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

Chapter 420 Treat them with sincerity
Lu Chengfeng invited the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan to help in the battle at Xiaoling Mountain, which is how they met Qu Lingfeng.

Like Bao Xiruo, Li Ping kept the past of Niujia Village and every tree and blade of grass firmly in her heart, so she naturally remembered Qu San vividly.

Many people know Qu Lingfeng, but not many know Qu San, the owner of the small wine shop in Niujia Village. Being able to name Qu San means that Wu Chengyu's knowledge of Niujia Village is not unfounded.

Qu Lingfeng's identity immediately became the link between Wu Chengyu and the Guo family.

However, Li Ping is not Bao Xiruo. Wu Chengyu respects Li Ping very much and treats her with sincerity from the beginning. He would not make up lies such as saying that he had drunk with Guo and Yang at Qu San's small wine shop and had seen Li Ping before.

Zhu Cong then had another question: "Since the Guo and Yang families had already encountered trouble when Brother Wu went to see Qu Lingfeng, how did Brother Wu know what happened to the Guo and Yang families afterwards?"

"I have a close relationship with the Quanzhen Sect, and I get along very well with Qiu Chuji. So Qiu Chuji once told me about what happened back then, and that the descendants of the Guo family and the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan are in this Mongolian desert."

This is not a lie. Wu Chengyu stayed in Zhongnan Mountain for one or two months at a time, and among the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, he got along the best with Qiu Chuji.

This old Taoist priest was a man of bold and unrestrained character, more like a wandering swordsman than a Taoist practitioner. He was also very talkative and once talked about the conflict between him and the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan because of the Guo and Yang families, as well as the promises made by both sides back then. So Wu Chengyu was still telling the truth.

Qiu Chuji was mentioned again, adding another layer of connection between Wu Chengyu and the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan.

Although the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan have eccentric personalities, they are definitely among the most chivalrous people in Jin Yong's martial arts world. They would feel ashamed that the seven of them had lost to Qiu Chuji together, and they would be very competitive for the promise to fight again in eighteen years, but they would always trust Qiu Chuji's character.

In their view, the only explanation for what happened back then was that Wu Chengyu learned about it from Qiu Chuji, so they trusted Wu Chengyu even more.

At this point, Wu Chengyu stood up and bowed deeply to the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan: "The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, for the sake of a promise, have gone to great lengths and traveled to the desert for more than ten years to teach the descendants of righteous men. Such a promise, worth a thousand pieces of gold, is worthy of being called a hero of the world and can be compared with the sages of ancient times."

Since learning of the Seven Heroes' righteous deeds, Wu Chengyu has been filled with admiration. Today, having the honor of seeing old friends again, he requests that the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan accept his bow.

The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan quickly returned the greeting. Although they were somewhat proud of Wu Chengyu's respect, they couldn't help but feel a little melancholy when they thought about how they had been away from their hometown in Jiangnan and had to endure hardship in this desert.

Throughout history, those who have performed great deeds have all paid a heavy price. Now that they have gained the recognition and respect of their fellow martial arts practitioners, they feel that their past efforts have not been in vain.

Little did they know that if Wu Chengyu hadn't killed Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng in advance, the seven of them would probably have lost Zhang Asheng's life, a price they were far from willing to pay.

Wu Chengyu's admiration was entirely genuine. After reading the Legend of the Condor Heroes, you could say that the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan had low martial arts skills and eccentric personalities, but who could say anything about their chivalry? The great perseverance of ordinary people is the most precious thing.

That's why Wu Chengyu showed his true colors when he met Li Ping and the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan today, and why he didn't deceive them or speak falsehoods.

Since his transmigration, he has been able to torment bad people in every way, and he can dig a big pit for someone like Yang Kang who is destined to become an ingrate. But he must show the highest respect to people like Li Ping and the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. This is Wu Chengyu's insistence.

Since the topic of Qiu Chuji had come up, the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan were reminded of their agreement with him, and Han Xiaoying spoke up.

"Since Brother Wu knows about our duel with Master Qiu, I wonder how Yang Kang is doing now. He must have already received the true teachings of the Quanzhen Sect. I wonder if our foolish disciple can win the bet."

