A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 280 A Gentle Ripple
Old Master An was a shrewd and experienced man. He was wary of Ni Qingfeng's swift and decisive move, which suggested that Ni Qingfeng must have a backup plan.

“Master Ni, this gift is far too precious. I am truly unworthy to accept it.”

This fifty-year-old wild ginseng has extremely strong medicinal properties, enough to keep someone alive in a critical moment. If it were made into pills, it would be an unparalleled treasure for martial artists like them. Although the An family has been rooted in Xiyuan City for many years, they only have two such good items in their inventory, and they are no more than thirty years old.

"Senior, please don't refuse. No matter how good this is, it depends on where it's used. The Tianshan Sect and the An family have some history, so it's most appropriate to present this gift."

After Ni Qingfeng's persuasion, Old Master An stroked his beard and smiled, then instructed his eldest son, An Jishi, to put the ginseng away.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Old Master An said to Ni Qingfeng, "Master Ni must be tired from your long journey. Why don't you rest at the manor for a few days, so that I, An, can do my best to be a good host?"

"Thank you very much, senior."

Ni Qingfeng immediately agreed and came down.

"Jishi, take Master Ni and the others to Xianyun Pavilion to rest."

An Jishi was slightly surprised upon hearing this. Xianyun Pavilion was the place in the manor where distinguished guests were entertained. His father valued Ni Qingfeng so much. He couldn't help but raise Ni Qingfeng's status even higher. He gestured and led Ni Qingfeng and his apprentice outside.

Ni Qingfeng and Gu Ming bowed to Old Master An again before following An Jishi out of the main hall.

"Grandfather, do you value this Master Ni so much?"

As Sun Anzhu watched Ni Qingfeng leave, he couldn't help but ask.

Although Master Ni was renowned in the martial arts world, the An family was also a powerful clan. The attitude of his grandfather and father just now was indeed a bit too humble, which puzzled him.

Old Master An remained silent, but his eldest grandson, An Zhong, explained, “Second brother, this Master Ni’s martial arts prowess is secondary. His sudden visit to the An family must have a purpose. Before we figure out his purpose, we must be careful. The martial arts world is currently in turmoil, and if we are not careful, we will be dragged into it. Our ancestral foundation cannot be damaged. So what if we have to lower our stance? Besides, he is very courteous and has given our An family a lot of face.”

Upon hearing his eldest grandson's words, Old Master An nodded repeatedly. "Chong'er is right. Our An family has influence in Xiyuan City, but our reputation in the martial arts world is far inferior to that of the Tianshan Sect. This time, Master Ni came in person, bringing gifts from Sect Leader Xue. You should all know a little about the reasons behind this."

The grandson An Jing, who had been silent, spoke up at this moment: "Grandfather, Zhongxin Hall is stirring up trouble in Jiangnan, forcing Qiushui Manor to shrink back everywhere. It will be devoured in three months at most. Once Zhongxin Hall takes over Jiangnan, the next step will be to deal with Tianshan Sect. Could Master Ni's visit be related to this?"

Upon hearing An Jing's words, both An Zhong and An Zhu were startled and looked up at their grandfather at the head of the table. The latter remained expressionless, indicating that he had anticipated this.

“Jing’er has made great progress, and this is very likely, but not entirely true. Resisting Zhongxin Hall is one aspect, and another is to take advantage of the situation to expand the influence of Tianshan Sect. Have you seen that young man next to Master Ni?”

An Zhong recalled Gu Ming's face, pondered for a while, then shook his head. He also had no recollection of the other two. An Zhong looked at his grandfather and asked, "Grandfather, who is that?"

"The owner of Sihai Inn is surnamed Gu, and Gu Ming is his only beloved son."

"Isn't Manager Gu's son frail and bedridden year-round? How could this be!"

An Zhong was shocked to hear this. He had been in charge of the An family business for many years and naturally knew about the Sihai Inn. The two parties had a lot of business dealings. Gu Zhen had searched for famous doctors and collected all kinds of rare and precious herbs for his son, but who would have thought that the bedridden Gu Ming had become the disciple of Master Ni?

"Don't leak this matter out of the public. Gu Ming has become Master Ni's disciple, and the Sihai Inn has probably become an annex of the Tianshan Sect. The Sihai Inn and our An family are both nodes connecting the Central Plains and the Western Regions. Master Ni's visit this time is probably to discuss cooperation between the two sides."

After giving a solemn instruction, Old Master An dismissed them.

On the other side, An Jishi led Ni Qingfeng and his apprentice to an exquisite two-story pavilion. The pavilion had green bricks and tiles, carved beams and painted rafters, and a stream of water in front of the door. The water flowed gently, and koi fish swam in the pond. A clump of bamboo was planted next to it, its verdant greenness creating an illusion of clouds and mist.

