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

Chapter 366 may hold a revolutionary truth.
The word "conspiracy" immediately popped into Wu Chengyu's mind. He felt that he had discovered a deeply buried conspiracy that had never been known to anyone.

Meng Gu had been married into Lingjiu Palace for many years, so why did she suddenly return to Western Xia? What does this signify?
It's unlikely that she and Xuzhu divorced and went their separate ways. The most probable scenario is that Xuzhu is dead and Menggu has become a widow and returned to her parents' home.

But how could Xu Zhu die? He cultivated the orthodox Xiaoyao Sect's divine skill, a true Taoist divine skill, which would surely prolong his life.

Back then, Wu Yazi was ambushed by Ding Chunqiu and knocked off a cliff, breaking his spine and becoming completely paralyzed. However, he managed to survive for many years thanks to the Beiming Divine Skill, living to nearly a hundred years old.

Wu Yazi died after transferring all his power to Xu Zhu. The real reason for his death was that he didn't want to live anymore; otherwise, he probably could have lived for many more years.

This is the highest level of Taoist divine skill. Its power may not necessarily be great, but it can make one live. There were Wu Yazi, Li Qiushui, and Wu Xingyun, who were all nearly a hundred years old when they died, and all of them died unnatural deaths. No one knows how many more years they could have lived if they had died naturally.

Now, Wu Chengyu is personally encountering the old monster Meng Gu and Wu Chengyu's Quanxing patriarch, the old Taoist Zhen Xiang, both of whom are over a hundred years old. The old monster practices the Beiming Divine Skill, while Zhen Xiang practices an adapted version of the Quanxing Nameless Divine Skill, both of which are the most top-tier divine skills of Taoism.

Similarly, Wu Chengyu's normal lifespan is at least over a hundred years. Assuming that the historical trajectory does not change significantly, he might even live long enough to give Zhu Chongba, who started out with only a bowl and was begging everywhere, a dog's leg.

So if Xu Zhu really died, it certainly wasn't a natural death. The question is, with his martial arts skills, who could kill him? A direct confrontation would be impossible. Xu Zhu's martial arts skills were already among the best in the world at that time, and only Duan Yu could compare to him.

People of their caliber, even if surrounded by a large army, could escape if they wanted to. Wu Chengyu couldn't imagine anyone being able to kill them all in one fell swoop.

Therefore, the only way to kill Xu Zhu is through conspiracy and assassination.

Speaking of temperament, Xu Zhu was truly kind-hearted, even somewhat pedantic and dull-witted, and definitely not very clever.

Given his mindset, if someone he absolutely trusts were to plot against him with some ulterior motive, the chances of success would be quite high.

After Xiao Feng's death, Xu Zhu probably only had two people he truly trusted: Duan Yu and Duan Yu. But Duan Yu really had no reason to kill Xu Zhu.

As for the other one, the one who can put Xu Zhu at ease and leave him completely unguarded, it seems self-evident.

Then, considering that the Tianshan Lingjiu Palace, which later became famous after the Battle of Shaoshi Mountain, completely disappeared without a trace, everyone in Wu Chengyu's era only knew about the Five Greats, but almost no one knew about the Xiaoyao Sect and Lingjiu Palace anymore. Their former fame had long been buried in the long river of time.

Later generations who enjoy reading Jin Yong's novels have speculated on the reasons for the demise of Lingjiu Palace, with many different theories, but there are only a few in total.

Some say that Meng Gu died, and Xu Zhu was heartbroken. He disbanded Lingjiu Palace and hid in his beginner village, Shaolin Temple, changing his name and becoming the so-called "Drunken Monk".

Later, he encountered Wang Chongyang, who had just obtained the Nine Yin Manual. After a duel, Wang Chongyang lost. He looked at the Nine Yin Manual but was unimpressed. He then created the Nine Yang Divine Skill and wrote it in the four volumes of the Galanga Sutra.

