Chapter 208: The Kind-hearted Lianxing, the Suddenly Arriving Jiang Biehe

Dilingzhuang.

Tie Wushuang frowned and said, "I have heard of this person's name; he once shone brilliantly during the fake Treasure Map incident at Emei Mountain and resolved the conflict. It is said his martial arts are superb, and he is a young hero of his generation; even that Young Master Wuxue of Yihua Palace is far from being his match."

Luo Jiu said, "We two brothers are suspicious of this person."

Luo San said, "This person's background is unfathomable, and we don't even know what method he used to make Old Master Duan agree to let him be a retainer for the Duan Family."

Luo Jiu said, "The six hundred thousand taels of escort silver is a matter of great importance. Head Escort Li has always been cautious in his actions and did not let outsiders know the route for this shipment. But since Yu Liancheng is a retainer of the Duan Family, it is not surprising that he knew."

Luo San added, "And that Yu Liancheng has high martial arts and is a promising youth; he should be roaming the pugilistic world, accompanied by flowers and beauties. Yet this person insists on being a retainer for a family, and after becoming a retainer, he never steps out of the gate, just like a shy young maiden."

The two brothers spoke one after another; although they did not explicitly state that Yu Liancheng had stolen the escort silver, the meaning in their words could not have been clearer.

"Yu Liancheng?" Zhao Xiangling frowned, a look of contemplation appearing on his face: "I have heard that this person once went on a killing spree at Yuloudong, and several martial arts heroes such as 'Golden Lion' Li Di and 'Ghost Shadow' He Wushuang all fell at his hands."

Tie Wushuang held a wine cup in his hand but hesitated to bring it to his mouth. After a long while, he finally said, "This person does indeed have some suspicious points; I will have my disciple invite him over to take a look."

Behind Tie Wushuang were two youths in purple. One had thick eyebrows and large eyes, while the other had delicate features and was serving wine on the side.

He beckoned to the thick-browed disciple and whispered a few words, and the disciple left quickly.

The two brothers, Luo San and Luo Jiu, exchanged a glance, a fleeting smile of a successful conspiracy crossing their lips. They then raised their wine cups and said, "We brothers are mere juniors in the pugilistic world, nobodies; to be summoned by the Manor Master today is truly a great honor."

"That is exactly so; if people in the pugilistic world heard that Luo San and Luo Jiu could actually drink with the senior Tie, they wouldn't know how much to envy us."

Flattered by the two brothers, and with the case having made a little progress, Tie Wushuang finally smiled and immediately raised his cup, saying, "You two are too modest. I have often heard of the Luo brothers in the pugilistic world, chivalrous and righteous... Haha, I offer a toast to you two brothers."

They had only drunk two cups when a servant ran in hurriedly, panting as he said, "Old Master Tie, your disciple has already brought a man and a woman here."

"Why so fast? And it's a man and a woman?" Tie Wushuang frowned.

Zhao Xiangling asked, "Do those two have any distinguishing features?"

The servant thought for a moment and said, "The man is wearing black clothes and looks very good, very handsome. The woman is wearing a mask, and that mask is terrifying; it would give someone a fright even in broad daylight. But... but both of these people look quite extraordinary; I cannot quite put my finger on it."

Tie Wushuang stood up first: "Good, I will personally go to welcome these new talents of the pugilistic world."

"No need..."

A clear, resonant voice rang out.

A moment later, three people had already walked in.

One of them was Tie Wushuang's disciple, and as for the other two, just as the servant had said, they were a very handsome man and a woman wearing a terrifying mask.

At the same time, Tie Wushuang and the others understood the rest of the servant's words.

The spirit of this man was indeed something that could not be described in words.

His appearance was handsome, his black hair like a waterfall, his face revealing a crystalline luster like jade, and he possessed an ethereal and otherworldly bearing, as if he were a person from beyond the heavens.

Although the woman wore a grim and lifeless mask, she carried a noble and peerless aura, her long hair draped over her shoulders like flowing clouds, making one secretly wonder what kind of devastatingly beautiful face lay beneath that mask.

Tie Wushuang's disciple stepped forward and said, "Master, I had just left the manor when I encountered these two."

Tie Wushuang nodded, cupped his hands with a smile: "May I ask if you are Yu Liancheng?"

The man in black nodded and smiled: "It is I."

Tie Wushuang smiled: "I was just planning to send someone to invite you, and you have already arrived; it is quite a coincidence."

Yu Liancheng shook his head and smiled: "No, no, no, actually I came to find you on my own initiative."

"Oh." Tie Wushuang asked in confusion: "I wonder what business you have with me."

Yu Liancheng said: "Because I felt you should be looking for me."

"..." Tie Wushuang could not help but fall silent for a moment, his gaze shifting to Lianxing, asking in confusion: "I wonder who this is..."