“A fine residence. The energy here flows smoothly, round and round like pearls and jade. Brother An, this place must be where the earth's energy has condensed in your manor.”

As soon as Ni Qingfeng entered this place, he felt relaxed and happy, which was comparable to the secluded training ground of the Tianshan Sect.

“Brother Ni has a good eye. This Xianyun Pavilion is the central location of the manor. It is not a place for ordinary people to stay unless they are distinguished guests. Brother Ni, please come inside with me.”

When An Jishi heard Ni Qingfeng reveal the key to Xianyun Pavilion in one sentence, he was slightly surprised. However, considering the lineage of the Tianshan Sect, it was not surprising that they were proficient in Feng Shui.

Ni Qingfeng followed An Jishi into the pavilion. The lower level was decorated in a very simple and elegant style, without a trace of wealth. Apart from a few landscape paintings as decoration, the rest of the walls were all white. In the center was a boxwood table with a purple clay teapot and teacups on it, and four rattan chairs on the side.

Such an arrangement made Ni Qingfeng look at the An family with new respect. Outsiders often said that the An family of Xiyuan City was incredibly wealthy and filthy, but what he saw along the way completely changed his previous impression.

“Brother Ni, this second floor is the bedroom, there are three rooms in total. Brother Ni and your disciple can stay here as you please. If you need anything, just tell the servants. The servants will bring you food later. You can eat and then rest. We can talk about anything else tomorrow.”

After bowing to Ni Qingfeng again, An Jishi took his leave.

"Master, does Old Master An's arrangement suggest he has already guessed our purpose?"

Gu Ming placed the package on the table, poured Ni Qingfeng a cup of tea, and handed it to her.

Ni Qingfeng took the teacup, took a sip, put it down, and said calmly, "Old Master An is a smart man. We can't hide this from him, but we can't say it directly either. Let's give him a night to think it over. We'll talk it out tomorrow and see what Old Master An means."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ming said no more, picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp. The two rested for a while, and soon several servants carried in lunch boxes, which soon filled the entire table. The various delicacies left Gu Ming speechless.

After dismissing the servants, Ni Qingfeng looked at his disciple's expression and chuckled, "You're supposed to be the young master of the Four Seas Inn, how can these things shock you like this?"

“Master, the rest is one thing, but bear paws are extremely rare. They are usually priceless and unavailable. Such a small piece would cost at least several hundred taels of silver. Although my father is quite wealthy, he is not so extravagant. I was bedridden before and have never eaten anything like this before. Master, I was reckless.”

Ni Qingfeng glanced at him and said calmly, "Eat quickly and get some rest."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ming immediately picked up his chopsticks, took some dishes, and slowly chewed his white rice.

Just as the master and apprentice were eating, in the other living room, Old Master An was also having a meal with his children and grandchildren. At that moment, a servant walked in and whispered in An Jishi's ear.

Upon hearing this, An Jishi put down his chopsticks and bowl, his expression becoming serious.

"Okay, you can go now. I'll take care of it later."

An Jishi waved for the servants to leave, glanced at the old man but said nothing. As he picked up his bowl and chopsticks to eat, the old man asked between bites, "Is this the Golden Whip Sect?"

Upon hearing this, An Jishi immediately put down his chopsticks and replied, "Yes, Xia Zhengfang, the leader of the Golden Whip Sect, has sealed off all the intersections outside Xiyuan City, and there has been no movement from the government."

"That old fox Xia Zhengfang seems to be restless, daring to target the Zhongxin Hall people without fear of retaliation. However, it seems he has not succeeded, otherwise he would not have blocked the main road in such a grand manner."

“Father, the goods outside Xiyuan City are urgently waiting to be brought into the city. Xia Zhengfang said he would check them one by one, but the volume of goods is so large that it is impossible to check them all in a short time. We can’t wait.”

An Jishi was extremely disgusted by Xia Zhengfang's actions. Their An family and the Golden Whip Sect had been living in peace, so Xia Zhengfang's actions were no different from a slap in the face. What was even more hateful were the officials in the government, who had been so generous with their bribes in ordinary times, but when it came to the crucial moment, they were like cowards, not daring to utter a single word of deception.

“Those officials are all greedy for money. Our An family only gave them some face and asked them to do us a favor in handling some small matters. They really think they are something special.”

Old Master An spoke calmly, looking coldly at An Jishi, and said in a deep voice, "Since Xia Zhengfang did not consult with us beforehand, then let's put on a good show for him and see who is the master of Xiyuan City."

"Father, you mean?"

An Jishi was somewhat unsure whether what his father said was what he thought.

