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

Chapter 419 Visit
The great war on the Mongolian steppe has ended, and a new generation of heroes, Genghis Khan, will be born. However, these conflicts, killings, and power struggles have nothing to do with the lowest-level herders.

If their tribe lost, the herders would be considered part of the victors. As fellow Mongols, they would not do anything to the hardworking herders who were tending horses and sheep.

Li Ping was the same; her good son Guo Jing was involved in such a major event, fighting bravely on the battlefield amidst constant danger, and she was only aware of it afterward.

It wasn't until Guo Jing returned from the great battle with Temujin, receiving many rewards and even a golden sword, earning him the title of "Golden Sword Prince Consort," that Li Ping simply put down her weapons and carefully checked whether her son was injured.

Seeing that Guo Jing was alright, Li Ping sent him off to herd sheep, and then went back to doing what she did every day: feeding the chickens, milking the sheep, collecting cow dung, or spinning the sheared wool into felt.

Her felt-spinning skills combined the techniques she learned in weaving in Jiangnan, resulting in superior quality. When she went to the market to exchange for grain, she could always get more. In fact, Guo Jing was raised by her because of this skill.

Since Guo Jing befriended Temujin, the family's living conditions have visibly improved, and they have been given a lot of gold and silver treasures. However, Li Ping still insists on working every day. In her eyes, gold and silver are not for eating and drinking. Only by working hard every day can ordinary people survive in the long run.

However, amidst the hard work, whenever her back ached, Li Ping would rub her lower back while looking south, gazing into the distance. She could see nothing but blue skies, white clouds, and green grass, but Li Ping knew that she was looking towards Jiangnan, towards the Niujia Village that haunted her dreams.

Guo Jing was already 15 years old, and Li Ping was actually not even 40 yet, but she didn't know if she would ever have the chance to return to her hometown in this lifetime.

"Sister, you must be tired from your long journey. Could you please give me a bowl of water?"

Hearing the voice, Li Ping turned around and saw a handsome young man standing behind her. What a dashing young man! Li Ping had lived in Mongolia for many years. Mongolians take pride in being strong and fierce. Under the desert winds and sand, everyone's skin was dark and rough. It was rare to see someone like this.

Such a young man could probably only be found in Jiangnan. Li Ping thought of her hometown again and felt a little dazed for a moment.

The visitor was naturally Wu Chengyu. After breaking away from Wanyan Honglie, he searched for Temujin's tribe. The grasslands were vast, and he searched for two whole days before finally finding news of Li Ping in a nearby market. There was only one Han family in the surrounding hundreds of miles, so it wasn't difficult to find them.

He finally regained his true colors. Among the characters in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Li Ping is undoubtedly the most respected by Wu Chengyu. Without her perseverance and righteousness, there would be no later hero who served the country and the people.

Wu Chengyu felt it was impolite to meet her with Lei Datou's face; he had to treat her with sincerity.

Li Ping snapped out of her daze and replied, "Please come in, guest. I have some milk tea that I just brewed this morning."

She was always simple and honest, and had no suspicion of outsiders, so she immediately invited Wu Chengyu into the tent to rest.

When Li Ping had just given birth to Guo Jing, she was all alone and penniless in the desert. She was rescued by a group of herdsmen, who left her four lambs when they left. Li Ping raised the baby with great difficulty, and it was with these lambs that she survived the hardships in the desert.

Extending her own example to others, Li Ping has always been generous in helping those in need over the years. When Guo Jing later encountered Huang Rong disguised as a little beggar, she gave him a fur coat and gold, and even offered him a little red horse. All of this was thanks to Li Ping's teachings and example.

Wu Chengyu followed Li Ping into the tent with a smile on his face. He watched Li Ping busy herself with various tasks. This mother of the great hero Guo was not yet forty years old, only two years older than Bao Xiruo, but the two were worlds apart.

Even though Bao Xiruo missed her deceased husband in that earthen house, wiping the spearhead every day and shedding tears from time to time, she was still a princess. Her daily life was of the highest quality. When Wu Chengyu saw her, she was very well-maintained and looked like she was in her twenties. Her youth and beauty remained unchanged.

