral estate flourished under his management. My elder brother is honest, simple, kind-hearted, and generous; he could have lived a peaceful life, but last year my sister-in-law unfortunately died, my nephew was young, and my elder brother originally had no intention of remarrying, yet he later encountered a courtesan woman, inexplicably developing feelings for her, spending a fortune to redeem her, and intending to marry her openly as his principal wife."

Lin Jinyu's expression darkened; after a pause he continued, "When I heard of this I rushed home and argued with him fiercely, nearly severing our brotherly bond, but seeing that my elder brother's mind was made up I had to yield. Worried that my nephew would suffer, I dared not travel far and stayed home for a year. Finding that this new sister-in-law, though of low birth, treated my elder brother and nephew decently, observing proper wifely duties, I put my mind at ease and set out again to travel. After six months on the road I heard the tragic news: my elder brother and nephew had actually been killed." Saying this, Lin Jinyu's eyes turned red and tears welled up.

Hu Xiaotian, hearing this, already had a rough guess of what had happened.

Lin Jinyu said, "After making inquiries everywhere I finally learned that, during the half year I was away from home, that slut actually had an affair with the Young Master of Luoying Palace, Tang Jingfei; their illicit relationship was discovered by my elder brother, so they killed him. Afterwards, fearing my nephew's revenge, they went ahead and killed him as well. After hearing the tragic news, I scattered my family wealth to track down the pair, finally locating them aboard a merchant ship; taking advantage of their intimate moment, I slew them to avenge my elder brother and my poor nephew."

Hu Xiaotian, hearing this, no longer felt any resentment toward Lin Jinyu; regardless of his methods, he was at least a man of clear grudges. Hu Xiaotian asked, "Is Tang Jingyu the elder brother of Tang Jingfei?"

Lin Jinyu nodded and said, "They are both Young Masters of Luoying Palace. Although Tang Jingyu and Tang Jingfei are brothers, their temperaments are completely opposite: Tang Jingfei enjoys pleasure and dislikes training, whereas Tang Jingyu is obsessed with martial arts; his archery has already inherited the true transmission of Luoying Palace's master Tang Jiu cheng."

Huo Shengnan sighed with some sympathy, "So Tang Jingyu is hunting you to avenge his brother?"

Liang Yinghao, filled with righteous indignation, pounded his thigh and exclaimed, "Adulterers and harlots—everyone deserves to die!"

Lin Jinyu said, "I also don't know how they discovered my whereabouts; Luoying Palace is mighty, far beyond my ability to resist. I could only flee all the way, never expecting they would still catch up to me here. If it weren't for meeting you several, I would probably be dead now. Your kindness to me is a rebirth; if I escape this calamity, I will surely bind grass and carry a ring to repay your great favor."

Huo Shengnan said, "Seeing injustice, we draw our swords to help; Lin brother, you need not stand on ceremony. Even without your matter, Luoying Palace would still seek trouble with us."

Hu Xiaotian from the side said, "That's not necessarily true!"

Lin Jinyu's scalp tightened; although he had not spent much time with Hu Xiaotian, he also knew this person was not easy to deal with, and whether he could escape today depended entirely on Hu Xiaotian's expression. Thinking this, he hurriedly said to Hu Xiaotian, "Brother Huo, please don't blame me; I truly did not intend to lure them to your side, nor did I ever think of dragging you into this trouble. I was simply unfamiliar with the local terrain, focused only on fleeing, never expecting to end up back near you."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Tang Jingyu's pursuit of you is probably not only because you killed his brother; there may be other reasons."

Lin Jinyu looked bewildered and said, "Benefactor, what do you mean? There are no other reasons; Tang Jingyu simply wants to kill me to avenge his brother."

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed, "This Lin Jinyu is utterly dishonest; just now I clearly heard Tang Jingyu demand the Scripture of Shooting the Sun from him, yet now he pretends ignorance before me." Hu Xiaotian said, "If that's the case, I'll have to find someone to hand Lin brother over to them."

Lin Jinyu's face showed panic: "Benefactor, are you going to hand me over to my enemies?"

Hu Xiaotian stepped toward him and whispered, "The Scripture of Shooting the Sun!"

Lin Jinyu inwardly groaned; this fellow had indeed set his sights on that treasure, and with a bitter face he said, "I just said it—I burned it!"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I'm not after any of your treasures either; I went through all that trouble, took an arrow, and saved your life, yet you show no gratitude and won't utter a single truthful word. In that case I might as well send you back into Tang Jingyu's hands—no need to incur his enmity over you."

Lin Jinyu gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! Benefactor, just promise me one condition."

"Speak!"

Lin Jinyu said, "Treat my wound, then send me out of Peak Forest Gully."

Hu Xiaotian had thought he would demand something difficult, but it turned out to be easy; since he had saved him, he certainly wouldn't send him away again. Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "All right! I saved your life; you give me that thing, considering it a modest compensation."

Hu Xiaotian did not know what the Scripture of Shooting the Sun was, merely curious; he had not originally intended to covet Lin Jinyu's possessions, but seeing this fellow so dishonest, still daring to lie to his face even now, he decided to give him a harsh blackmail, to teach him a lesson.

That night they remained in the Hunshui Gang's lair to rest; Hu Xiaotian personally extracted the arrowhead from Lin Jinyu and bandaged his wound. This fellow kept his promise, cutting open the stitching on the inner thigh, taking out a wax pellet from the muscle, and handed the blood‑stained wax pellet to Hu Xiaotian, saying, "Inside is the Scripture of Shooting the Sun, the supreme secret manual of Luoying Palace; you must keep it safe."

Hu Xiaotian originally had little interest in martial arts manuals; if speaking of secret texts, the unsurpassed treasury 'Supreme Divine Skill' he had already glimpsed the threshold, and moreover in Da Yong he had fortuitously obtained the heart method of the Seven Slays of Heaven Sword; just these two alone already benefited him endlessly, so there was no need to study other manuals. However, Hu Xiaotian felt no fondness for Luoying Palace; merely because Tang Jingyu had shot him with an arrow today, he also wanted to seize that damn manual for himself, to make the fellow feel the pinch.

Hu Xiaotian went to the place where Huo Shengnan was temporarily staying, saw the door shut tight, pressed his ear to the panel and heard the splashing of water inside, along with a faint singing voice; Huo Shengnan was almost certainly bathing.

Hu Xiaotian laughed and knocked on the door, saying, "Brother Feihong, may I come in?"

A hundred monthly tickets, extra chapter presented.

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