Chapter 87: If the Nation is Lost, Where Can There Be a Jianghu?

Popular Recommendation: "Scripture in the Ape"

Lu Li's voice clearly entered everyone's ears.

Monk Jueyuan was rigid and cautious by nature; he still stood where he was, not yet understanding the meaning of these four words.

But those with agile minds, such as Huang Rong, Yang Guo, and Guo Xiang, understood what Lu Li meant in an instant.

They looked the white ape up and down and indeed discovered an incongruous wound on the white ape's belly.

Originally, they had thought the wound was caused by the divine eagle, but after Lu Li's reminder, they had already guessed that the scripture was hidden inside the white ape's belly.

Guo Xiang's eyes brightened, and she clapped her hands, saying, "Great! So you two hid the scripture in the white ape's belly."

Xiaoxiangzi and his companion looked ghastly and laughed dryly, "Young Hero, you jest... The scripture is made of paper; how could it be placed inside the acidic and filthy belly of an ape?"

Guo Xiang curled her lips and said, "What is difficult about that? Just wrap it in oilcloth."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Junbao suddenly saw the light and immediately walked over, saying, "Let me check it, then."

Xiaoxiangzi and Yinxike knew that once they were checked, it would be impossible to hide the truth.

Evil intent suddenly surged in their hearts; they took a breath and, with both palms carrying a cold, sinister wind, suddenly lunged at Zhang Junbao.

"Careful!"

Guo Xiang warned.

Suddenly, a streak of Sword Qi appeared before the two of them; it was Lu Li pointing from afar.

The Sword Qi was incomparably sharp and pierced directly into their meridians.

Although their arms were not directly severed, the meridians inside were destroyed by the Sword Qi.

Seeing that they had no external injuries, they suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and fell straight down, already dead from internal injuries.

Zhang Junbao felt the white ape's belly and indeed discovered a hard object hidden within the wound, and he was immediately overjoyed.

"Master, the scripture is indeed here."

"Amitabha, how virtuous, how virtuous."

Monk Jueyuan was not anxious about the scripture; instead, seeing this, he showed sorrow and began to chant for the rebirth of the two corpses.

Everyone felt that although Monk Jueyuan was pedantic, this Buddhist compassion was truly worthy of admiration.

When Lu Li, Guo Xiang, and the others were touring the mountains, the sun had already set behind the western hills.

After this round of turmoil, the bright moon was now in the sky.

A cool breeze blew through the leaves in the mountains, and unknown birds chirped on the treetops.

Then Yang Guo said in a clear voice, "This meeting has been a pleasure, and our spirits are high. When we meet again in the Jianghu, we shall drink and talk happily.

Let us part ways here."

He was a man of free and wild nature; after speaking, he flicked his sleeves, took Xiaolongnü's hand, and walked down the mountain side-by-side with the divine eagle.

Guo Xiang stood where she was, her eyes brimming with tears, staring blankly in the direction they had left.

... At the foot of Huashan, three people and one ape walked side-by-side.

One of them, a gray-robed monk, was Jueyuan, and beside him, a thin, thirteen-year-old boy was Zhang Junbao.

Lu Li was dressed in green, with an ordinary iron sword hanging at his waist.

He led the white ape, and the three of them walked along the way.

After Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü left last night, it was time for everyone to part ways.

Huang Yaoshi and Guo Jing strongly invited Lu Li to go to Taohua Island, but Lu Li politely declined.

Admittedly, going to Taohua Island to study the martial Dao with Huang Yaoshi and the others would certainly lead to rapid progress.

However, do not forget that Lu Li needed to complete missions after transmigrating into this world.

And this time, the difficulty of the mission Lu Li chose was somewhat high; he had to hurry and arrange some things.

This mission also had three options; after weighing them repeatedly, Lu Li finally chose the one he himself felt regretful about, which was also the most difficult mission.

With a thought, the mission prompt popped up in his mind.

【Heavens Mission: If the nation is lost, where can there be a Jianghu?】【Prompt: The mission in this world is a series mission; current mission progress 0/2.

】【The Song may be destroyed, but Xiangyang must not fall!

History records the Yashan Naval Battle, and the Song perished.

Once the host guards Xiangyang until the original year of the Song's demise, this stage of the mission is considered complete.

】 Looking at the path he had chosen, Lu Li could not help but smile bitterly.