In contrast, Li Ping, also a peasant woman from Niujia Village, suffered the greatest hardships in the world. The harsh winds and frosts of the desert took away her youth.

Li Ping's hair is now gray, and the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes are clearly visible. She looks more than fifty years old and can no longer be considered her peer. Fortunately, she has a kind temperament and is not as delicate as Bao Xiruo.

She may not have forgotten Guo Xiaotian, but she devoted more of her energy to raising Guo Jing and fighting against fate. As the saying goes, Guo Xiaotian was able to marry Li Ping, and the ancestral graves of the Guo family for eighteen generations must have been blessed with good fortune.

"Guest, please have a bowl of milk tea first. It's still warm. If you're hungry, my son will come back later and I'll have him slaughter a sheep for us."

"Thank you very much, sister-in-law. Wu Chengyu is extremely grateful."

"No need for thanks, you...you actually speak Han Chinese language."

It wasn't until this moment that Li Ping realized that Wu Chengyu had been speaking Han Chinese from the moment he opened his mouth, not the Mongolian language she spoke every day. Most importantly, she could vaguely hear a Jiangnan accent in his speech.

Wu Chengyu was born and raised in Suzhou, so it's inevitable that he speaks with a slight accent. But to Li Ping, this is her hometown accent, which is extremely precious.

"Brother Wu, judging from your accent, are you from Jiangnan?"

“Sister-in-law Guo, I was born and raised in Suzhou, which is not far from Hangzhou. Moreover, I have been to Niujia Village.”

"How do you know my husband's surname is Guo, and how do you know about Niujia Village? Who exactly are you?"

"I can't say that the Guo and Yang families are old friends, but we do have some connection. As for the specific reasons, it would be best to wait until your son returns and invite his seven teachers over as well."

"Yes, yes, I'll go and call Jing'er back right away."

Just then, a girl's voice came from outside the tent: "Mother Guo, is Brother Jing here?" As soon as she finished speaking, a typical Mongolian girl lifted the curtain and skipped in. She was dressed a little more ornately than ordinary herdsmen, with a white outer robe and several gold and silver headdresses, but overall she was not too extravagant.

This girl must be Hua Zheng. She's alright looking, with deep-set features and a touch of heroism. However, she grew up in Mongolia, so her skin is dark red and she has some freckles on her face. Fortunately, she's young and invincible. Hua Zheng isn't considered too beautiful now, but she still has some appeal.

She was puzzled to see a strange man in the tent, but she also thought he was very handsome. However, she only glanced at him a few more times before looking away and turning to look at her mother, Guo. In her eyes, Wu Chengyu was not as good as her Jing-ge.

Whenever Wu Chengyu revealed his true face, every woman he met would fall in love with him. Only Hua Zheng didn't care. Her heart was already tied to Guo Jing. No one else's stunning beauty could compare to Guo Jing's thick eyebrows and big eyes.

"Mother Guo, have we had guests?"

"Yes, yes, that's perfect. Hua Zheng, go find Jing'er for me, and have him invite his masters over. We have guests at home."

"Okay," Hua Zheng replied cheerfully, turning and leaving after hearing Li Ping's instructions.

"Please sit down, Sister-in-law Guo. I had met the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan once before, and today I am glad to see an old friend."

Not long after, Guo Jing returned. Unlike when they met on the battlefield last time, he was dressed as a herdsman this time. He looked less heroic and more honest. When he entered the tent and saw Wu Chengyu, he was puzzled, but he didn't ask any questions. He maintained his honest smile, but was very polite.

After a while, a cacophony of voices came from outside the tent. The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan had finally arrived. The first to lift the tent flap was the Masterful Scholar Zhu Cong, whose eyes were immediately fixed on Wu Chengyu as soon as he entered.

Zhu Cong, with his rich experience in the martial arts world and sharp eyes, immediately realized that the pretty boy in front of him was no ordinary person. His handsome appearance was not the problem, but his demeanor was definitely extraordinary. He was carrying some kind of weapon on his back, which meant he was definitely a martial arts expert.

However, the Guo family has been in this desert for many years and has no contact with Jiangnan. Why would a Jianghu person suddenly appear to visit them? This is so unusual that there must be something fishy going on.

