Chapter 48

"!?"

Mei Qinghe was so shocked by Liu Baiyun's answer that she could not make a sound.

Who!?

The Plum Blossom Thief!?

No matter how wild Mei Qinghe's imagination was, she could not connect this matter to him!

Liu Baiyun said: "Fifteen years ago, I found you in the mountains and forests and brought you back to the Huashan Sect."

"Have you ever wondered why I, whose sect is near the western border of the Great Ming, would appear in the region of Qi and Lu?"

"In the wilderness, with no people around, not near any villages, towns, or roads. How could I have been so coincidental as to run into you?"

Mei Qinghe had never thought about this question, feeling only that it was fate between her and Liu Baiyun. But now that Liu Baiyun said it, she immediately realized.

That's right, Qi and Lu and Huashan are on the far east and west sides of the Great Ming territory, and she was in an uninhabited forest; how could Liu Baiyun have appeared there so coincidentally?

Even if it were a coincidence, if she hadn't known beforehand, what would Liu Baiyun be doing running into that desolate forest?

"Do you know why I agreed to that Embroidered Uniform Guard so quickly just now?"

Mei Qinghe was stunned again.

That's right, Liu Baiyun was not a weak-willed person. Working for the imperial court was equivalent to cutting herself off from her Jianghu peers, and even her own sect's legacy could be seized by the court.

Even if forced by the situation, why did Liu Baiyun agree so readily? As if—she had already made plans in her heart.

Liu Baiyun did not keep her in suspense and said directly: "Because I, too, am afraid."

"More afraid than Zuo Lishan, and afraid earlier than the Taishan Sect."

"Because, if we are to talk about colluding with the Ming Sect... my Huashan Sect is the one that stuck its neck out first."

"As early as fifteen years ago... I had already colluded with the Ming Sect..."

"Drinking poison to quench thirst, negotiating with a tiger for its skin—how could it last long... Relying on the imperial court was one of the methods I had envisioned to preserve the Huashan Sect."

Liu Baiyun recounted the story.

"Fifteen years ago, it was people from the Ming Sect who brought the Plum Blossom Thief to find me, gifting me a Huashan mental cultivation method modified by the Plum Blossom Thief that allowed for more rapid progress, along with a disciple whose talent surpassed my own."

"That is why I was able to find you."

Mei Qinghe stared fixedly into Liu Baiyun's eyes.

She only felt that this master who had saved her from the forest and raised her to adulthood had suddenly become so unfamiliar.

Was she a gift given to her master by the person who killed her mother? If everything was not fate, but calculation and scheming, then these ten-plus years of master-disciple affection... could it still be taken as real?

How was she to conduct herself?

After a long while, Mei Qinghe said hoarsely: "Master... tell me the whole story..."

Liu Baiyun sighed again and began the story from the beginning.

The decline of the Huashan Sect did not begin after Zuo Lishan took power; the signs had already appeared fifteen years ago. If not for this, Zuo Lishan would not have chosen the Huashan Sect as his target for suppression from the start.

At that time, due to insufficient talent, Liu Baiyun had only just reached the level of a first-rate expert. The Huashan Sect was in a state where the old were gone and the new had not yet arrived; apart from Liu Baiyun, there were no other experts to hold the fort.

It was precarious.

One day, a middle-aged man came to pay a visit, saying he wanted to give the Huashan Sect a great gift and needed to speak with Liu Baiyun in private.

After everyone else had left, that man revealed his identity to Liu Baiyun—he was the Left Envoy of the Ming Sect, Lan Lechuan.

The Ming Sect leader, Ji Tianrui, had been killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Miao territory, and most of the Ming Sect's experts had gone with him; the Ming Sect was also in a precarious state.

To escape the imperial court's pursuit, the Ming Sect needed a sect's territory to hide and provide cover. The Huashan Sect was located on the border, far from the court, and its structure and territory were suitable; since it was also in a precarious state, it was the most suitable target.

Liu Baiyun naturally refused at first; colluding with the Ming Sect was too dangerous and could easily invite the court's hostility. At the time, although the Huashan Sect was in a bad state, it had not yet reached the point of being wiped out, and there was no need to wade into the Ming Sect's muddy waters.

However, when words failed, there were still fists.

The Ming Sect Left Envoy, Lan Lechuan, was a peak expert. Excluding the leader Ji Tianrui, he was the strongest in the Ming Sect.

At that time, the Huashan Sect had only one first-rate expert, Liu Baiyun, and was powerless to resist. After being subdued by Lan Lechuan, she was left with a handle and had no choice but to cooperate.

Later, Lan Lechuan said he needed Liu Baiyun to go with him to Shuntian Prefecture to do something big. Liu Baiyun had no choice but to follow him east toward Shuntian Prefecture.