"Isn't this the time to use those assassins? I've heard that the Quicksand Sect has always been loyal to the Golden Whip Sect, so let's start by taking them out. You can handle the rest yourself."

After drinking a bowl of Bizhen soup, Old Master An wiped his mouth, picked up his cane, and turned to leave. "Father?"

"eat first."

An Jishi's eyes sharpened as he glanced at his three sons, his mind racing with ideas on how to deliver a brilliant counterattack to the Golden Whip Sect.

The next day, in the Golden Whip Sect, Sect Leader Xia Zhengfang stared grimly at the twelve unseeing heads on the ground, one of whom was a disciple he had personally raised, who had died so tragically. This enraged him greatly.

“Master, after examining the body, I found that the method of the crime was very clean and efficient, unlike that of ordinary thieves. Moreover, Senior Brother Wen’s martial arts skills are not weak, and ordinary masters would not be able to do anything to him. However, I found a total of sixteen wounds on his body, the most fatal of which was the sword that pierced his chest.”

"Wen Yu possesses exceptional martial arts skills, making him virtually invulnerable to ordinary weapons. Either the weapon must be divine or the opponent's attack was too swift; otherwise, Wen Yu would not have been so easily defeated."

"Right now, besides the An family, no one else in Xiyuan City has such power. It seems we went a bit too far. What's the situation with the seized goods?"

The disciple replied, "Only a small portion has been examined, Master. Should we return it to the An family?"

"No, now that things have come to this, how can I tolerate it? The An family is ignorant and arrogant, daring to oppose my Golden Whip Sect just because they have some strength. If it weren't for the government's sake, I would have wiped out the An family long ago. How could they be allowed to act so arrogantly? Pass on my order to send Ghost Yaksha, Knife Asura, and Poison Thorn Eyebrows to keep an eye on Old Master An."

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, the disciple immediately accepted the order and left. Shortly after the disciple left, another disciple hurried in.

"Master, there's news about Lu Yi and Shangguan Feiyan. They broke through Third Senior Brother's blockade and headed towards Mount Kongtong. This is a message sent by Third Senior Brother."

Xia Zhengfang hurriedly took the document and glanced at it. After pondering for a while, he suddenly felt something was wrong. If his guess was correct, Lu Yi must have gone to the Xuanhu Thatched Cottage to find He Yanrong to cure the poison.

"They're close to breaking through the blockade. Gather your forces immediately and notify Master Huo of the Diancang Sect, Elder Li of the Wanjian Sect, and Steward Zhong of the Qiankun Sect. Hurry."

Xia Zhengfang dared not delay, immediately mounted his horse and chased after them. Before long, a large group of people from the Golden Whip Sect headed northeast.

The news of the Golden Whip Sect's actions quickly reached the An family. An Jishi immediately went to see the old man and arrived at the main hall, where he saw Ni Qingfeng and the old man chatting happily.

Seeing An Jishi's hurried appearance, Ni Qingfeng immediately stood up and said to the old master An, "I have something to attend to, so I will take my leave first."

After saying this, he bowed and quickly left. After Ni Qingfeng left, Old Master An asked, "What happened?"

An Jishi then recounted the information he had received in detail. Old Master An's expression changed several times before he said in a deep voice, "We should not interfere in this matter. While Xia Zhengfang is preoccupied with other matters, we should take back the goods as soon as possible."

"Yes, Dad."

An Jishi felt relieved upon hearing this. As the saying goes, "An elder in the family is a treasure." He had not experienced enough, especially in the current martial arts world, which was full of unpredictable events and undercurrents. His cautious nature had been amplified, making him hesitant and unable to make any decisions. With his father's words, he finally felt relieved.

An Jishi immediately summoned his eldest son, An Zhong, gave him some instructions, and then sent him to carry out the task. After An Zhong left, An Jishi looked at the old master An and tentatively asked, "Just now, Master Ni and Father had a very pleasant conversation. I wonder if the eldest son..."

"This is a good thing. It's the same whether we said it sooner or later. The Tianshan Sect wants to establish a trade route and wants to connect with our An family."

Upon hearing this, An Jishi was first taken aback, then overjoyed. If this matter succeeded, the An family would be in a position to gain influence, and the Golden Whip Sect would have to be wary of them.

"The Tianshan Sect has always had a clean reputation and can be considered a breath of fresh air in the martial arts world today. Cooperating with them would be entirely beneficial to our An family. After thinking it over, I feel that this matter has great potential to save the world. What do you think?"

Although Old Master An is not the head of the family, his word can decide everything, but he still needs to ask his son's opinion.

"Father, this is a good thing, I naturally agree. My second and third brothers are far away, so there's no need to consider them. It's just that my uncles and aunts..."