The character of the Drunken Monk only appeared in Jin Yong's revised edition. His appearance was abrupt and unclear, and no one knew his true identity or the origin of his martial arts. It was as if a peerless master suddenly appeared and then mysteriously disappeared.

His appearance was simply to provide an origin for the Nine Yang Divine Skill, since no one believed that the Nine Yang Divine Skill was created by Bodhidharma.

The reason people associate the Drunken Monk with Xu Zhu is that the Drunken Monk was a monk, and if Xu Zhu really lived in seclusion, he probably would only want to be a monk, since his father was a monk and he had regarded being a monk as his destiny since childhood, which can be considered as following in his father's footsteps.

At the same time, it seems that only Xu Zhu, who has lived for many years, could suppress Wang Chongyang, the Central Divine, in martial arts and create the Nine Yang Divine Skill. Apart from Xu Zhu, those who limit their imagination to the world of Jin Yong's martial arts novels cannot think of any other monk who could have such martial arts attainments.

However, some people have countered that Xu Zhu was not interested in martial arts when he was young and focused on studying Buddhism. It was his later experiences that made him such a super master. Given his personality, even if he had great martial arts skills, he would not be aggressive or violent.

How could Xu Zhu have developed a competitive and resentful attitude, and specifically went to challenge Wang Chongyang to a duel? Let alone if it really was Xu Zhu, who was already over a hundred years old at that time, even the young Xu Zhu would not have done such a thing, let alone been interested in the Nine Yin Manual.

Based on Wu Chengyu's experience of transmigrating, this world is far more than what can be summarized in a single book like The Legend of the Condor Heroes. There are not only the Five Greats among the masters in the world. Just like the previous Guhua, such a vast world will always be full of hidden talents.

Therefore, Wu Chengyu only treated this speculation about the demise of Lingjiu Palace as a story; he would not refute it, but could only say that there was a slight possibility of it.

Another theory is that after Xu Zhu's death, his descendants could no longer suppress the hatred accumulated by the thirty-six islands and seventy-two caves, and the hatred accumulated by these island and cave masters in the past erupted and they stormed into Lingjiu Palace.

Caught off guard, and lacking the martial arts skills of Xu Zhu, the descendants of Lingjiu Palace perished along with the island lords and cave masters, leading to the destruction of Lingjiu Palace.

Based on this conjecture, fan fiction depicts a time traveler who arrives at the ruins of Lingjiu Palace, discovers the remains of those who perished together, and by chance opens a secret cave, obtaining the martial arts legacy of the Heavenly Mountain Child Granny. Wu Chengyu had thought the same way before, and he also looked forward to one day arriving at the ruins of Lingjiu Palace and doing the same thing.

But this infiltration mission in Western Xia shattered all of Wu Chengyu's previous assumptions. He suddenly realized that it seemed everyone had overlooked Meng Gu.

Meng Gu was originally captured by Wu Xingyun from the Western Xia palace, and was merely a tool to make Xu Zhu break his vow of celibacy.

In the original novel, Meng Gu was suddenly captured and locked in an ice cellar. She and Xu Zhu cuddled together for warmth, and then they became infatuated with each other and lost their virginity. Not only did Xu Zhu fall deeply in love with her, but she also secretly fell in love with him.

The novel portrays it as if it were a logical progression, but would a noble princess who grew up in the palace really be so easily forced to compromise?

The environment in the palace is so complex. While there may be exceptional warriors like Princess Yuzhu, there may also be some naive and innocent ones. However, Wu Chengyu believes that most princesses are not without cunning, and all princesses should be proud.

Meng Gu was forced into this situation, so she must have been terrified and insecure. Would she really have been tempted and unable to control herself in the ice cellar?

Is it possible that Xu Zhu was the one who took the initiative at the time, a man who was suddenly overcome by lust, physically strong and unable to control his impulses, while Meng Gu was simply unable to resist and was afraid of being killed, so she had no choice but to submit and passively lost her chastity?

