Chapter 4: Mo Laodao

Phew, after confirming the other party had already left far behind, Fang Xiu let out a long breath and relaxed; it seemed he had overheard something he shouldn't have.

This is the world of The Legend of the Condor Heroes; the so-called Clan Leader Hong, the first person one thinks of is inevitably Hong Qigong; tentatively identifying him as such, then the people addressing him as Clan Leader must certainly be the Beggar Sect.

During the Southern Song, the Beggar Sect's main headquarters was on Junshan Island in Dongting Lake, Hunan; its sphere of influence included not only Hunan but also Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, and other areas; its members numbered over ten thousand, truly the Number One Great Clan under heaven.

Gushan County falls within the Zhejiang region; there must be a Beggar Sect branch here; Hong Qigong routinely inspected his members, so his appearance in Gushan is perfectly normal.

But from the conversation between those two, it's not hard to see they were doing things they didn't want Hong Qigong to know about; obviously absolutely nothing good.

The Beggar Sect has long been a mixed bag; in The Legend of the Condor Heroes it splits into the Qingyi Sect and the Wuyi Sect, with extremely deep contradictions between them; this kind of sect, situated at the very bottom of society and lacking any strict management system, has far too many dirty, shady, underhanded dealings behind the scenes.

So absolutely don't treat the Beggar Sect as a simple Orthodox Sect; in fact, apart from the Beggar Sect in Jin Daxia's novels, there aren't many other stories that speak well of the Beggar Sect.

Hong Qigong himself is undoubtedly a great hero, the First Jianghu Hero in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, but his management ability is merely average; unable to resolve the conflict between the Qingyi Sect and the Wuyi Sect, he could only wear Qingyi robes for half the year and Wuyi robes for half the year to show fairness; naturally, the juniors below did bad things and wanted to deceive him.

As for that Qingyu Guan, and the goods they wanted, the two men just now were vague and evasive; there's definitely a problem, but Fang Xiu right now can't be bothered to deal with it.

Whatever Northern Beggar, whatever Number One Great Clan, none of it has anything to do with this little cripple; he only wants to wait until his leg injury heals, then take Mo Laodao and A Ku back to Wu Family Slope.

After learning his background these past days, Fang Xiu had long since decided where to go from here.

From Wu Mianfeng's memories, the Wu Clan of Wu Family Slope is located in Gusu City, which is Suzhou, and they are a powerful local clan.

According to later analysis of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Peach Blossom Island is actually one of the islands of the Zhoushan Archipelago, and Changguo County is actually the later Zhoushan County.

From Changguo County to Gusu City is over five hundred li; it's not at the ends of the earth; as long as Fang Xiu's legs recover, returning to his hometown is completely feasible.

The family has considerable strength, is united and affectionate, situated in the fertile lands of Gusu, facing Taihu, a land of fish and rice; what more could one ask for from such a background?

In the original work, Wu Mianfeng should have died early on, never having the chance to return home; but Fang Xiu decided early on that as soon as his injuries healed, he would go back to Gusu and be a wealthy scion, seeking only a life of peace; whatever Wulin heroes vying for supremacy, whatever gratifying grudges and vengeance, have nothing to do with him.

Even if the Southern Song falls, that's several decades later; Fang Xiu has plenty of opportunity to preserve himself alone.

Thinking of this, he immediately decided to stay far away from the Beggar Sect disciples, so as not to get entangled in trouble.

Fang Xiu hadn't forgotten the meat buns A Ku longed for; he bought five, wrapped them in lotus leaves, stuffed them into his bosom, and walked toward the abandoned house in the west of the city, leaning on his crutch.

When he returned to the abandoned house, Mo Laodao had actually returned too; he had gathered quite a few herbs and was fanning a fire, decocting medicine for A Ku in a clay pot; he was short, thin as a monkey, wearing a tattered Daoist robe of indistinguishable color, his figure stooped, back slightly hunched, face full of wrinkles.

When Fang Xiu first saw him, he thought Mo Laodao was at least sixty or seventy; who would have thought he wasn't even fifty, only a few years older than himself in his previous life.

Besides begging for food, this old man spends every day holding a tattered book nodding and swaying; his character is a bit slippery, he hangs high when it doesn't concern him; if not for A Ku, he absolutely would not have saved Fang Xiu back then; even so, Fang Xiu is still grateful to him.