A few years ago, Master Qiu's disciple, Master Yin, came by. His martial arts skills far surpassed Jing'er's. Fortunately, Jing'er has finally grasped the essence of martial arts in the past two years, and her skills have improved somewhat. Hopefully, she won't suffer a crushing defeat.

The mentality of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan is different from that in the original novel. In the original novel, they lost a brother, Zhang Asheng, because of the bet. Such a price made them unable to afford to lose, and they had to win the bet for Zhang Asheng's sake.

Now, tempered by the desert winds and sands, they have become more open-minded. In their view, winning is good, but losing is also acceptable. Based on their righteous act of helping the descendants of the martyrs, they have no regrets in this life.

At this point, Wu Chengyu knew that they could finally get to the point.

"Actually, you have already met Yang Kang."

The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan were startled and somewhat confused, so Wu Chengyu continued to explain.

"Do you remember a few days ago when Wang Khan's men besieged Temujin, and that little Jurchen who wielded a long spear and fought with Guo Jing? His name is now Wanyan Kang, also known as Yang Kang."

"What? Since Yang Kang is a descendant of the righteous Yang Tiexin, how could he possibly be a Jurchen?" Ke Zhen'e, who hated the Jurchens the most, immediately pressed for an answer.

"This brings us to our old friend, Master Qiu Chuji. He found Yang Kang a few years earlier than you all, but unexpectedly, Bao Xiruo had already become the Princess Consort of the Jin Kingdom, and Yang Kang naturally became the young prince Wanyan Kang of the Jin Kingdom."

At that moment, Wu Chengyu recounted the whole story of how Qiu Chuji found Bao Xiruo and her son, and how he saw that although Bao Xiruo had lost her chastity, she still missed her deceased husband and did not kill her. In the end, he chose to keep Bao Xiruo and her son in the Zhao Prince's Mansion and occasionally teach Yang Kang Quanzhen martial arts.

The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan never expected such a twist of fate. They looked at each other in bewilderment. Li Ping remained silent when she heard about Bao Xiruo's ordeal. Given her personality, she could never accept Bao Xiruo's loss of chastity.

After a long silence, Nan Xiren, who was usually taciturn, suddenly spoke up: "This is not appropriate. Born into the Jin royal family and pampered since childhood, how can he inherit the righteous character of Yang Tiexin?"

Wu Chengyu nodded: "What Master Nan said is exactly what I thought. When I met Yang Kang, I knew that this kid had completely regarded himself as a Jin man. He had all the bad habits of a playboy, and he was fickle, disloyal, and greedy for power and wealth."

As the saying goes, "What a child is at three, he will be at eighty." Yang Kang is already fifteen years old; his character is formed and difficult to change. He is no longer on the same path as us. That old Taoist priest Qiu Chuji is too careless in his actions, completely disregarding the consequences. He also lacks patience in teaching his disciple. His treatment of Yang Kang is truly a disservice to his encounter with the two righteous men, Guo and Yang, years ago.”

This is something that many readers of The Legend of the Condor Heroes in the past have been complaining about. Qiu Chuji could have taken Yang Kang away before he was old enough to understand human affairs and raised him properly. No matter what, he would never have produced such a Yang Kang. This old Taoist priest was impulsive and simple-minded. He did a lot of bad things despite his good intentions.

Finally, Ke Zhen'e gave the final verdict: "We have not failed in our mission. What will become of Yang Kang in the future is not something we can worry about."

Everyone nodded in unison, and then Zhang Asheng spoke up: "That day, Jing'er fought against Yang Kang. She relied on a fighting style of mutual destruction, and Yang Kang, lacking combat experience, was frightened by Jing'er's fighting style, which is why they were locked in a stalemate for a while."

Later, I fought Yang Kang. That kid was young but had extraordinary skills. I had trained hard in the desert for ten years and had long surpassed my former self. But after exchanging blows with him, it was hard to determine who would win. His internal strength far surpassed Jing'er's. If we hadn't intervened that day, Jing'er would have definitely lost.

Therefore, it seems that Yang Kang has truly received the essence of the Quanzhen School, and we have already lost 70% of our bet with Master Qiu from back then.”