When the two reached the Qi and Lu region, Lan Lechuan met a person who told him: The matter in Shuntian Prefecture had been discovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and was exposed. The survivors had all withdrawn.

Thus, Lan Lechuan and Liu Baiyun no longer had a reason to go to Shuntian Prefecture.

Lan Lechuan told Liu Baiyun that he needed to meet someone in this Qi and Lu region—the one known as the "Plum Blossom Thief."

This person was extremely important to the Ming Sect and could not afford any mistakes.

So the two came to Yanzhou Prefecture and found the Plum Blossom Thief.

Just at that moment, the Plum Blossom Thief handed Liu Baiyun that modified mental cultivation method and informed her of Mei Qinghe's location.

He smiled and said that although the Ming Sect's plans in both the Miao territory and Shuntian Prefecture had failed and their manpower was mostly gone, they no longer needed to borrow the Huashan Sect's territory. But there would always be times in the future when they would need the Huashan Sect; this was a gift he had prepared in advance, and he asked Liu Baiyun to accept it with a smile.

This led to Mei Qinghe being brought back to the Huashan Sect, practicing martial arts to success, descending the mountain to take revenge, and running into Li Miao.

"The Plum Blossom Thief, whose real name is Yun Zelin. He was born with extremely poor bone structure; his martial arts were difficult to advance, and at twenty-something, he was only at a third-rate level."

"But his comprehension could be said to be unprecedented and unrepeatable. It is enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the legendary Bodhidharma."

"He could casually create a legacy cultivation method for a third-rate sect, or modify our Huashan Sect's cultivation method, bringing forth the new."

"He had already joined the Ming Sect. After the failure in Shuntian Prefecture, he fled to the Qi and Lu region. Discovering your excellent talent, he deliberately committed the act of torturing and killing your mother."

"Firstly, he used Zhao Dehua to cover his tracks; even if exposed, the attention of those in the know would be focused on Zhao Dehua, thinking only that Zhao Dehua was the successor he chose in a hurry, and they would not notice you, who were only five years old at the time."

"Secondly... he deliberately tortured and killed your mother in front of you, so that your temperament would better conform to the cultivation method he had modified."

Liu Baiyun sighed: "The two of them left then, and that was when I went into the forest, found you, and brought you back to the Huashan Sect."

"My comprehension is passable, but compared to Yun Zelin, it is like heaven and earth. I failed to discover the problems within that cultivation method."

"And at that time, the Huashan Sect was in a state where the old were gone and the new had not yet arrived; I was eager for success and passed this cultivation method, which allowed for more rapid progress, to you."

"A few years later, I discovered that your temperament was becoming increasingly rigid and extreme. But by then, your internal energy had already achieved success, and with my cultivation, I could not oversee you switching to another internal energy method."

"That was when I thought I would wait until your martial arts reached the peak before telling you the truth. By then, your internal energy would be successful, and with your talent, you could naturally switch to other cultivation methods. If you wanted to seek revenge on Yun Zelin, without a peak realm, I fear you would be unable to break through the protection of the Ming Sect's experts."

The sword hilt in Mei Qinghe's hand was already creaking from her grip.

"So... the Plum Blossom Thief is still alive?"

Liu Baiyun nodded: "Alive. Back then, he left behind countless traces of a fake death, including cultivation methods and successors."

"Although I did not see it with my own eyes, the person who died so carelessly at the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guard back then was definitely not him; it must have been a body double with a similar appearance."

"Now... he should still be in the Ming Sect, and given the importance Lan Lechuan placed on him back then, his status in the Ming Sect should not be low. His bone structure might even have been improved by the Ming Sect's methods and heavenly treasures."

"With his comprehension, if there were no restrictions on his bone structure, his martial arts progress would likely be a thousand miles a day. After fifteen years, I don't even know what level he has reached now."

Hearing this, Mei Qinghe closed her eyes.

She only felt that her life was a huge joke.

Li Miao, however, nodded in the private room upstairs, saying to himself: "Heh... Plum Blossom Thief, Yun Zelin..."

"I really had poor judgment back then, only focusing on killing those with high martial arts and letting such a character slip through my fingers."

"It matches, it all matches."

The world is vast, but excitement is the greatest. He did not have such high moral standards that he would really let this master and disciple finish their story behind his back.

They said they were eating separately, and Gao Ling was not talking, so he naturally could not help but use his hearing skills to listen to the conversation between Mei Qinghe and Liu Baiyun. And Mei Qinghe and Liu Baiyun would never have imagined that, separated by several layers of doors, Li Miao's hearing skills could still hear their conversation clearly.

At this moment, Li Miao filled in the final piece of the puzzle—connecting all his encounters since entering the Qi and Lu region.