The subsequent explanations suggested that both parties thought they were dreaming, but how could an adult not be able to tell whether they were dreaming or not?

Is it possible that Xu Zhu was just making up an excuse to cover up his sudden lustful impulses, forcing others to come up with it?

In normal circumstances, if a woman is suddenly kidnapped, then hidden in an ice cellar where her face is obscured, and subsequently loses her virginity, would she truly fall completely in love with Xu Zhu, or would she instead harbor deep hatred for him?

Let's analyze Princess Meng Gu again. She is Li Qiushui's granddaughter. Li Qiushui has strong genes. Her daughter Li Qingluo and granddaughter Wang Yuyan share the same face. The title "Fairy Sister" has long been the dream of many young men who like Tianlong.

Having seen many beautiful women, Duan Yu was completely captivated by a jade carving he saw in the Langhuan Jade Cave.

Meng Gu, who is Wang Yuyan's cousin and also has Li Qiushui's bloodline, is actually a stunning beauty. Wu Chengyu had to admit this when he met the old monster. Even though she smelled like an old man, her face was still that of a peerless beauty.

Just as Princess Yuzhu said that Meng Gu was marrying down and that Xu Zhu was just a nobody in the martial arts world, she was also a princess and was full of doubts about her great-aunt's marriage. This is also the mentality that a princess should have.

So, a princess who is as beautiful as an angel and of noble birth, who is inexplicably kidnapped and raped in her teens, would she really fall in love with the person who took her virginity and become completely obedient to him?

Perhaps in ancient society, women who lost their chastity had no choice but to accept it. But don't forget, Meng Gu was a Tangut, and she wasn't brainwashed under the constraints of feudal ethics. The Tangut people didn't seem to value such things that much, and it was common for sons to marry their fathers' concubines.

So, when Xu Zhu followed Duan Yu to propose marriage, the two confirmed that the other was the person they had gone to Wushan with in the ice cellar.

Xu Zhu was definitely calling out to Meng Gu, but how much sincerity did Meng Gu have in calling out to Meng Lang? Was it really Meng Lang, or Meng Lang?

As Li Qiushui's granddaughter, Meng Gu truly knew nothing about her grandmother. How could she not know that her grandmother was a super expert? Perhaps she already knew everything about the Xiaoyao Sect.

So when she decided to marry Xu Zhu and travel to Tian Shan to become the mistress of Lingjiu Palace, how much of it was genuine?
Xu Zhu received Wu Ya Zi's inheritance and was designated by Wu Xing Yun as the successor of the Tian Shan Lingjiu Palace. As long as Xu Zhu is captured, as a princess who can receive Li Qiu Shui's inheritance, she will naturally obtain the entire inheritance of the Xiaoyao Sect.

At the same time, while practicing martial arts, he found an opportunity and devised a way to kill Xu Zhu, thus avenging the hatred he felt for being forced to lose his virginity.

Perhaps all of this is just Wu Chengyu's speculation, or perhaps Meng Gu really is a naive and innocent girl who has truly fallen for a man whose face she cannot see, or perhaps she has truly fallen deeply in love with Xu Zhu after losing her virginity. After all, even the most melodramatic things are possible.

But the cunning Wu Chengyu loves to play with conspiracy theories. When he confirmed that the old monster was Meng Gu, he still attributed the story of Meng Lang and Meng Gu to a conspiracy, a conspiracy that took decades to finally get revenge.

Look at what the old monster did after returning to Western Xia: interfering with the royal succession, coercing the emperor, using children to test the waters, causing the deaths of many people, and finally creating the Wuji Xuanyin Gong. All of this should not be something a naive and innocent person, or a kind and gentle person, could do.

Wu Chengyu was very satisfied with his trip to Western Xia, especially believing that he had discovered the truth, perhaps a revolutionary truth.

(End of this chapter)