At this moment A Ku was already awake; Fang Xiu ignored Mo Laodao and went straight to A Ku's side, taking the meat buns from his bosom and handing them to A Ku.

A Ku smelled the aroma of the meat buns, and her originally emaciated face instantly came alive; she sniffed greedily a few times, her big eyes blinking.

"Brother Fang, is this really a meat bun? Is it for me?"

"Of course it's for you; haven't you been craving them for a long time? Today Brother got a few copper coins and immediately bought them for you to eat; eat it and your illness will get better soon."

A Ku stretched out her stick-like hands to receive it; just as she was about to put it in her mouth, she asked carefully again.

"Brother Fang, do you have a bun to eat? Does Grandpa have one too?"

"Brother certainly has; your grandpa is a Daoist, he can't eat meat, no need to mind him; these buns are all ours."

Mo Laodao beside them couldn't take his eyes off the buns from the moment he saw them; hearing Fang Xiu's words, he rolled his eyes, opened his mouth, and cursed.

"You heartless brat, without this old Daoist you'd have died long ago; who says old Daoists don't eat meat."

"Your mouth is full of nothing but 'Quanquan' this and that; don't think I don't know the Quanquan Sect strictly forbids eating meat; old Daoist, breaking your precepts for a few buns, I definitely look down on you."

"What this old Daoist recites is 'Who observes things and self, what is distant what is intimate? Guard the Dao to preserve life, do good to protect truth,' from the 'Taishang Laojun Inner Observation Scripture'; it has similarities with Quanquan Sect doctrine, but this old Daoist is not of the Quanquan Sect; I cultivate the 'Nanhua True Scripture,' belonging to the Zhuangzi Lineage.

My lineage emphasizes that the six desires all obtain their proper place; satisfying the appetite is also proper; human nature is originally true, there's no need to forcibly restrain it."

Hearing Mo Laodao drop scriptural references, Fang Xiu knew he himself understood not a whit of these Daoist classics and would certainly lose an argument to Mo Laodao, but still couldn't help pulling out his own hearsay to retort.

"I thought you were going to say 'Quanxing preserves truth, not burdening the form with things'; looking like this, you resemble a Quanxing practitioner."

Mo Laotou heard his words and rarely shifted his gaze from the buns to Fang Xiu's face, saying with interest.

"You brat actually know Quanxing, not bad, not bad; pity the Quanxing Dao Sect faded into obscurity as early as the Western Han; the world mostly misunderstands it; for you to know the name is also rare.

Hand them over."

Before his voice fell, Mo Laodao snatched two buns from Fang Xiu's hand in one grab; Fang Xiu couldn't be bothered to argue with him; being able to eat one bun was not bad either.

After A Ku finished the buns, a long while later, the medicine was also done decocting; Fang Xiu carefully fed the medicine; having eaten the meat buns, A Ku finally didn't say the medicine was bitter; at this moment she perked up, lying on the dry straw heap giggling foolishly.

By now the sky had darkened; Mo Laodao sat by the fire, seeing A Ku happy, he rarely showed concern for Fang Xiu.

"You brat have read books, are handsome, quick-witted, and can put down your dignity; a rare good seedling.

I won't ask what hardship you suffered; anyway, you're all wretched people; but this leg of yours is indeed broken; although I used some herbs to reduce swelling and stop pain, afterwards it will inevitably lack strength; you're destined to be a cripple, what a pity.

Why not become my disciple? My lineage lacks an heir; I'll soon know the Ming Destiny; who knows how much longer I'll live; afterwards you can also look after A Ku."

Fang Xiu lay on the dry straw heap staring at the roof in a daze; hearing his words, he smiled.

"Do you ultimately want to accept a disciple, or find someone to look after A Ku.

Rest assured, when my leg heals, I'll go back to Gusu with you; not daring to say anything else, at least from now on there'll be a roof over our heads and no worries about food and clothing.

I, Wu Chengyu, in this life absolutely will not become anyone's disciple again."

Today is the first day of release, four chapters; because the opening is slow-paced, I'm afraid two chapters would be too little content; afterwards public chapters two per day, after signing at least three per day, if able to sign and publish.

My previous book only took one day off, basically guaranteed no breaks; character is still top-notch.

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(Chapter End)