Immediately afterwards, the other six entered the tent. Guo Jing brought them stools, first inviting his masters to sit down, and then served them milk tea. During this process, Wu Chengyu maintained a smile, while the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan looked them up and down, none of them speaking first.

Li Ping couldn't help but say, "Seven masters, this young man said he comes from Jiangnan, knows my husband's surname is Guo, knows Niujia Village, and says he is an old friend of yours. So, I asked Jing'er to invite you over."

Zhu Cong nodded. Ke Zhen'e was blind, so when they encountered strangers, Zhu Cong would always be the first to speak and ask questions.

"May I ask, brother, you say you are an old friend of ours? We have been in the desert for ten years and have not returned to Jiangnan. Judging from your age, you are at most twenty years old. Ten years ago, you were probably not even an adult yet. I really can't think of where we have met you."

Wu Chengyu's eyes were fixed on Guo Jing. Perhaps it was a preconceived notion from his past life, but the more he looked at this honest and simple boy, the more he liked him. Back then, when he saw Yang Kang, he really couldn't like him because of his cunning. It's hard to overcome a filter, and Wu Chengyu was no exception.

Upon hearing Zhu Cong's words, he turned to look at the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, cupped his hands and said, "Wu Chengyu greets the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan. You all are truly forgetful. Back then, when we besieged the Black Wind Duo at Xiaoling Mountain in Wuxi, I once again thanked you for your help."

"Thanks to Zhu Erxia, I, Wu, have been known as the ruthless and unpredictable one in the Jiangnan martial arts world for many years."

After many years, upon suddenly hearing about Wuxi Xiaolingshan and the Black Wind Duo, the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan felt as if they had lived through a different era. That time was considered the most resounding achievement of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, but there was no one in this desert to boast about it, and it had long been forgotten.

For a moment, they couldn't connect what happened back then with the boy in front of them, until the words "ruthless and unpredictable" awakened their memories.

This memory is undeniably vivid: a minor boy, in front of everyone, forcefully pulled a martial arts master out of his body, head and spine intact, shocking the entire audience.

Han Baoju, the Horse King, was the most impulsive. His short, stout figure sprang up from the ground and pointed at Wu Chengyu: "You, you were that young man surnamed Wu back then, a fellow disciple of the Black Wind Duo. You and Qu Lingfeng and Lu Chengfeng invited many people to clean up the sect."

We were just about to avenge Brother Ke Bixie and were heading to Xiaoling Mountain to help him, but unexpectedly, ten years later, you've appeared in the desert.

Looking at Wu Chengyu now, the group could vaguely see the figure of the young man who had dominated Xiaoling Mountain back then. They knew that Wu Chengyu was young but his martial arts were far superior to theirs. They wondered what level Wu Chengyu's martial arts had reached more than ten years later.

What they didn't know was that when they first met Wu Chengyu, he had just started practicing the Ox and Horse Stance and his body hadn't suddenly become so huge. After Wu Chengyu underwent a complete transformation and returned to his normal size, it was difficult for people who were truly familiar with him to recognize him. On the contrary, it was those who had met him once at Xiaoling Mountain who could find his shadow from back then.

The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan were quite puzzled by Wu Chengyu's visit. The two sides had no real relationship, so the problem must lie with the Guo family.

"I wonder what brings Young Hero Wu to the Mongolian desert and to the Guo family?"

Wu Chengyu turned to Li Ping and said, "Sister-in-law Guo, do you remember Qu San who ran the tavern in Niujia Village back then? Come to think of it, I used to call him my senior brother."

Li Ping certainly knew who Qu San was. In her eyes, Qu San was her fellow villager who had a very good relationship with Guo Xiaotian back then.

Wu Chengyu then said to the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, "You have all met this Qu San before. He is my senior brother Qu Lingfeng, who uses crutches, from Xiaoling Mountain."

　I just moved, and some relatives are coming to celebrate today, which is also called "warming the house." We're going out to eat later. Chapter Two might be a little late today; the exact time is yet to be determined. But I don't usually drink, so it definitely won't cause any problems.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)