Chapter 194

Old Pine Terrace is located halfway up Dry Bamboo Ridge. Fang Bu'ai hurried to clean it up. Regardless of whether the place was dilapidated or not, at least it was a snail shell where he wouldn't be driven away again.

When going down the mountain, he weighed the ten silver taels in his hand again and felt that this legendary well-known figure of Wulong Mountain was actually quite reasonable and didn't have the arrogance of those from high-gate noble families.

The large white goose flew into the courtyard, hung the wind chime on its neck in a fixed position under the eaves, paced back and forth to check, expressed satisfaction with the renovation of the courtyard, and then flew to the treetop to organize the vines that moved the wind chime.

It re-wrapped the broken ones and replaced the unusable ones, organizing all the way to the highest peak of Dry Bamboo Ridge. It tried pulling a few times with its beak. Before long, Xiao Hei leaped up in a few bounds, "meowed" at it, indicating that everything was restored as before.

One goose and one cat sat down, admiring the scenery of Dry Bamboo Ridge and the beauty of the surrounding Wulong Mountain peaks.

It was early spring, and bits of tender green were sprouting in the mountains, full of vitality.

One goose and one cat nodded in unison, half-drooping their eyelids, feeling their hearts and qi smooth, stable, and solid. Before long, Xiao Hei couldn't hold up its sleepy eyelids and tilted its head, falling onto Dabai's wing.

In the small courtyard below, besides Tan Bazhang, Left Gaofeng and Longshan Sanren were also gathered at Dry Bamboo Ridge, drinking the Sweet Dan Dan Gui Xiang brought back by Liu Xiaolou, each sighing endlessly.

The battle at Zhuoshui lasted for nearly a year. In the history of the two sides over the past hundred years, such a long duration was rare. Both sides suffered heavy losses, especially the Zhanglong Sect.

According to Longshan Sanren, the Zhanglong Sect suffered heavy injuries to two elders in this great battle, lost three inner sect disciples and seven inner sect deacons, and at least a dozen people from the surrounding attached noble families and outer sect managers died, not to mention the countless loose cultivators who were conscripted.

Longshan Sanren said: "Just in our Wulong Mountain alone, fifteen people died. Among the brothers we are familiar with are the second and third from Guzhang Mountain..."

Liu Xiaolou "ah-ed": "Senior Gu San also died?"

Longshan Sanren nodded: "From now on, there are only five left in Guzhang Mountain... and the two old brothers of the Ma family from Wuzi Peak, all died in the final battle of breaking the mountain. Who could have thought that such a powerful array would be broken by the Badong thieves? It's truly tragic. We still don't know what happened, and the Zhanglong Sect side won't say, or perhaps they don't even know themselves. They say it was as solid as a golden soup. Zhang Shihua and Jiang Feihu were both seriously injured and are still lying down. Xiaolou, go see them another day."

Liu Xiaolou nodded. If he wasn't mistaken, it should have been the battle on the night he went to save Su Jing. At that time, he was fighting to the death with the Badong cultivators, and the commotion from East Mountain could be seen from twenty miles away. He didn't know how tragic it was.

After a long time, Left Gaofeng sighed: "And Old Hu Du..."

Tan Bazhang said loudly: "He doesn't count! It hasn't been confirmed yet, his corpse hasn't been seen!"

Left Gaofeng said: "I hope so, perhaps he was captured by the Badong thieves."

Tan Bazhang said: "It must be so, just wait, maybe he'll come back one day!"

Left Gaofeng said to Liu Xiaolou again: "The fourth brother of Bazhang also..."

Liu Xiaolou looked at Tan Bazhang, not knowing what to say: "Brother Bazhang, this year, I didn't take good care of your family... I only went to see your father twice..."

Tan Bazhang shook his head: "I didn't ask you to take care of them in the first place, what could you take care of? You went to see my father twice on my behalf, that's enough. No one can stand his stinky temper... My fourth brother's matter has even less to do with you. Dying at Zhuoshui is his fate."

Liu Xiaolou suddenly remembered Fang Bu'ai from before: "With so many fellow Daoists dying in battle, logically many mountain peaks and valleys should have been vacated. Why does that Little Fang from the Row Sect still have no place to live?"

Tan Bazhang laughed coldly: "Many died, but more poured in! It's all occupied. If it weren't for the fact that you and Brother Wei are both prominent figures in our Wulong Mountain, Ghost Dream Cliff and Dry Bamboo Ridge wouldn't have been left behind either. It's just that Little Fang is all alone, no one told him these things, so he ran to Dry Bamboo Ridge... That's not right either, I told him, but he still came. This kid is really disobedient, no wonder he couldn't make it in the Row Sect. I'll go find him later!"

Liu Xiaolou waved his hand: "Forget it, he's also a poor person who lost his master..."

Longshan Sanren twisted his beard and said: "Those righteous sects drew a big line, and our Wulong Mountain became a boundary mountain. The Zhanglong Sect cannot cross the mountain to the west, and Gengsang Cave cannot cross the mountain to the east. What to do? Grab territory. It's just that you can't grab it openly, now you can only grab it secretly."

