The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 302

Yue Buqun said, "He was defeated by Ning'er on the Fengchan Terrace and is already dead."

Upon hearing the news of Zuo Lengchan's death, everyone was overjoyed, but then they were shocked.

Everyone couldn't help but turn their attention to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning actually defeated Zuo Lengchan, which surprised them greatly.

Ning Zhongze and Feng Buping looked pleasantly surprised.

For the Huashan Sect, the stronger Jiang Ning is, the more likely he is to lead the Huashan Sect to its peak.

"Brother Tao."

At this moment, Yue Buqun looked at Tianmen Daoist.

“We know that you have a blood feud with Zuo Lengchan. If you really want to fight the Songshan Sect, our several sects may not be afraid of the Songshan Sect if we unite. Why take such a risk to go to Zuo Lengchan?”

If Jiang Ning hadn't arrived in time, Tianmen Daoist would be dead by now.

"Sect Leader Yue, Master Mo, Abbess Dingxian, it is I who have wronged you."

Tianmen Daoist didn't say much, but directly apologized to the sect leaders.

He originally intended to come alone to find Zuo Lengchan and see if he had indeed crippled his own martial arts.

If Zuo Lengchan has truly crippled himself, then he should kill Zuo Lengchan to avenge the innocent disciples who died unjustly, and then commit suicide by sword.

The Songshan Sect will be furious when they learn of Zuo Lengchan's death. They will definitely seek an explanation from the Huashan Sects, and may even start a war. Therefore, Tianmen Daoist intends to use his own life to give an explanation for this matter.

If he were to die, the Songshan Sect would most likely not go to war with several other sects over a crippled Zuo Lengchan. They might even choose to let it go because his death would provide an explanation. The remaining members of the Taishan Sect could also survive and form an alliance with Huashan, Hengshan, Emei, and Hengshan. He could also avenge his innocent disciples who died unjustly.

If Zuo Lengchan hadn't crippled himself and hadn't been killed by Zuo Lengchan, he could have given Yue Buqun a warning. At that point, Zuo Lengchan would have completely lost his moral compass, and the Huashan sects wouldn't have been criticized for wanting to deal with the Songshan sect, and Shaolin would have had no reason to stop him.

All it takes is his death.

It could be said that he had no intention of returning alive after coming to find Zuo Lengchan alone.

Caught between the restless spirits of his disciples and the unforgettable legacy of his ancestors, the Taoist priest of Tianmen was torn between advancing and retreating, suffering greatly.

Tianmen Daoren knew that Yue Buqun and the others were right to advise him that there was still time, but he was determined to avenge this grudge. Tianmen Daoren couldn't wait that long. Moreover, if he didn't settle things with Zuo Lengchan this time, Zuo would cling to the four sects of Huashan like a maggot and would never give up easily.

It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. After much deliberation, Tianmen Daoist decided that the only way to do so was to die with Zuo Lengchan, so as not to betray his deceased disciple, the Taishan Sect, or his allies.

Chapter 402: Yue Buqun's Heartbreaking Moment

Yue Buqun shook his head, not blaming Tianmen Daoist for this.

They and the Songshan Sect were bound to clash sooner or later; it was only a matter of time, and it wouldn't change because of Tianmen Daoist's choice.

"Amitabha."

Fang Zheng looked ashamed at this moment.

"Sect Leader Yue, this humble monk was unaware that Zuo Lengchan had actually secretly recruited numerous underworld assassins. Blindly defending him is this humble monk's fault."

Yue Buqun smiled, as if he didn't care.

"Zuo Lengchan is good at disguising himself, so it is normal for the abbot to be deceived by him. This matter has nothing to do with the abbot. If it weren't for everyone's help today, I'm afraid the disciples of my sects would have suffered even greater losses."

Yue Buqun knew, of course, that Fang Zheng was trying to speak for Zuo Lengchan, but since Zuo Lengchan was now dead, there was no point in dwelling on it, so he simply let it go.

The group began cleaning up the battlefield.

Among the various factions of Huashan, the Taishan faction suffered the greatest losses in this battle.

Among the various factions, the hatred between the Taishan and Songshan factions was the deepest. The Taishan disciples fought even more recklessly, resulting in the greatest casualties, with more than a hundred people killed or injured, nearly half of the group.

Secondly, there is the Hengshan School.

The feud between the Hengshan and Songshan factions was not as deep as that between the Taishan faction, but it was still considerable. More than fifty people died, which seemed to be less severe than the casualties of the Taishan faction. However, the Hengshan faction had far fewer members than the Taishan faction, so its casualty ratio was second only to the Taishan faction.

Then there was the Emei Sect, which suffered many casualties, but the casualty ratio was not as high as that of the Taishan and Hengshan Sects.

The most outstanding faction in this battle was the Hengshan Sect.

The Hengshan Sect has a small number of members, only a little over two hundred, but their sword formation is quite impressive. They form a sword formation of seven people to fight against the enemy, which is difficult for ordinary Songshan disciples and those martial arts practitioners to withstand.