Yu Liancheng waved his hand indifferently: "She is one of my defeated opponents, here to watch the excitement today; don't mind her."

Lianxing gave a light huff but did not refute him.

"How bold, you actually dare to hide your head and show your tail, playing tricks in front of my master."

Suddenly, the purple-clad youth standing behind Tie Wushuang shouted coldly.

This youth had delicate features and looked like a well-behaved disciple of a noble family, but when he occasionally raised his eyes, his gaze was as sharp as a blade.

Tie Wushuang frowned inwardly; his disciple was always gentle and polite, so why was he acting so rude today?

Lianxing's gaze turned slightly cold, and she pressed her crystalline jade palm out into the empty air.

Boom!

The youth was instantly struck by the palm force from afar, vomiting blood violently as he flew backward like a rag doll, crashing heavily against the wall, his breath extremely weak.

Everyone present could not help but change their expressions.

With just this one palm strike through the air, this woman was already a master the likes of which they had never seen before.

"Even if my disciple offended you with his words, your strike was perhaps a bit too ruthless."

Tie Wushuang's face turned gloomy, his knuckles cracking as he clenched them, his eyes staring fixedly at Lianxing.

Although he was angry, his heart felt icy cold; he had been famous in the pugilistic world for decades and had even attained the position of Sanxiang Alliance Leader, so his own martial arts were naturally not bad, especially his palm techniques.

But seeing this palm strike from Lianxing, he suddenly felt that his previous skills were simply child's play, laughable and pathetic.

"Alright, alright." Yu Liancheng hurriedly smoothed things over, comforting him: "Alliance Leader Tie, don't be angry; it is thanks to her kind heart that she didn't kill your disciple with one palm; you should be burning incense in gratitude."

This was actually wrong; the people of Yihua Palace had always been arrogant and did not look upon the masters of the world as anything.

If it had been an ordinary palace maid of Yihua Palace, that disciple would have had absolutely no chance of survival.

If Yao Yue had come in person, not only would that disciple have been slapped to death, but Tie Wushuang, as the master who failed to discipline him properly, would likely not have fared well either.

How could Tie Wushuang know these things? His anger flared up.

Just as he was about to erupt, Yu Liancheng had already placed a palm on his shoulder.

"Alliance Leader Tie, why be so angry? Everyone should value harmony, harmony brings wealth; let's drink, let's drink."

As he spoke, Tie Wushuang felt his whole body lose control, and a feeling of weightlessness washed over him. By the time Yu Liancheng's palm left his shoulder, he was already sitting back on his stool.

In the main hall, the atmosphere was terrifyingly stifling.

Zhao Xiangling, Luo San, and Luo Jiu had already been intimidated by a single palm strike of True Qi from Lianxing, terrified that if they said the wrong word, this hot-tempered woman would split them with a palm.

Such a surging and swift palm force was something they had never heard of nor seen, let alone known how to block or dodge.

They could not help but cast their gazes toward Tie Wushuang.

But Tie Wushuang was also in a state of shock at this moment, staring blankly at Yu Liancheng. In the hands of this young man, he was actually being manipulated as if he were a puppet.

"Everyone, don't be polite, eat, eat."

Yu Liancheng sat on the stool, greeting everyone as if he were the master of this place.

He picked up the wine pot nearby, sniffed it, and poured himself a cup: "As for this wine, you had best drink less of it. Although the poison in the wine is not enough to be fatal, it is enough to put you through a miserable time."

"There is poison in the wine?" Tie Wushuang could not help but be startled, immediately circulating his True Qi to protect his heart meridian; the other three did the same.

But then they looked at Yu Liancheng with strange expressions.

Because they really had no signs of being poisoned at all, and they highly suspected that Yu Liancheng was toying with them.

Moreover, Yu Liancheng said there was poison in the wine, yet he was drinking it himself with ease and contentment.

"You don't believe me?" Yu Liancheng glanced at Tie Wushuang.

Tie Wushuang kept a sullen face and did not speak.

Yu Liancheng suddenly struck a backhand palm toward Tie Wushuang's face.

Tie Wushuang let out a cold snort and also struck out with a palm to meet it.

He saw that Yu Liancheng's palm was heavy and fierce, so he dared not be careless, driving his entire cultivation into this palm.

But just as Yu Liancheng's palm reached halfway, it suddenly retracted like spilled water.

This control over force could be called the pinnacle of perfection.

And Tie Wushuang's palm, having only reached mid-air, suddenly stagnated; his face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Alliance Leader Tie, what is wrong with you?"

"A fine Yu Liancheng, actually attacking from the shadows?"

Zhao Xiangling, Luo San, and the brother Luo Jiu hurriedly rushed to Tie Wushuang's side, supporting his swaying body.

"Stop!"

Tie Wushuang shouted to stop the people who wanted to make a move, his gaze looking toward Yu Liancheng: "Is there really poison in this wine?"