Undoubtedly, this path was very difficult.

But at least, with him here, he would not let this land be trampled by the barbarians!

If the Song was incompetent,

it should be ended by his own hands, not by the iron cavalry of the Yuan Court!

While talking with Guo Jing and the others, Lu Li had already confirmed the current era name: the first year of the Jingding Era Era Era of the Southern Song.

Comparing it with the mission prompt in his mind, Lu Li knew that thirteen years later was when Xiangyang was originally supposed to fall.

And furthermore? Could it be that during the Song Dynasty, the power of the Ming Cult had not yet developed? Lu Li was puzzled; he decided not to go to Taohua Island first, but to go and explore news of the Ming Cult.

Therefore, Lu Li declined the invitation from Huang Yaoshi and the others and insisted on wandering the Central Plains.

Jueyuan was kind-hearted and could not bear to let the white ape suffer in vain, so he insisted on going down the mountain to find a good doctor to remove the scripture from the ape's belly.

Thus, Lu Li traveled temporarily with Master Jueyuan and Zhang Junbao.

At that time, the Yuan army had already destroyed the Jin Dynasty; everything north of Xiangyang was the land of the barbarians.

Yuan soldiers ran rampant, war was constant, and the people lived in misery.

A group of refugees looked ashen, dressed in rags.

Walking under the gloomy sky, they were like twisted and sluggish walking dead.

The walking corpses moved forward silently; no one spoke, for they no longer had any strength to spare.

Suddenly, a violent conflict erupted in a secluded corner.

Everyone heard a "bang," and looking toward the sound, they saw a gaunt man shielding his wife.

His eyes were bloodshot, like a crazed beast, and he gripped a stone in each hand, glaring at those around him.

Before him, a man's body had flopped onto the ground with a "splat," looking like a pile of swollen, rotting meat.

"Get away!

This is my son, not food for you to eat."

The man panted as he spoke.

"You dead scholar, do you really dare to strike?"

Two men stepped over the body of the fallen man and stared at the scholar.

There was clear disdain in their eyes, as if they were certain that this scholar, who usually wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken, could resist them.

But this time, they were clearly wrong.

"You are welcome to try; at worst, we all die together..."

Even a timid person can erupt with a desperate momentum for the sake of someone precious.

This scholar, who wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken, was suddenly like a wolf on the verge of starvation, baring his fangs.

The two men were intimidated by the scholar's momentum, hesitated for a moment, and finally gave up.

Starved to this point, they were unwilling to break out into a conflict with others over an infant; they really had no strength left... besides, even if they killed this scholar, they would very likely be injured.

A minor injury would be fine, but if they were heavily wounded, they feared they would have no chance to enjoy any food.

The two turned around and hauled up their unconscious companion.

The man might still have been breathing, but the moment he lost consciousness, there was no possibility of him surviving.

Just as those two left, a gaunt woman with dull, lifeless eyes walked over, holding a swaddled bundle.

"Trade?"

The woman behind the scholar was extremely weak, but she still shook her head firmly.

Trade what? Everyone knew perfectly well.

Trading children to eat... four simple characters that could be written easily, yet they were presented bloodily before the eyes of this group of people.

"Husband... when will these days ever end?"

The woman leaned against the scholar and asked in a low voice.

Indeed, when would it ever end? Everyone asked this question in their hearts; in fact, what tormented them was not just the hunger in their bellies, but more so the endless despair.

Many people were crushed by this despair.

The scholar comforted his wife, saying: "Sigh, the Tatars are brutal and slaughter cities at the slightest provocation.

The Imperial Court is incompetent, and the mountains and rivers are shattered.

Now, the vast Central Plains have mostly fallen into the hands of the Tatars.

For now, we can only head south; if we cross Xiangyang, we can go to Haozhou. I have an old friend there, and life might be a little better."

With a direction in their hearts, the couple could still hold onto some hope.

But suddenly, the ground trembled slightly.

Rumble... clatter, clatter, clatter... a group of Tatar cavalry came galloping from the distance.

They had just seen a glimmer of hope, yet a torrential downpour began to fall from the sky.

---Author's Note--- The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber arc will follow a path of hegemony to some extent, and the time span will be very long—long enough that Zhao Min, Zhu Ba, and others will also appear later on.