Chapter 94: Zhang Jie and the other two who got lost

Heaven-Dependent World, Gusu Taihu.

It is now the third month of spring, all things are growing, grass is growing and warblers are flying,

a scene of vitality and competition.

Boating on the lake, Zhang Jie, who was admiring the beautiful scenery, unfolded the folding fan he specially used to pretend to be elegant,

and his poetic inspiration burst forth: "The spring water is greener than the sky, listening to the rain in the painted boat."

"Uncle-Master has good interest!"

Fan Bailing, sitting in the boat, praised.

Zhang Jie smiled slightly; it was fortunate that he had shared many poems and ancient books from the Water Margin Zhang Jie,

otherwise he would only be shouting "Oh sea, you are all water!

Oh horse, you have four legs.

Oh beauty, you have big eyes and a mouth"...

Zhang Jie lightly shook his folding fan: I don't produce literature, I'm just a porter of literature~

Hearing Fan Bailing's flattery of Zhang Jie, Yue Laosan, who was rowing at the stern, couldn't help but roll his eyes:

"Sect Leader, how much longer until we reach Mantuo Shanzhuang?

Old Yue has a bit of strength, but it's not meant to be used like this!"

As the time spent with Zhang Jie grew longer,

he discovered that Zhang Jie was really a refined and easygoing person, so he dared to complain.

If he were under the capricious Duan Yanqing, he wouldn't dare to be like this.

"Uh!"

The smile on Zhang Jie's face froze, and his hand shaking the folding fan stopped in the air.

'This damn Yue Laosan, can't he see the situation?'

Zhang Jie cursed the overly straightforward Yue Laosan in his heart.

This matter has to start from when they came to Gusu:

After killing Duan Yanqing and Yun Zhonghe and detaining Ye Erniang,

Zhang Jie took Fan Bailing and Yue Laosan on a journey to Gusu.

Originally, he only planned to take Yue Laosan,

but Fan Bailing strongly requested to serve by the Sect Leader Uncle-Master's side.

Zhang Jie seriously suspected that Fan Bailing, who was obsessed with chess, wanted to play a few more games with him.

However, looking at Yue Laosan's silly appearance, Zhang Jie still brought him along.

After all, letting the fierce Yue Laosan handle things like staying in inns would scare the waiter and the shopkeeper.

And Zhang Jie came to Gusu partly to fulfill Wuyazi's last wish, to see his daughter Li Qingluo (Madam Wang).

On the other hand, it was also for the manuals collected in the Langhuan Jade Cave.

The place where the Xiaoyao Sect originally collected martial arts manuals was called Langhuan Blessed Land.

That place was located in a deep valley stone cave in Wuliang Mountain in Dali,

and was the residence of Xiaoyao Sect leader W

It was the secluded residence of Xiaoyao Sect leader Wu Yazi and his junior sister Li Qiushui, and the cave contained martial arts manuals from all over the world.

That's right, it was the place where Duan Yu met the "Fairy Sister" who haunted his dreams.

Later, after Wu Yazi and Li Qiushui had a falling out, they went their separate ways;

Wu Yazi took Su Xinghe and the others to Mount Leigu.

Li Qiushui fled far away to Western Xia, married the King of Western Xia,

and controlled the Yipintang to continue her love-hate relationship with her good senior sister, Mount Tian Shan Tonglao.

And these manuals were all moved by Wu Yazi's daughter, Li Qingluo, to the Wang family in Gusu after her marriage,

hidden within the "Langhuan Jade Cave" in the Mantuo Shanzhuang.

When martial arts reached the level of Zhang Jie, it was time to explore the martial arts of the world,

and since he didn't want to fight across the world for the time being, or learn from Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo by breaking into the Shaolin Library at night,

then the Langhuan Jade Cave was his first choice.

Besides, those manuals were not Wu Yazi's private property,

but the common property of all Xiaoyao Sect disciples.

As the undisputed third-generation leader of the Xiaoyao Sect,

Zhang Jie felt he had an obligation to take over the Langhuan Jade Cave and benefit the vast number of Xiaoyao Sect disciples.

As for Su Xinghe and Xue Muhua, they no longer needed martial arts manuals?

They didn't need them, but Zhang Jie did!

The leader is also just an ordinary Xiaoyao Sect disciple, right!

The journey from Mount Leigu to Gusu went smoothly,

and even if there were occasional greenwood heroes who wanted to "borrow some money to spend,"

they all bowed down before Yue Laosan's crocodile-mouth shears—the kind that turned them into two halves.

Don't look at Yue Laosan as being unable to withstand a single blow in Zhang Jie's hands;

his fierce reputation as one of the Four Great Evils was carved out through sheer killing!

It wasn't that Yue Laosan was too trashy, but that Zhang Jie was too overpowered.

Everything went smoothly in Gusu City, and negotiating for a boat also went smoothly.

But when Zhang Jie stated the destination, the boat boss, who had agreed immediately, suddenly backed out.

It wasn't that they were timid, but that Zhang Jie's destination, Mantuo Shanzhuang, had too notorious a reputation!

Who among those making a living near Taihu didn't know

that once a man entered Mantuo Shanzhuang, he would be taken by the evil woman inside to be used as flower fertilizer!

Silver is good, but one's life is obviously more important;

for a mere few taels of silver, why would you risk your life!

