Chapter Twenty-Four: Laudorno Returns

  Linghu Chong unleashed his divine might, showcasing his unparalleled martial arts skills, thoroughly humiliating the entire Qingcheng Sect, including its leader, and all of its elite members. The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect were filled with grief and indignation, having been so brutally and publicly humiliated, leaving them wondering how they could still show their faces in the Jianghu world.

  The side hall was in a mess, with broken swords and scars all over the floor. Many Qingcheng disciples were lying on the ground, groaning in pain, and some of them couldn't help but cry out loud. Linghu Chong's cruelty had really frightened the disciples, and when he was still there, not one person dared to cry out loud.

  "Waaahhh... Don't bother me, let me cry for a while!"

  The disciples howled and wailed, their noses and eyes streaming with tears as they cried out loud.

  After crying for a while, one of the disciples finally remembered their sect leader Yu Canghai, who was lying on the ground, and hurried over to help him onto a chair. Holding his head, he continued to wail, saying: "The martial arts of Huashan Sect are so powerful! Just because of their disciple Linghu Chong's cruelty, our Qingcheng Sect has offended him. Won't we be destroyed by Huashan Sect soon?"

  Yu Canghai's face turned pale, and he suddenly coughed out a few strands of fresh blood. He said to Yu Renyan and the other disciples: "The martial arts used by Linghu Chong are not from the Huashan School. I have had some contact with Yue Buqun, and his Purple Cloud Skill and Huashan Swordsmanship are indeed powerful, but they are only comparable to mine. If it were a one-on-one fight, there's no need to fear him."

  "This Linghu Chong has probably already obtained the legendary divine art, breaking free from his own shackles and becoming a supreme master. His teacher, Yue Buqun, is definitely no match for him." Yu Canghai's face showed some terror as he said, "So we must quickly obtain the Lin family's Devil-Suppressing Sword Manual in order to counter him. Ren Yan, Ren Jie, your injuries are relatively light, hurry and prepare yourselves."

  "Yes, Father!"

  "Yes, Master!"

  The two of them said in unison.

  Linghu Chong did not expect that, in order to shock Laodan, taking Qingcheng Sect's sword would directly lead to Yu Canghai's desire for Lin family's Evil-Repelling Sword Spectrum to deepen countless times, making him regard the Evil-Repelling Sword Spectrum as his only hope to resist Linghu Chong, thus accelerating the disaster of the Lin family.

  Lauder was indeed shocked by Linghu Cong's behavior, and on the way back to Mount Hua, he changed his usual calm demeanor and actively sought out Linghu to chat and drink wine, probing into the extraordinary swordsmanship that Linghu Cong had displayed. And Linghu Cong naturally also played along, half-pushing and half-justifying, and in a moment of drunkenness "accidentally" revealed that his extraordinary swordsmanship was passed down by Yue Buqun.

  Lauder received the news and after deliberating for half a day, finally made a difficult decision. He then rushed to Mount Hua Sect like he had been injected with chicken blood, galloping non-stop, even more eager than Linghu Chong.

  Two people rushed along the way, galloping thousands of miles a day. After arriving at the foot of Mount Hua, they were dusty and disheveled, without even changing their clothes, when Yue Buqun, who had already received news, called them to the study for questioning.

  Yue Buqun and his wife, Ning Zhongze, listened quietly to Lao Denuo's report on this trip to the Qingcheng Sect, and couldn't help but furrow their brows.

  "This Yu Canghai is really outrageous, as a renowned martial arts master in the Jianghu, he actually disregarded his identity and sneakily attacked you, a junior, it's simply laughable." Ning Zhong heard that Laodenuo was injured by Yu Canghai's sneak attack and couldn't help but feel some indignation.

  "You're just a young whippersnapper, your martial arts skills are only at the peak of the second-rate masters in the Jianghu world, how can you defeat me, Yu Canghai, without even giving me a chance to fight back?"

  After her anger subsided, Ning Zhong realized the biggest problem was that Yu Canghai, a renowned martial arts master for many years, was someone even she looked up to with trepidation. Yet, Linghu Chong, whose martial arts skills were far inferior to his, had easily defeated him with one move and made him spit blood - this was just too unbelievable.

  "Chong'er has learned the unparalleled swordsmanship of Huashan Sect, it's only natural that he defeated Yu Canghai. Denuo, you seem hesitant, is there something you want to say to me as your master?" Seeing Ning Zhong's puzzled expression, she seemed about to speak up, but was immediately given a glance, indicating that she would explain later in private.

  Ning Zhong had been with Yue Buqun and his wife for many years, so they naturally cooperated tacitly. They didn't ask any more questions and looked together at Laborde No who wanted to speak but hesitated.

  Lauden's face turned red and white, as if he had suddenly made up his mind. He knelt down with a thud, kowtowing to Yue Buqun and his wife. As he kowtowed, he said: "Disciple deserves to die ten thousand times for deceiving Master and Mistress, please forgive me!"

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Before long, his forehead was battered and bleeding profusely.

  "Deino, get up quickly, no matter what you did wrong, get up and talk about it later, your master won't blame you easily!" Ning Zhong then had a soft heart, couldn't bear to see others suffer, and hurriedly helped Labor Deino up.

  "Yes, Second Brother, whatever it is, just tell Master and he'll be fine with it. As long as it's not something that betrays our ancestors or Master's honor, with his noble and generous personality, he definitely won't blame you." Linghu Chong chimed in from the side.

  "De Nuo, speak up if you have something to say, I'll take responsibility for you!" Yue Buqun also spoke up.