Everyone sighed in unison, which made Guo Jing, who was sitting next to him, very uneasy. He hadn't understood what Wu Chengyu had said about Yang Kang, but now he realized that he was no match for Yang Kang and would definitely bring shame to his masters in the future.

Taking the opportunity, Wu Chengyu comforted Guo Jing, somewhat embarrassed: "Everyone, actually this is my fault. I affected the fairness of this competition."

When I met Yang Kang, I taught him a set of martial arts techniques. It was this technique that allowed Yang Kang's martial arts to improve by leaps and bounds, enabling him to surpass Guo Jing. This cannot be attributed to Qiu Chuji.

Zhu Cong's eyes flickered, and he asked, "Regardless of what kind of technique it is, how could a young man reach such a level in such a short time?"

We haven't seen Brother Wu for many years. We remember that Brother Wu comes from a prominent family in Suzhou, and can be considered a nobleman's son. He lived a life of luxury in Suzhou. We wonder why Brother Wu would travel such a long way to this harsh Mongolian desert.

Wu Chengyu knew that Zhu Cong would inevitably be suspicious of a local scion who suddenly interfered in the affairs of the Guo and Yang families and suddenly appeared here.

But today, to show his respect for the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, he wanted to treat them with sincerity and naturally did not want to lie.

"I have long since left my family and have been wandering around for the past few years. By chance, I met Qiu Chuji and later happened to run into Yang Kang. I used some tricks to play a hidden move."

As for why Wu wandered the martial world, it was because years ago, out of righteous indignation, he couldn't help but kill someone, so it was no longer suitable for him to remain within the territory of the Song Kingdom in the short term.

"Brother Wu is known for his ruthless and unpredictable nature. I wonder who he killed?"

"Shi Miyuan".

"What?!" The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan were shocked and stood up at the same time, their eyes flashing as they stared intently at Wu Chengyu.

When Wu Chengyu killed Shi Miyuan, it shocked the world and had a far-reaching impact. Even the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, hiding in the Mongolian desert, could not help but hear about it. They were all amazed by the assassination and wished they had done it themselves.

Who would have thought that the nameless man who assassinated Shi Miyuan was right in front of them, none other than Wu Chengyu, whom they had met once before and still regarded as a junior in the martial arts world.

Ke Zhen'e slammed his iron staff heavily on the ground and asked sternly, "Brother Wu, is this true?"

"I, Wu, will never lie or deceive the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan."

Zhu Cong asked, "It's not that we don't want to believe it, but this matter is too shocking. I wonder if Brother Wu can testify to this?"

"I wonder, how does Master Zhu require me to prove this?"

"Rumor has it that the person who assassinated Shi Miyuan was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, completely different from Brother Wu."

"What do you think, Zhu Erxia?" As soon as Wu Chengyu spoke, his expression changed immediately, reverting to the honest face of the barbecue chef who had infiltrated the royal manor years ago.

"I've heard that the righteous man's lightness skill is unparalleled in the world; he can create many figures at the same time and attack simultaneously."

"How about this?" Wu Chengyu used his Shadow Clone Technique, and seven figures appeared in front of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan. They clasped their hands in greeting and then slowly disappeared. Wu Chengyu returned to his seat.

"Hiss." The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan took a deep breath. Apart from the person who assassinated Shi Miyuan back then, no one else in the world had such lightness skill. At this point, the seven of them had no choice but to believe it.

Ke Zhen'e, who has always been defiant and dared to curse Huang Yaoshi to his face, now clasped his hands together and bowed deeply. The other six monsters also bowed in unison.

"The name of the Unrivaled in the Nine Provinces is known to us like thunder. Brother Wu stood up for Marshal Yue and killed the treacherous minister Shi Miyuan. Such a righteous act is beyond our reach. If Brother Wu ever needs our help, we will do our best even at the cost of our lives."

Wu Chengyu quickly returned the greeting: "I am not telling you this to show off, but to prove to you seven that I have no ill intentions in coming to the desert."

My true purpose is to take Guo Jing as my disciple, and I humbly request the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan to grant my request.

(End of this chapter)