Chapter 134: Foster Son Long Er

After sitting cross-legged for half an hour amidst the ruins of Zhonghua Lou, the four of them, their injuries mostly recovered, stood up, gazed at what was once Zhonghua Lou, and then departed.

For the time being, the four of them had no choice but to travel through the Jianghu, seeking opportunities to inquire about news of Wuming.

At this moment, the four saw an injured woman and a small child ahead being hunted by four burly men.

Seeing that the woman was about to be overwhelmed, Duan Fengyun directly fired off several shots of Duanmai Sword Qi, striking and killing the four burly men.

Duan Fengyun never cared who he killed; the four burly men were bullying a lone woman and child, so they deserved to die.

After killing the four burly men, Duan Fengyun and the others hurried forward to help up the woman who had been beaten to the ground and the child who was crying on the ground.

The injured woman paid no heed to her own wounds; she held the crying child and comforted him:

"Long Er, don't cry, Mother is here.

Mother will protect our Long Er well."

Seeing this scene, Nie Feng, Bu Jingyun, and Qin Shuang could not help but be moved; truly, a mother is the most powerful person in the world.

Yet Duan Fengyun was shocked by the boy's name, and he muttered to himself:

"Long Er, Long Er? This little boy is the future Jiansheng Long Er!

The reincarnation of my senior, Dugu Jiansheng. Haha, if I latch onto him, even without a Dragon Origin, I can still beat Di Shitian to a pulp."

Duan Fengyun put away his daydreams and then asked the woman with concern:

"Big sister, how are you? Are you alright?"

The woman shook her head and said:

"I'm fine."

But Qin Shuang, who was channeling True Qi to the woman, sighed and said:

"Big sister, your True Qi is already in chaos; you shouldn't force yourself.

My name is Qin Shuang, and these are my junior brothers Bu Jingyun, Nie Feng, and Duan Fengyun.

You don't need to worry; we have no ill intentions."

Upon hearing Qin Shuang introduce himself, the woman's eyes lit up, as if she were familiar with the four of them.

After learning the identities of the four, the woman finally stopped forcing herself, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.

The boy in her arms saw this, and his tears, which had just stopped, began to fall again.

The woman held the boy's head, made him look at Duan Fengyun, and then said:

"This hero, thank you for the life-saving grace you just showed our mother and son.

I was already poisoned before, and it was for

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the sake of my son that I held on; I won't live much longer.

I hope you, hero, can take Long Er as your foster son. I believe that with your ability and chivalrous spirit, you will surely be able to raise Long Er well."

Duan Fengyun had not expected such a massive windfall to fall upon him.

To be the foster father of Jiansheng Long Er—this was something many people dreamed of and could never obtain; he agreed without a second thought.

Seeing that Duan Fengyun had agreed, the woman had Long Er kowtow three times to Duan Fengyun and call him "Father," and the simple foster-father ceremony was thus completed.

Because the original story did not explain Long Er's background in detail, Duan Fengyun did not know the identity of the woman before him, so he asked:

"Big sister, since I have already taken Long Er as my foster son,

can you tell us why you were being hunted? And who are you?"

Duan Fengyun didn't even need to ask; for the sake of Long Er's safety, the woman would have told them anyway.

The woman began to recount:

My name is Wu Mei, and I am the eldest daughter of the Wu Family, a family of sword arts.

My husband's name is Tenggenier, and he comes from Persia.

My husband loved the sword from a young age, and relying on his unique talent, he rarely met an opponent in Persia.

He heard that there were many sword experts in Zhongyuan, so he traveled thousands of miles to Zhongyuan to seek the sword, hoping to take his swordsmanship to the next level.

When I ran away from home and was blocked and bullied by others, he stepped in to save me.

As time passed, we grew fond of each other and eventually married as husband and wife.

Seeing that my husband was obsessed with the sword, in order to please him, I did not hesitate to bring out my family's heirloom sword manual, the Wu Family Simple Manual, for him to see.

And my husband was indeed a genius rarely seen in Persia in a century; relying on his talent, in just a few days, he grasped the essence of the Wu Family Simple Manual.

Not long after, he combined the Persian sword arts he had studied for years with my family's sword arts to create a set of martial arts—the Liangji Sword Technique.

At the same time, he also found a master swordsmith to forge the divine weapon that complemented the Liangji Sword Technique—the Liangji Sword.

As a swordsman born for the sword, my husband believed that everything he lived for in this world was for the sword.

After his Liangji Sword Technique reached perfection, he searched the world for a peerless expert to verify the power of his Liangji Sword Technique, to prove that his swordsmanship had reached a higher level.

After much inquiry, he discovered that the most profound sword arts in Zhongyuan originated from a mysterious place—the Sect.

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But he eventually discovered that the Sect had long since vanished, though one of the Sect's prized disciples was still in the world.

And this person was the abbot of a monastery at Motuo Ruo in Zhongyuan—Master Puhang.

Upon hearing about a disciple of the Sect, my husband was filled with excitement, and he couldn't wait to go and challenge him.

But I was pregnant at the time; my husband was obsessed with martial arts and did not consider me or the child in my womb, simply leaving behind a letter before taking the Liangji Sword and quietly leaving.

After enduring great hardships to find Master Puhang, he had a duel with him.

Although he ultimately defeated Master Puhang by relying on the unfathomable Liangji Sword Technique,

after the victory, he suddenly felt heart-tearing pain, and his meridians surged.

Although the Liangji Sword Technique is powerful, it fuses the extremes of Eastern and Western sword arts, which repel each other, nearly causing him to go into Qi deviation.

At this moment, Master Puhang, out of compassion and bearing no grudges, immediately rushed up to use his internal energy to soothe his pain.

He calmed his inner state, took him in at the temple, cared for his injuries day and night, and used scriptures to guide him.

Being six months pregnant, after I found out he had been taken in by Motuo Ruo Temple, I traveled thousands of miles to Motuo Ruo to find my husband.

Because my husband's severe injuries had not yet healed, Master Puhang feared that seeing me might cause him to accidentally hurt me, so he set up an array in front of the Mountain Gate to block me.

Because I was six months pregnant and had difficulty moving, I was driven down the mountain.

Later, I gave birth to Long Er alone and raised him through all the hardships by myself.

However, as fate would have it, Long Er and I coincidentally ran into the Wu Family's long-time enemies.

Fearing they could not defeat me, they secretly poisoned me; in order to help Long Er escape, I forced myself to suppress my injuries and fled.

As a result, I was ambushed by those few with ill intentions just now, which is how I encountered you all.

Duan Fengyun and the other three were filled with emotion, never expecting that the woman before them actually had such a love story.

After the woman finished telling her story, she spat out blood; when Duan Fengyun transferred True Qi to her, he discovered that all her Meridians were in complete disarray, and she was beyond saving.

After Wu Mei gave Long Er earnest instructions and entrusted him to Duan Fengyun once more, she closed her eyes.

As a family friend of Wu Mei and the foster father of Long Er, Duan Fengyun helped Long Er give his mother a proper burial before setting off with Long Er.

The four fellow disciples, along with little Long Er, began their wandering journey once again.

(End of this chapter)