  "Master, I must confess that my true name is not Laodenuo. My original name is Zhang Youde, and I am the son of Zhang Wuliang, the leader of the Qing Song Sect in Mount Song. However, my father unintentionally offended Fei Bin, one of the thirteen protectors of the Mount Song Sect, who led a group of disciples to annihilate our entire family. Only I managed to escape by chance while playing near the forest."

  Lauder cried: "Later, when Fei Bin returned to Mount Song, he met me and saw that I was not bad, so he took me back to Mount Song. Three years ago, I was accepted as the third registered disciple by Zuo Lengchan, the leader of the Mount Song Sect, and was sent to infiltrate the Huashan Sect to monitor the movements of my master and the sect."

  "Disciple has a deep blood feud with the Songshan Sect, how could he be willing to do things for Left Cold Zhen? In the past three years, Disciple has not done anything that would harm Huashan. It's just that Disciple's abilities are insufficient, so he had no choice but to endure until now. Now seeing Master Brother display his mighty divine power and defeat Yu Canghai, the leader of Qingcheng Sect, Disciple finally knows that Huashan Sect has an extraordinary divine skill. I hope Master will teach Disciple the true martial arts of Huashan, allowing Disciple to avenge himself against his enemies. Disciple is willing to take an oath to forever be loyal to Huashan Sect, and even if it means going through boiling water or walking into fire, he would not hesitate, even in death. If he were to betray this vow, he would certainly suffer the wrath of heaven and be struck by five thunderbolts, never to be reincarnated!"

  "Big brother, this..." Ning Zhong's heart softened, and she was very satisfied with Laborde, so she couldn't help but want to plead for him. However, as the leader of the sect, she had to maintain her dignity and follow the rules, so she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. But the pleading expression on her face only grew thicker.

  "Master, although Second Master Brother concealed his identity, he also had an unavoidable bitter circumstance. Moreover, over the past three years, Second Master Brother has handled the trivial matters within the sect with great merit and achievement, without doing anything detrimental to us. I think we shouldn't deal with him according to the sect's rules."

  Linghu Cong made a very cooperative plea, at the critical moment, he not only pointed out Laodenuo's difficulties and merits, but also gave enough face to Old Yue, allowing him to step down and make a lenient decision. If not, if every undercover agent did this, would Huashan Sect still have any rules or future prospects?

  "Moreover, the Songshan Sect is not a good bird either, slaughtering innocent people and exterminating entire families. They have already become an evil demon and heretic. We should help Second Master seek justice."

  Lauder gazed gratefully at Linghu Chong, his heart firmly remembering this sentiment, and if there was a chance in the future, he would definitely repay it many times over.

  Yue Buqun's face sank, and he let out a light sigh before speaking: "De Nuo, your origins were actually already clear to me. I had someone investigate you the moment you joined Huashan a month ago. However, you bear a deep blood feud, and if it were to be revealed carelessly, you would undoubtedly die. But I took pity on your circumstances and thought you were a talented individual, so I didn't expose you."

  "As a master, I have repeatedly cultivated and valued you, and entrusted the entire Huashan School's internal affairs to your management. This is to let kinship and fraternal bonds infect you, so that you won't be blinded by hatred to the point of losing your wisdom."

  Hearing Yue Buqun's explanation, Laodan felt a surge of gratitude in his heart, but at this moment he suppressed it tightly and didn't show it on his face.

  "Since you've already spoken frankly as a junior, I, as the leader of the Huashan Sect, must also follow the sect's rules. A country has its laws, and a sect has its rules. I hope you can understand." Yue Buqun sighed and said.

  Hearing Yue Buqun's words, Laodanuo's face turned deathly pale and he spoke in a gloomy tone: "Disciple understands, disciple has betrayed the sect, and should die to atone for his sin!"

  He then wanted to draw his sword and kill himself.

  Yue Buqun stretched out his hand and a formless sword energy shot out from his fingers, knocking the long sword in Laodenuo's hand flying. He said displeased: "The master has not finished speaking, what's your hurry?"

  "Master, I..."

  "Since you are a direct disciple of my wife's uncle, you are naturally also a member of the Huashan School. As your master, I must take responsibility for you. Your deep-seated grudge is also our Huashan School's deep-seated grudge against the Songshan School. Sooner or later, I will have to settle this with them. Although your foundation is solid, the swordsmanship you've learned is inferior, so your combat power can only barely reach that of a second-rate martial artist."

  "Turn around, Leng Feng," said Yue Buqun to Lin Feng. "I'm going to teach you the ultimate sword technique of Duan Yu, the 'Solitary Nine Swords' and the 'Breaking Sword Style'. Once you master it, your combat power will surpass that of the first-rate masters and you'll be able to defeat Fei Bin of the Songshan School with ease."

  "Thank you, Master! Thank you, Big Brother!" Laodeno's eyes were filled with tears as he choked out the words.

  "But you sneaked into my Huashan School, although you didn't do anything detrimental to our school, you still can't be exempt from punishment. You will be punished to face the wall at the Reflection Cliff for a month. Chong'er, you caused a big disturbance at the Clear Wind Pavilion, injuring many of your fellow disciples from the Qingcheng School, greatly damaging the reputation of our Huashan School. You too will go to the Reflection Cliff to reflect on your actions for a month, starting immediately, don't delay!"

  "Yes, Master!" Linghu Cong said.

  "Yes, Master!"

  Lauder knelt down in front of Yue Buqun and kowtowed three times, then turned around and bowed to Linghu Chong three times. His heart was filled with infinite gratitude and excitement, and he vowed in his heart that he would be the first to die for the Hua Shan Sect.

  From then on, Lao Denuo thoroughly returned to the Huashan School.