The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 200 Escape from Marriage
In a narrow sense, the Qinling Mountains are the mountainous region in southern Shaanxi Province, between the Wei River and the Han River.

Broadly speaking, starting from Kunlun in the west, passing through Longnan and southern Shaanxi in the middle, and extending to Dabie Mountains and Anhui in the east, it is no exaggeration to call it a dragon vein of China.

This area is also the dividing line between North and South China. Even in later generations, the Qinling-Huaihe line was used as the dividing line for whether heating was provided in the North and South.

The Shaanxi rebels had many secret bases within the Jin territory. They could not put all their eggs in one basket. There were five bases in the Qinling Mountains alone. The base that Wu Chengyu followed Yan Chunyu to was considered the main base of the Shaanxi rebels.

The main base is located in the northern branch of the Qinling Mountains, in a deep forest north of Dasanguan Pass. Marin's first goal in infiltrating the Shaanxi rebels was to find the location of this base. Yan Chunyu would not have brought him here easily unless he had absolute trust in him.

Many Jin spies searched all of Shaanxi, but could not find this place.

Five years ago, the Shaanxi rebels suffered heavy losses, and Yan Chunyu's father died in battle. Yan Chunyu was appointed as the new leader in a time of crisis and led the remaining rebels to this place.

This is a hidden military cave from the Qin and Han dynasties that her father discovered years ago. After years of development, it is not only extremely secluded, but also has a large interior space with water sources and farmland.

It is truly easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as a few archers guard the key points, it is an impregnable fortress.

Even if the Jin Kingdom discovers them later, those elite Jin cavalry will have no use in the mountains and forests. Even if the enemy outnumbers us, the people stationed here can retreat into the Qinling Mountains at any time.

But Wu Chengyu never had a good view of this place. The current development model of the rebel army is more like that of a mountain king. Whether it is a rebellion or an uprising, hiding in the mountains and being a mountain king may reduce the danger, but it will not have much development potential.

So one night, Wu Chengyu used the Crane Shadow Flowing Light technique to escape under the cover of darkness. He had no choice but to run away; if he stayed any longer, marriage would be inevitable. But that wasn't important. The most important thing was that he might be "donned the yellow robe" one day.

He had been at this base for almost three months, and the situation was becoming increasingly urgent. This was no longer about flirting with girls; it was about risking his entire life and fortune on the rebel army.

Having finally escaped the confines of his family, with boundless freedom and boundless horizons, Wu Chengyu had no intention of falling into an even bigger and more complex vortex.

Yan Chunyu's initial purpose in acknowledging Wu Chengyu as her benevolent elder brother was to use Wu Chengyu as a banner to recruit righteous people, expand her power, and gradually unify all the righteous armies within the Jin Kingdom. Even if she sincerely offered herself to him, the utilitarian nature of her purpose was self-evident.

Lu Zhiyi and the others initially disagreed with her choice, but since this righteous elder brother was Wu Chengyu, and they were willing to serve Wu Chengyu as their master, they were naturally happy to see it happen, and even more optimistic about the development of the righteous army because of it.

Brother Lu and the others had no ill intentions. In their eyes, Wu Chengyu was the best candidate to lead the righteous army against the treacherous officials of the Jin and Song dynasties.

Later, under Sister Niu's encouragement, they kept urging Yan Chunyu to marry Wu Chengyu as soon as possible, almost to the point of rolling Yan Chunyu into a quilt and sending her directly to Wu Chengyu's bed.

Unfortunately, good intentions often conflict with the subjective wishes of the person involved.

Although Wu Chengyu was somewhat moved after meeting Yan Chunyu, he couldn't even tell whether he genuinely liked her or was simply acting on impulse due to eating too much snake gall. He was both longing for her and hesitant.

However, Lu Zhiyi and his group's actions gradually made Wu Chengyu feel uneasy, as if once he accepted their arrangements, he would have to stay here and devote all his youth and energy to the path of resisting the Jin Dynasty's uprising and rebellion.

But Wu Chengyu was only 16 years old. He wanted to see the real world of martial arts, so how could he be willing to stay?

This rebellious mentality gradually eroded Wu Chengyu's patience. So, after contributing to the rebel army for three months, he ultimately had no choice but to flee. Staying would only bring him a beautiful woman, but he would lose his freedom and his yearning for a life of wandering the martial world. With his light-footed skills, he could escape the Qinling Mountains before dawn by running with his tail between his legs.

"Oh no, Chief! Brother Renyi has run away! He left only a letter. Is he trying to elope?"

The maid who usually took care of Wu Chengyu's daily life discovered Wu Chengyu's disappearance and the letter left in the room early in the morning, and hurriedly ran to find Yan Chunyu.

"What? This brat is about to get married, how could he do such a thing? Sister, don't panic, I'll take some men and bring him back right away. Even if I have to force him, I'll make him bow to heaven and earth and enter the bridal chamber with you."

"When the time comes, I'll pin him down on the bed, and you can force yourself on him. I don't believe he'll dare to run away then."

Niu Wanrou was furious. Even if it was her most trusted brother, since he dared to run away from the wedding, she naturally stood on her sister's side. Every woman hates men who are unfaithful and fickle, so she had to bring him back first.

Yan Chunyu sat silently. Compared to Niu Wanrou's furious outburst, she appeared quite calm, though a hint of melancholy lingered on her face. She stroked the curved knife in her hand, remained silent for a long time, and finally decided to stop Niu Wanrou.

"Big sister, no need. Actually, I knew long ago that he couldn't stay here. He never thought about leading the rebel army, nor did he ever think about staying here for me."

These days, whenever the topic of marriage comes up, he avoids the subject. I can tell that it's not that he doesn't want to get married, but rather that he doesn't want to be forced by us to do things he doesn't want to do.

"It was my fault to begin with. I tried to force him to stay here, but how could a hero like him, the greatest in the world, abandon his principles for personal feelings?"

Yan Chunyu turned to look at the window of her bedroom and let out a long sigh.

"Actually, I knew he was leaving last night."

He came to my window last night, and I knew it was him just by looking at his shadow.

He didn't speak, and neither did I. We just looked at each other through the window, and at that moment we both understood each other's feelings.

I knew then that I couldn't keep him, but I didn't want to force him.

Finally, he suddenly snatched my scimitar from afar, left a message on it, and then turned and left.

Sister Niu turned to look at the curved knife and saw seven characters engraved on one of the blades: "Listening to the spring rain all night in the small building".

Yan Chunyu gently stroked Wu Chengyu's handwriting with her fingers and said, "What a fine poem. With this line, you can know his heart. He will come back one day. Although we are not married yet, I, Yan Chunyu, will be his wife from now on."

"Silly girl, what will you do in the future?"

"Elder sister, please pass on the order that from now on, my title as the leader of the Shaanxi rebels will be 'Red Lady'."

(End of this chapter)