Left Gaofeng explained: "Last month, two Foundation Establishment cultivators came from Gengsang Cave and occupied the Wuzi Peak of the two Ma family seniors. How could we fellow Daoists of Wulong Mountain agree to such blatant behavior? Everyone, under the gathering of Long Sanren, surrounded Wuzi Peak and told them to get out. After the Zhanglong Sect got the news, they also sent Foundation Establishment experts up the mountain..."

Tan Bazhang raised his hand: "I went to Zhanglong Mountain to report it, haha!"

Left Gaofeng continued: "Seeing that the matter was getting big, the Bazhen Sect of Pingdu and our side's Qingyu Sect, Tianmu Mountain, and Dongyang Sect sat down again. It was agreed that neither Gengsang Cave nor the Zhanglong Sect could send people up the mountain, so now many loose cultivators have come up our mountain."

Tan Bazhang laughed coldly: "Loose cultivators are truly loose cultivators, but it's hard to say which side they belong to. Once I find out, if they are loose cultivators from Badong, I'll knock them all out in the dark!"

After a night of chatting, two pots of Sweet Dan Dan Gui Xiang were long gone. Longshan Sanren asked Dabai to send a message to Li Busan to bring a jar of Bamboo Leaf Green from Long Mountain, and the four continued to chat all night by candlelight.

After finishing the Wulong Mountain matters, they naturally talked about Liu Xiaolou again.

Left Gaofeng asked: "How long does Xiaolou plan to visit his relatives this time?"

Liu Xiaolou smiled: "This time I'm completely returning to my maiden home, I don't intend to return to the Su family."

Left Gaofeng and Longshan Sanren were both stunned. Only Tan Bazhang knew some of the truth: "Xiaolou, what you told me back then wouldn't be true, would it? You were really divorced?"

Liu Xiaolou solemnly took out the divorce letter from his robe, and the three of them carefully took it to look at it. After reading it, Tan Bazhang patted the corridor floor under his feet: "You were really divorced, the Su family is really not a thing!"

Longshan Sanren asked: "Everything was fine, why is this?"

Tan Bazhang shouted: "They look down on us! Their Su family is a high-gate noble family, and we Wulong Mountain are a nest of thieves. After three years of being a son-in-law, they regretted it!"

Liu Xiaolou nodded and admitted: "Originally, they recruited me as a son-in-law just for an emergency. In these three years at Mount Shenwu, I was indeed treated coldly by the Su family. In fact, when I became a son-in-law, I was already prepared. Being able to persist for three years is already quite good. Once this divorce letter was issued, I suddenly felt relaxed, as if the shackles were gone, and I could roam the world as I pleased."

Tan Bazhang clapped his hands and cheered: "That's the word! It's still more enjoyable in Wulong Mountain. If you ask me, coming back is the right thing to do, there are no good people in the Su family!"

Liu Xiaolou said: "Actually, there are still some..."

Tan Bazhang said: "Even if there are, there are very few!"

Longshan Sanren raised his glass: "Come, let's congratulate Xiaolou for escaping the cage, the sky is high and the sea is wide!"

Everyone raised their glasses to congratulate him and drank three cups in a row.

Tonight the spring breeze was intoxicating, the moon and stars were bright over Dry Bamboo Ridge. Liu Xiaolou had been away from home for three years, and the great battle had just ended. Gathering with several good friends was truly enjoyable to the extreme. He felt that even the old yellow wine from Wuchao Town, which cost one coin a pot, tasted so delicious, let alone the Sweet Dan Dan Gui Xiang and Bamboo Leaf Green.

They really didn't want to go back until they were drunk.

No, even if they were drunk, it wasn't a question of whether to go back or not. Dry Bamboo Ridge, Dragon Horse Waterfall, Long Mountain, Half-Acre Gorge, which place wasn't everyone's home?

With the wine, several people paid tribute to the fellow Daoists of Wulong Mountain who died in battle. Talking about the two friends of Guzhang Mountain, the third friend, the two seniors of the Ma family, and Old Daoist Hu Du, thinking of their voices and smiles and every bit of detail, originally Liu Xiaolou didn't have a deep friendship with them, but they couldn't help but have red eyes.

Tan Bazhang had the closest relationship with Old Daoist Hu Du. He cried loudly: "Don't offer wine to Old Hu Du, he's not dead, he will definitely be able to come back. I'll drink this cup on his behalf first... I'll drink..."

By the end of the drinking, they were all swaying on the terrace under the corridor. Left Gaofeng didn't know where he found the divorce letter again, crawled over to return it to Liu Xiaolou, and cried while exhorting: "Xiaolou, you must treasure this divorce letter well. With this object, you are the new noble of our Wulong Mountain. When you speak, others have to listen! Although you suffered in Mount Shenwu, with this divorce letter, everything is worth it. Back then, I hit walls everywhere, wasn't it just for such an object..."

Tan Bazhang was sober for a moment and also cried: "I also want a divorce letter..."

Longshan Sanren's eyes were blurred, pointing at Dabai and Xiao Hei who were also drunk on the terrace, and giggled: "They will even steal wine..."