Even he himself was involved.

Fifteen years ago, the Ming Sect leader Ji Tianrui entered the Miao territory and, combining it with witchcraft and gu-poison arts, created the cultivation method that Zuo Lishan practiced.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard received the news, and the entire force went south into the Miao territory to kill Ji Tianrui.

Ming Sect experts, seeing that the matter was exposed, simply split into two paths: one went to the Miao territory to support Ji Tianrui, and the other carried the witchcraft and poison methods researched by Ji Tianrui, along with Miao territory poison experts, toward Shuntian Prefecture, wanting to take advantage of the Embroidered Uniform Guard being in the Miao territory and the capital's defenses being empty to do something big.

Li Miao, as a confidant of the Commander Zhu Zai, took the mission to kill the Ming Sect experts coming to Shuntian Prefecture and saved Xiao Si from the hands of a Miao territory shaman.

After a battle, Li Miao was heavily injured and dying, and the Ming Sect people were almost all killed or injured, but the Plum Blossom Thief, whose martial arts were not conspicuous, managed to escape.

Because of this, Li Miao was promoted to Battalion Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, forced Zhu Zai to sign that "eight-hour workday" labor contract, and officially began to use his golden finger to practice martial arts without restraint.

In the Miao territory, the Embroidered Uniform Guard won a complete victory, and the Ming Sect members were killed or fled; the Ming Sect Left Envoy Lan Lechuan was one of the survivors.

The Ming Sect was heavily damaged and needed a place to recuperate and hide its tracks, so Lan Lechuan chose the Huashan Sect. After some threats and inducements, he left Liu Baiyun with a handle, forcing her to comply.

Afterward, Lan Lechuan took Liu Baiyun to Shuntian Prefecture, preparing to support the Shuntian Prefecture plan.

When they reached the Qi and Lu region, they received news that Li Miao had destroyed the Ming Sect's plans in Shuntian Prefecture and that many experts had been almost wiped out. Thus, they diverted to the Qi and Lu Yanzhou Prefecture to meet the Plum Blossom Thief.

The Plum Blossom Thief received the news and learned that the Huashan Sect had already defected to the Ming Sect, so he began to modify the mental cultivation method.

He sought out Mei Qinghe, tortured and killed her mother, left traces on Mei Qinghe's temperament, and made Mei Qinghe better conform to the temperament requirements of the mental cultivation method he had modified.

As a side note, he also passed his claw techniques to Zhao Dehua, creating the illusion that he was unable to escape the Embroidered Uniform Guard's pursuit and thus left behind a successor, providing cover for his plan to fake his death and escape.

The internal energy and light-body techniques obtained by You Zi'ang were also part of his plan to fake his death and escape. His body double must have practiced that internal energy technique, which was why he had a birthmark identical to the Plum Blossom Thief's.

Twelve years ago, the Plum Blossom Thief's body double was discovered and killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The corpse was transported to Shuntian Prefecture. His plan to fake his death succeeded.

Eleven years ago, because the Embroidered Uniform Guard had slaughtered the Miao territory gu-poison experts, the villages in the Miao territory no longer dared to have contact with the Central Plains and became increasingly isolated. This caused the Ge Pu clan to develop fantasies about the Central Plains, so they fled the village, came to Pingshan Guard, and became a concubine of Squire Wu.

Five years ago, the Ming Sect colluded with Zuo Lishan, giving him gu-poison insects and the cultivation method created by Ji Tianrui back then.

Time comes to the present.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard received news of Zuo Lishan colluding with the Ming Sect, and Li Miao took the mission and came to the Qi and Lu region.

Mei Qinghe, having received news years ago that the Plum Blossom Thief had been killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had no choice but to come to the Qi and Lu region to seek revenge on Zhao Dehua, where she ran into Li Miao, who had taken the mission.

Li Miao killed the Ge Pu clan member who had escaped the Miao territory.

Li Miao heavily injured Zuo Lishan, forcing him to begin practicing the cultivation method given to him by the Ming Sect.

Liu Baiyun, because she had left a handle in the hands of the Ming Sect years ago, had been worried, so she immediately agreed to the conditions of working for the imperial court to eliminate the hidden danger of her collusion with the Ming Sect.

Everything Li Miao experienced after coming to the Qi and Lu region—Mei Qinghe, Liu Baiyun, Zuo Lishan, You Zi'ang, Xiao Si, the Ge Pu clan, Zhao Dehua.

Witchcraft, evil arts, grudges.

Taishan Sect, Huashan Sect, Five Mountains Sword Sect, Embroidered Uniform Guard, Ming Sect.

Everything, everything, was now connected by one person.

Plum Blossom Thief, Yun Zelin.