Zhang Jie, having vetoed Yue Laosan's proposal of force, had no choice but to spend some silver to rent a boat,

and took Fan Bailing and the others into Taihu to head to Mantuo Shanzhuang on their own.

Originally, according to Zhang Jie's plan, the three of them were all old hands in the Jianghu;

finding a tiny Mantuo Shanzhuang should have been easy, right?

And this, after going deep into Taihu, had an unexpected accident:

Under the complex water network conditions, they got lost!

Zhang Jie, with his extraordinary memory, remembered the way back,

but having never been to Mantuo Shanzhuang, he couldn't find the way there...

"Yue Lao San, let me help you."

Fan Bailing, thinking Yue Laosan was truly about to exhaust his strength, rolled up his sleeves and was about to help him row.

"No need, no need, I was just complaining, no need to trouble you, Senior Brother."

Yue Laosan at the stern of the boat refused repeatedly.

Hmm, when Zhang Jie intentionally wanted to recruit Yue Laosan into the Xiaoyao Sect as a protector,

but didn't want to accept such an old guy as a disciple,

it was Zhang Jie's good senior brother Su Xinghe who stepped in to solve the problem:

He directly accepted Yue Laosan as a registered disciple, which counted as Yue Laosan entering the Xiaoyao Sect's gate.

Since then, Yue Laosan had been very close to Fan Bailing, who had spoken well of him.

"Yue Lao San, you still have the nerve to talk about this leader.

This leader got lost because I have never lived on rivers and lakes,

but you, the dignified Crocodile God of the South Sea, are a land crocodile!"

Zhang Jie, who always repaid grudges on the spot, retorted.

Yue Laosan was speechless upon hearing this.

Although he came from the South Sea Sect and was called the Crocodile God, he really couldn't swim.

He only had internal energy to protect his body; otherwise, he should have been vomiting his guts out by now.

And Fan Bailing was the same: he was called the Chess Demon,

and apart from chess, there was nothing else, so naturally, he couldn't distinguish directions on the lake either.

For a time, the three of them stared at each other, looking at each other in dismay.

"How about we go back and find a guide?"

Finally, Fan Bailing suggested.

Yue Laosan also looked at Zhang Jie: although he could occasionally tease Zhang Jie,

Zhang Jie was the undisputed absolute core of the three of them,

and important decisions still had to be made by Zhang Jie.

Zhang Jie was also somewhat tempted upon hearing this; Taihu stretched for hundreds of miles,

and searching like a headless fly like this was not a solution.

As for the guide not being willing, fearing death?

At worst, throw heavy money at them!

Having inherited Wu Yazi's legacy, he was quite wealthy.

At this moment, Zhang Jie's ears suddenly moved slightly; he immediately had an idea and pointed to the right:

"Row in that direction."

"Understood."

Yue Laosan, having received the order, began to row honestly.

Amidst the splashing water, the small boat turned and headed in the direction Zhang Jie pointed.

Dozens of meters away, after passing a cluster of reeds, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

In front of Zhang Jie and the others, on the green waves of the lake, a small boat slowly sailed over,

and a girl of about sixteen or seventeen, with a delicate face and skin as white as jade, was rowing the water,

singing "Caisangzi" softly: "Lotus fragrance connects ten qing of slopes, the little girl is greedy for play and picks lotus late.

Coming late to play in the water, the bow of the boat is wet, and she takes off her red skirt to wrap the ducklings."

Her singing voice was delicate and innocent, blending with the surrounding scenery,

making Zhang Jie suddenly sigh, "Always remember the green skirt, everywhere I remember the fragrant grass," as if he were in the world of the poem.

The girl in green on the small boat also used a pair of beautiful eyes to size up the strangely combined trio:

an elegant middle-aged man, a gentle and jade-like young man, and a fierce-looking servant.

Seeing the three approaching, the girl was not afraid:

on this great marsh, even if the three had malicious intentions,

she, who had lived here since childhood, was completely confident she could escape.

'Besides, how could such a gentle and jade-like young man be a bad person?'

Looking at the outstanding Zhang Jie, the girl's beautiful eyes sparkled.

Under Yue Laosan's vigorous rowing, the two small boats approached quickly.

Zhang Jie, standing at the head of the small boat, closed his fan and bowed:

"This young lady, I, Zhang Jie, greet you."

"Little girl A'bi, I wonder what business Young Master Zhang has?"

The girl in green said softly in a sweet, crisp, and soft Wu dialect.

'Sure enough, she is one of the two maids of the Gusu Murong family,

A'bi, known together with A'zhu as the "Zhu-Bi Twin Beauties."'

Zhang Jie, having some guesses, understood upon hearing A'bi's extremely sweet and clear voice,

which was indescribably comfortable to hear.

Zhang Jie cupped his fists somewhat embarrassedly:

"I intended to visit an old friend.

I didn't expect that none of the three of us understand water, and we got lost here; I have made Miss A'bi laugh."

A'bi didn't mind and said coquettishly: "Taihu is vast,

and there are countless people who get lost like Young Master Zhang; what is there to laugh about?"

Zhang Jie looked at the gentle A'bi and suddenly felt:

'Eight parts of beauty, plus twelve parts of gentleness, is not inferior to a beauty with ten parts of talent.'