"Hmph, they're all a bunch of good-for-nothings. Don't worry about them. If they have any objections, let them come to me. You should come up with a plan for this as soon as possible. The sooner it's settled, the sooner you can rest assured."

"Yes, I'll do it right away."

On the Ganliang Road, two fast horses galloped at high speed. Lu Yi noticed the pursuers behind him and became irritable. Seeing that Shangguan Feiyan in his arms was getting weaker and weaker, Lu Yi took out a pill and put it into her mouth.

After the pill entered her body, Shangguan Feiyan's breathing gradually returned to normal. This pill was originally given to her by Lu Yi's father, Lu Aotian, to save her life, and she used it here.

"Even with the Deadly Pill, it can only suppress the poison temporarily. Once the poison takes hold, the damage will be far more severe. Brother Jiang, how far are we from the Hanging Pot Cottage?"

Jiang Che, who was standing next to him, immediately replied, "There are still three days' journey ahead, but I have already sent a message by carrier pigeon. I expect the hall master has already sent someone. If we meet him halfway, it may not take that long."

"That's all we can do, let's go!"

Lu Yi flicked his whip and sped off again. Jiang Che turned back and looked at the figures he could vaguely see behind him. His heart sank. He turned around and quickened his pace.

"Hurry, hurry up! We absolutely cannot let Lu Yi and the others escape, otherwise the Golden Whip Sect will be doomed, and none of us will be able to escape."

Qi Yun spoke in a deep voice to the seven people beside him, and everyone's expression changed upon hearing this. Without waiting for their senior brother to give any further instructions, they immediately whipped their horses and chased after Lu Yi and the other two. Their horses were all fine steeds, and after chasing for a while, the gap between them and Lu Yi and the others was getting smaller and smaller.

Hearing the increasingly clear sound of hooves, Jiang Che nodded to Lu Yi, turned his horse around, and stood in front of the road to buy time for Lu Yi. When Qi Yun saw Jiang Che standing alone at the pass, he snorted coldly and casually flicked his wrist, sending three darts flying towards him. At the same time, the other seven people also rushed out a series of hidden weapons. A sky full of cold stars rushed towards them. Jiang Che's mind sharpened, and he spun his long sword quickly. The hidden weapons were either knocked to the ground or scattered by the sword energy.

But at that moment, Jiang Che suddenly felt a drop beneath him. He saw that his horse was covered in hidden weapons. After a few more mournful cries, it died on the spot.

Qi Yun was too lazy to get entangled with Jiang Che. He simply called out to his junior brothers, sending three of them to block Jiang Che, while he led the remaining four to continue the chase.

However, just as Qi Yun rode his horse past Jiang Che, he heard a whooshing sound. Qi Yun was startled and immediately ducked to dodge the hidden weapon, but one of the people next to him was hit and died.

Ignoring his junior brother's corpse, Qi Yun glanced coldly at Jiang Che, who was fighting fiercely, spurred his horse, and quickly chased after him.

In a secluded pavilion at the An family manor, Old Master An was sitting opposite Ni Qingfeng, drinking tea.

"Senior, your Ninglu Qianshuang is top-grade. I have certainly had a good time eating it."

"This tea is extremely rare. If Master Ni likes it, please take the remaining four ounces back with you if you don't mind," said Old Master An immediately upon hearing that Ni Qingfeng liked the tea.

“How could this be? I am already blessed to have a cup of tea, how could I dare to take away what others love? If you really want to give a gift, you might as well give me a tea tree from the estate.”

“That’s easy. Master Ni, just take whichever tree you fancy.”

Grandpa An was eager to befriend Ni Qingfeng. He wasn't afraid that Ni Qingfeng would ask for something; he was afraid that Ni Qingfeng wouldn't ask for anything. Even if Ni Qingfeng gave him all the tea trees, it wouldn't matter.

"Then I will accept the offer without being impolite and will choose the Snow Ridge Cistanche."

Upon hearing this, Old Master An immediately nodded. Just as he was about to have someone prepare, his mind suddenly stirred. He looked at a lush tree not far away, his expression changed, and after glancing at Ni Qingfeng who was still sipping his tea, he stood up and said loudly in the direction of the tree, "I wonder who has come? An Yue is waiting for you."

As he spoke, An Yue flicked his hand across the teacup on the table, and a stream of water shot out from the cup, heading towards the tree.

The water flowed like an arrow, and leaves fell one after another. Two figures leaped out from the big tree. One was dressed in black, his face covered with strange patterns, and he had a pair of scarlet eyes that looked extremely evil. He held a three-pronged steel fork. The other wore a silver mask that covered half of his face and held a toothed nine-ringed sword in his hand.

(End of this chapter)