Li Miao laughed softly, revealing his white teeth and leaking a trace of deep, heavy killing intent. Gao Ling, sitting beside him, felt a chill all over, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, feeling like a lamb caught in the mouth of a beast, and even the circulation of her true energy was frozen.

"Good, good, good."

"I underestimated you back then, thinking I had only let a small fish or shrimp run away; I didn't expect you to be such a character!"

"After escaping from my hands, you've done so many things. I can't even pretend not to see it anymore."

"After settling the matter of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, I will personally come to your door to find you..."

"I hope you are still alive..."

Gao Ling shivered, not knowing why Li Miao was leaking killing intent, nor knowing where such pure and heavy killing intent came from, and could only lower her head to her chest, not daring to look at Li Miao.

On Mei Qinghe's side, after hearing what Liu Baiyun said, a flush of unnatural crimson appeared on her face.

*Pfft—*

She suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which splashed onto the ground.

She was at a critical juncture in switching her cultivation method and was extremely susceptible to *qigong* deviation. Hearing her own life story, she only felt that her life was simply a plaything in the hands of the Plum Blossom Thief, a joke. How could she remain calm?

At this moment, her heart was inflamed, and she immediately showed signs of *qigong* deviation; her true energy went astray, damaging her heart meridians, and she sprayed out a mouthful of blood.

"Qinghe!" Liu Baiyun rushed forward urgently to support Mei Qinghe.

But she was stopped by Mei Qinghe raising her hand.

"Master!" Mei Qinghe wiped the blood from her mouth.

"My heart is already in chaos; I don't know how to treat you, Master..."

"At this moment, I have already suffered *qigong* deviation, and my state of mind is unstable. That beast's cultivation method would naturally make my temperament extreme. Do not come near me, otherwise, disciple... fears I might hurt you..."

Only then did Liu Baiyun notice that Mei Qinghe's hand gripping the sword hilt was already bleeding from being gripped too hard.

Mei Qinghe closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breathing for a moment, then let out a long breath, though a wisp of blood still flowed from the corner of her mouth.

"Master, please return to your room and rest..."

"Your grace in saving my life, your grace in raising me, Qinghe dares not forget. Every single thing over these fifteen years, Qinghe remembers in her heart."

"It's just... that my survival was actually the result of my mother's killer and my master's scheming, and my mother's tragic death was because I became a gift for the Huashan Sect... I don't know how to face you, face the Huashan Sect, face my mother's spirit in heaven for a moment..."

"Even the cultivation method I have painstakingly practiced for more than ten years is the work of that beast... Qinghe truly does not know how to conduct herself..."

"My heart is in chaos... Master..."

"Let Qinghe be quiet for a while... let me be quiet..."

Liu Baiyun looked at Mei Qinghe and let out a long sigh.

With one hand, she drew her sword and slashed directly at her own left forearm.

*Pfft—*

Blood surged wildly, and Liu Baiyun's arm fell to the ground.

"Master!?"

Mei Qinghe was too late to stop her; she desperately stood up and stepped forward, striking Liu Baiyun's acupoints to stop the bleeding: "Qinghe has never resented Master! What is Master doing!?"

Liu Baiyun looked down at Mei Qinghe's tear-stained face and gently pulled her into her arms with her right hand.

"It's no matter, it's no matter... Master practices right-handed sword; losing the left hand, I am still a first-rate expert..."

"Qinghe, the matter back then was ultimately my Huashan Sect, my Liu Baiyun, owing you and your mother..."

"In the future, when you go to the Ming Sect to take revenge, Master will go with you..."

"Do not let me, your master, leave a flaw in your state of mind. If your state of mind is flawed, your martial arts will be difficult to perfect; how will you go and take revenge on that beast..."

"It's no matter, it's no matter... a mere small injury; I am the Bai Yun Sword, after all..."

"Let's just leave it like this for now... help me sit down..."

Mei Qinghe could not stop crying, helping Liu Baiyun to sit down. Her heart was filled with regret; she just hugged Liu Baiyun with both hands and wept bitterly.

Liu Baiyun's face was pale, but she wore a smile, gently stroking Mei Qinghe's hair.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

Li Miao walked in slowly, looked up and down at the embracing Mei Qinghe and Liu Baiyun, and smiled: "Finished chatting?"

"Really, it's the first time I've seen mother and daughter chat until they self-mutilate. I've learned something new today."

He then reached out his hand into a claw, and with a suction of true energy, he drew the severed arm from the ground into his hand. He walked in front of the two and said to Mei Qinghe with a smile.

"Running into me, you should be secretly happy."

"Come, come, come, little Mei, move aside a bit."

"Any later, and this arm won't be able to be reattached."

(End of chapter)