These seemingly delicate nuns were like meat grinders on the battlefield, striking fear into the hearts of the martial arts practitioners.

However, the Hengshan Sect also suffered one or two dozen casualties.

Finally, there's the Huashan Sect.

Although the Huashan disciples did not perform as impressively as the Hengshan disciples, and their numbers were the smallest, only a few dozen, their performance was still remarkable.

Starting two years ago, Yue Buqun began to teach Lu Dayou and his group the Hunyuan Gong, a martial art second only to the Zixia Divine Art. He also taught them all the Huashan sword techniques, as well as the sword techniques of the other Five Mountains Sword Sects. Lu Dayou and his group grew very quickly, and their strength far surpassed that of the second-generation disciples of the other Five Mountains Sword Sects.

The Huashan Sect had the fewest members, but the most experts. Apart from Jiang Ning, who fought against Zuo Lengchan, Ning Zhongze and Feng Buping were both top-notch experts, not to mention Yue Buqun, whose martial arts were the best in the entire event.

Among the second-generation disciples of Mount Hua, Linghu Chong is now a top-tier first-class disciple, and there are twelve other disciples with second-class strength, including Lu Dayou. The other Mount Hua disciples are also quite skilled in martial arts, and the Mount Hua sect also has a unique technique.

In the battle just now, although the group of unorthodox people recruited by Zuo Lengchan often resorted to underhanded tricks, the disciples of Huashan were not to be outdone. The long-absent method of sprinkling lime came back into play, and with their martial arts skills, the Huashan Sect suffered the fewest casualties, with only a few people killed or injured.

Overall, although the Huashan factions suffered heavy casualties, it was still a great victory.

On the other hand, the group of unorthodox practitioners from the Songshan Sect had already suffered many casualties, and when they saw that things were not going well, they simply ran away. Meanwhile, almost all of the Songshan disciples were killed by the enraged Taishan disciples.

None of the bodyguards, including Lu Bai and Ding Mian, survived.

It can be said that after this battle, the Songshan Sect was effectively defunct and no longer existed.

Although the Huashan sects won, they did not show much joy; the disciples of each sect wore expressions of sorrow.

If Zuo Lengchan hadn't wanted to annex and attack several sects, they wouldn't have ended up fighting against the Songshan Sect. They might even have become allies in the great war against the Demonic Sect.

Many Taoist priests from the Taishan Sect secretly wiped away tears at this moment.

Many of the Taishan disciples who died had said in their lives that they would uphold the righteous path and fight against the demonic sect for life, even if it meant being shattered to pieces. However, they did not die in the battle against the demonic sect, but in the internal strife.

"Ugh."

Those who witnessed all of this, including Yue Buqun, sighed inwardly.

"This battle has caused too much loss to our righteous path."

Chongxu couldn't help but shake his head.

It should be understood that the current martial arts world is in a state of opposition between the righteous and the demonic paths. The Five Mountains Sword Sect, one of the top forces of the righteous path, is now fighting amongst themselves. The Songshan Sect has been destroyed, and the other sects have suffered heavy casualties, which is a huge blow to the righteous path.

Fang Zheng also felt a little regretful at this point.

Previously, he had wanted to weaken the Five Mountains Sword Sect by causing the Songshan Sect and the Huashan Sect to suffer heavy losses. However, the two sides fought too fiercely. The Songshan Sect was crippled, and the Hengshan and Taishan Sects suffered heavy casualties. If the Demonic Sect were to launch a major attack on the righteous path at this time, these sects would be unreliable.

Fortunately, the situation on the Sun Moon Sect's side is also not optimistic.

After practicing the Sunflower Manual, Dongfang Bubai basically stopped interfering in the affairs of the Sun Moon Sect, leaving Yang Lianting in charge. Yang Lianting had thrown the Sun Moon Sect into disarray. In addition, Ren Woxing's return to the martial arts world would inevitably lead to a struggle with Dongfang Bubai for control of the Sun Moon Sect. The Sun Moon Sect would then be plunged into civil war and would not be able to focus on invading the righteous path for the time being.

Fang Zheng suddenly realized that although many things were happening in unexpected ways, the righteous and demonic paths were now in a strange balance, and he expected that the two paths would live in peace for a while.

It seems pretty good.

Fang Zheng thought to himself after weighing the matter in his mind.

At this time, disciples from various sects such as Shaolin, Wudang, and Kunlun also joined in cleaning up the battlefield.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

The cleaning wasn't finished until a glimmer of light appeared on the horizon.

The open space was now filled with boxes, all of which were filled with gold and silver.

These were all found within the Songshan Sect.

In addition to the gold and silver, there were also a large number of land deeds and house deeds, as well as a large number of banknotes.

At this moment, some disciples were counting the gold and silver.

Yue Buqun was flipping through an account book, while Master Mo Da, Abbess Dingxian, and others also had an account book in their hands.

These are all records of the income and expenditure of the Songshan Sect.

The account books that Mr. Mo and the others looked at were basically fine, but the one in Yue Buqun's hand was a bit different.