"Indeed." Yu Liancheng picked up the wine pot and poured himself a cup: "The poison in this wine was placed very cleverly, and the dosage is very light. For those who drink this wine, the poison will not take effect for a while. But once you engage in a fight and circulate your True Qi, it will be just as you were before."

"But who poisoned this?" Tie Wushuang and the others could not help but change their expressions.

Yu Liancheng smiled: "Is this hard to guess? Whoever handled this bottle of wine the most times is the most likely to have poisoned it."

Before he finished speaking, another thick-browed, large-eyed disciple of Tie Wushuang unfolded his form and darted out of the door.

However, having only darted a distance of one zhang, he suddenly fell backward to the ground, clutching his lower leg and crying out in pain.

It turned out that there was already a blood hole in his lower leg, with blood gushing out, as if he had been struck by a master using an invisible finger technique.

Everyone looked at Yu Liancheng and Lianxing with terrified eyes.

Aside from them, no one else present possessed such terrifying finger strength.

But these two had not even moved.

Could it be that there was another master present?

Tie Wushuang's face was livid, coldly staring at his disciple: "Very well, very well, I have asked myself that I have never treated you poorly, is this how you repay me?"

That disciple clutched his leg, enduring the pain: "It was this disciple who was momentarily possessed by a ghost... but... but this matter was directed by someone."

Tie Wushuang said coldly: "Who is it?"

"It is..."

"Big brother, what is wrong with you?" Suddenly, a loud shout rang out.

One could see the muscles on Luo San's face twitching, his lips turning black, and his whole body trembling incessantly.

Anyone with the slightest common sense could see that he had been poisoned.

Luo Jiu supported Luo San, his face pale, at a loss for what to do.

"He... he poured me a cup of wine..." Luo San pointed with a trembling hand at the thick-browed, large-eyed disciple.

"How bold, quickly hand over the antidote." Luo Jiu lunged fiercely toward the thick-browed, large-eyed disciple, his momentum like a tiger emerging from a cage.

Except for Yu Liancheng and Lianxing, even if others wanted to stop him, it was too late.

"Antidote, antidote, quickly give me the antidote." Luo Jiu fumbled over the thick-browed, large-eyed man's body, then suddenly shouted again: "You are not allowed to die! Not allowed to die!"

It turned out that the thick-browed, large-eyed disciple had actually taken poison to commit suicide.

Fortunately, Luo Jiu had quickly searched out several bottles and jars from the big man's clothes, looked at the markings on them, chose two bottles, poured out the pills, and fed them to Luo San and Tie Wushuang; the two soon recovered.

"You! You..." Tie Wushuang looked at the disciple lying on the ground and sighed repeatedly: "I treated you as my own, now that no great disaster has been caused, if you were willing to confess everything, how could this old man have the heart to kill you? Why were you so unable to think clearly..."

Yu Liancheng said indifferently: "I fear he did not commit suicide."

"Not suicide." Tie Wushuang frowned.

Just as he was about to ask further, the gatekeeper walked over quickly from a distance and presented a name card.

Zhao Xiangling frowned as he took it, but after one glance, he could not help but be moved and blurted out: "Jiangnan Hero Jiang Biehe has arrived."

"Why has he come?" Tie Wushuang rose to his full height.

Someone outside the door laughed loudly: "Jiang Biehe has come with fellow martial arts practitioners to see Manor Master Zhao and Alliance Leader Tie; I hope the two of you will come out with the guests inside to meet us."

The voice came from afar, showing quite profound internal energy.

Yu Liancheng glanced at Lianxing and smiled: "Don't you want to see the excitement? Let's go."

He walked out first, with Lianxing following closely behind.

Zhao Xiangling, Tie Wushuang, and the others looked at each other and also walked out one after another.

The group arrived outside Dilingzhuang; except for Yu Liancheng and Lianxing, the rest were already stunned and lost their color at the scene before them.

Before Dilingzhuang, over a hundred martial arts practitioners had already arrived, surrounding the entire manor tightly. These martial artists carried blades and held swords, each one possessing no small reputation in the Wulin, and each one having quite decent martial arts.

Even for Wulin Holy Lands like Shaolin and Wudang, it would likely not be easy to gather so many experts in a short period of time.

And the one leading this group of martial arts experts was none other than Jiang Biehe.

However, the current Hero of Jiangnan was no longer as elegant and jade-like, nor as captivating.

The left side of his face wore a mask, covering the left side of his face tightly and securely.

Although the right half of his face was intact, the wound on the left side had withered and shrunk, pulling the right side of his face along with it, making it crooked and slanted. This made the Hero of Jiangnan look not like someone from the righteous path, but instead filled with a kind of evil power.

If one looked for too long, it was as if he were an evil ghost from hell, making people shudder with fear.