This is the account book kept by Tang Ying'e.

"Yu Jizi, three thousand five hundred taels of gold, and three beauties as a gift..."

Yue Buqun read it softly.

This was originally Tang Ying'e's private account book. As the deputy sect leader, Zuo Lengchan entrusted him with many matters of the Songshan Sect, including bribing Yu Jizi and those unorthodox figures. Therefore, Tang Ying'e kept a private account book.

Just like Yu Jizi, who was greedy for money and lustful, Zuo Lengchan gave him 3,500 taels of gold and three beauties, which Tang Ying'e remembered.

"A jade disc, two thousand taels of gold, and a pair of white jade horses..."

"Yu Yinzi, ten thousand taels of silver..."

Yue Buqun looked down, his brows furrowing more and more as he looked.

"Lu Lianrong, 10,000 taels of silver, three mansions, 80 acres of fertile land..."

This private account book is extremely detailed. It records clearly who Zuo Lengchan bribed and how much gold and silver he spent. It even has records of several thousand taels of silver for the already deceased Lao Denuo.

The more Yue Buqun read, the more heartbroken he became. He couldn't bear to look at the rest, so he simply closed the ledger, shut his eyes, and comforted his wounded heart alone.

Chapter 403: Plans

After calming his wounded heart, Yue Buqun continued to flip through the account books and read them carefully. When he got to the later part, his expression turned ugly.

The first half of this private ledger records Zuo Lengchan's bribery of masters from the Five Mountains Sword Sect and unorthodox practitioners, while the second half records numerous bloody incidents.

"The Three Eccentrics of Lingnan massacred Wang Yanqun's entire household in Luoyang, seizing 30,000 taels of silver..."

"........."

Yue Buqun continued reading and saw that all the money was obtained by those unorthodox people recruited by Zuo Lengchan through murder and robbery.

Yue Buqun became increasingly alarmed as he looked at the document, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

Judging from this ledger, Zuo Lengchan did these things not just once or twice, but most recently several months ago.

At the end of the ledger, there was a note written by Tang Ying'e himself.

"Since I joined the Songshan Sect, I have been deeply grateful to my master for teaching me martial arts and instructing me to act in accordance with the law, punish evil and uphold justice, and never do anything that is against morality and reason..."

Yue Buqun continued reading.

This is Tang Ying'e's inner monologue.

The first half describes the teachings Tang Ying'e received from his master after joining the Songshan Sect, while the second half describes his inner struggles after he began working for Zuo Lengchan.

At first, Tang Ying'e still had a sense of justice. After learning that Zuo Lengchan had recruited those unorthodox people to kill and plunder for him, he strongly disagreed with Zuo Lengchan's actions. At first, Zuo Lengchan promised him that he would only kill those who were rich but heartless. However, as time went on, the distinction between those who were killed and those who were rich but heartless became increasingly blurred, and Tang Ying'e gradually became numb.

“I know I am not the same as before, and the Songshan Sect is no longer the same as before. But my senior brother said that all of this is for the future of the Songshan Sect. These things have to be done by someone. If we don’t do them, the Songshan Sect will not be able to become strong, and the Five Mountains Sword Sect will not be able to completely eliminate the Demonic Sect. I don’t know if what my senior brother said is true or false, but I know that we can’t turn back. Perhaps to those who were killed by those unorthodox people under my senior brother’s command, we are the demonic path.”

This is Tang Ying'e's last statement.

Yue Buqun closed it.

By this time, all the boxes filled with gold and silver had finally been inventoried.

"Distinguished sect leaders, the inventory has been completed. The total amount of silver is 280,000 taels and the gold is 19,000 taels."

One tael of gold is equal to ten taels of silver. Nineteen thousand taels of gold is equivalent to nineteen thousand taels of silver. Adding the previous twenty-eight thousand taels of silver, the total is forty-seven thousand taels.

Upon learning this number, everyone gasped in shock.

The number was simply too staggering; they had never seen so much money in their lives.

This is only a part of the Songshan Sect, not including the deeds to houses and land, and that huge pile of silver notes.

The Songshan Sect had many sources of income. They owned a lot of land, which they could rent to commoners to collect taxes from. The territories controlled by the Songshan Sect also provided them with a large income. In addition, Zuo Lengchan secretly sent people to commit many murders and robberies, making the Songshan Sect extremely wealthy.

But as much came in, much went out. Zuo Lengchan had to support more than 800 people from the Songshan Sect, recruit those unorthodox people, support that group, and secretly bribe Yu Jizi and other high-ranking members of the Five Mountains Sword Sect. The amount of gold and silver he spent was not small.

Even so, the total assets of the Songshan Sect exceeded one million taels, which was quite astonishing.

Fang Zhengchongxu, Zhenshanzi, and the others unconsciously increased their breathing upon hearing this number, and looked at Yue Buqun and the others.

"Sect Leader Yue, in your opinion, how should we deal with the Songshan Sect's gold, silver, and real estate?"