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

Chapter 433 Parting ways
Half a month later, Wu Chengyu, alone on three horses, traveled day and night and finally caught up with Guo Jing and his group just as they were about to leave the grassland.

Guo Jing was overjoyed to see Wu Chengyu and immediately asked if he had delivered his letter to Tolui and Hua Zheng. Wu Chengyu said that he had not found Tolui and the others, but had asked a trustworthy friend to deliver it. Guo Jing also knew that friend, who was the old Mongolian man who often accompanied Hua Zheng.

Upon hearing this, Guo Jing's childlike face finally stopped looking gloomy, as if he had let go of a huge worry.

Wu Chengyu did not lie to him; the letter was indeed delivered to Yan Hexiang. Once Temujin died, the matter of sending people to monitor and intercept Wu Chengyu would eventually come to nothing.

After the internal strife in Mongolia, the underage Tolui had to rely on one of his brothers. Ögedei, who had always been magnanimous, was the best candidate. Hua Zheng, as Temujin's only legitimate daughter, was deeply loved by her father and brothers. No matter how her brothers fought among themselves, they would not harm her in the slightest.

Therefore, the best place for Yan Hexiang, this fake Mongolian, to hide is to follow Hua Zheng and act as her bodyguard. He had been protecting Hua Zheng and was highly regarded by her. Now, he also has Guo Jing's farewell letter, which is the best way to get in touch with her. It's a win-win situation.

As for how to come up with a story to gain Hua Zheng's trust and how to remain hidden in Mongolia, Wu Chengyu had no worries. This Yan Hexiang, or rather the Mongolian Tarim, was definitely a master of underground work.

Guo Jing and his mother had no doubts about Wu Chengyu's return. Among the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, only the skilled scholar Zhu Cong and the usually taciturn but insightful Nan Xiren had some guesses, but they tacitly kept silent.

The group traveled from Mongolia to Daxing, the capital of the Jin Dynasty, for more than a month. Along the way, they encountered many bandits and robbers. Wu Chengyu did not take action and left them to Guo Jing to deal with. Unless there were many bandits, the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan would also stand by and watch.

After undergoing a series of trials, the childishness on Guo Jing's face gradually faded. Wu Chengyu wondered if training Guo Jing too early was counterproductive, but Guo Jing's temperament became more decisive and ruthless than when he left the grasslands in the original novel.

By this time, they could see the city walls of Daxing City in the distance. The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan and Li Ping were both feeling grateful that they had finally left the Mongolian grasslands behind. Only Guo Jing looked at the distant city walls with great curiosity in his eyes.

Wu Chengyu said to the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, "Jing'er's trial ends here. He has seen enough of the methods of these Jianghu people. When he returns to Jiangnan, he will need his seven elder brothers and sisters to supervise him more."

Han Xiaoying said, "Jing'er's personality doesn't need any supervision. He practices hard every day on his own. I'm afraid he'll injure himself."

Wu Chengyu shook his head: "No, the gentle embrace of women is a hero's grave. The land of Jiangnan is beautiful and prosperous. Jing'er returned to the fertile land of Jiangnan a few years earlier. Without the tempering of the desert winds and sands, there will always be some differences. We, as her teachers, should have foreseen this. Fortunately, Jing'er has a very good character. As long as someone urges her on, she will not go astray."

Zhu Cong asked, "You've entrusted everything to us, so it seems Brother Wu is going to part ways with us?"

Guo Jing was a little anxious and quickly asked, "Master Wu, don't you want to teach Jing'er anymore?"

Wu Chengyu patted the head of the great hero again: "It is already rare for us to have a master-disciple relationship for a year. As your master, I also have things to do."

But it won't be long before I return to Jiangnan, and we will surely meet again. As your teacher, I also want to see what kind of hero Guo Jing will become after my careful cultivation.

You must patiently practice the Big Dipper Technique and Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill that I taught you. As for those stance training exercises, you must practice them every day without fail. After you finish practicing the stance training exercises, immediately start practicing the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill. It will definitely have miraculous effects.

The Great Law of the Big Dipper has been integrated into your daily life, whether you walk, sit, or lie down. With your temperament, I have no worries. As for the Four Great Scattered Techniques, there is no need to rush. Those are skills that require many years of practice. You just need to experience them carefully every day.

Three years from now, when you turn eighteen, your martial arts skills will likely be no less than those of your seven masters, and you'll be considered top-tier second-rate in the martial arts world. Plus, the martial arts you cultivate are far from ordinary; most heroes in the martial arts world will be no match for you.

According to Wu Chengyu's expectations, Guo Jing has now mastered martial arts. The Big Dipper Technique is well-suited to him, and the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill complements his natural talent. He is the type whose progress is faster the more solid his foundation.

Three years later, Guo Jing had achieved minor success in the Big Dipper Technique and should have reached the fourth level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill. He must have cultivated the first five levels extremely quickly.

At that time, Guo Jing would certainly be no weaker than the likes of Sha Tongtian and Peng Lianhu, and might even be slightly better than them due to his martial arts level. Among the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, only Qiu Chuji, Ma Yu, and Wang Chuyi had cultivation levels above him.

Compared to the original story where he was slightly at a disadvantage when he fought Yang Kang and needed Wang Chuyi's help when he encountered Peng Lianhu and others, this situation is now completely different.

Wu Chengyu was very satisfied with this. He had already traveled through time and taken Guo Jing as his disciple, so how could Guo Jing be as weak as he was when he first left the grasslands in the original story? Most importantly, Guo Jing's martial arts skills would only improve faster and faster, and reaching the level of a first-class master would be just around the corner.

After comforting Guo Jing, Wu Chengyu looked at Li Ping and asked, "Sister-in-law Guo, would you like to go to Daxing City to see Bao Xiruo?"

Upon hearing Bao Xiruo's name, Li Ping's expression became quite complex, a mixture of nostalgia for the deceased and the past, and a hint of unease. After a moment's thought, she shook her head.

"Forget it, if the Bao family girl sees me, she'll probably be too embarrassed to face me, and it will only make her more sad."

"That's fine. Daxing City is right in front of us now. Since you've chosen not to go into the city, you can go directly to the canal wharf and take a boat south along the Grand Canal all the way to Hangzhou. That's the fastest way to get there."

"I still need to go to Daxing City to settle some loose ends. Since you've all decided to settle down in Jiaxing, I'll come find you there when I visit."

Ke Zhen'e said, "If we return to Jiaxing and rebuild our businesses, it will be very easy to find the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan in Jiaxing."

As I said before, if you ever need our help, just send a message, and the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan will be there for you, even if it means going through fire and water.

Brother Wu, we'll meet again someday.

Wu Chengyu bid farewell to the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan and Li Ping. Guo Jing, being honest, knelt down and kowtowed three times to Wu Chengyu, who remained calm.

From then on, Wu Chengyu parted ways with them. The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan went directly to the dock, while Wu Chengyu went straight to Daxing City.

As they approached Daxing City, Wu Chengyu's expression changed again. This time, it was no longer Lei Datou. He had no intention of contacting the Zhao Prince's Mansion again. He could temporarily disregard his identity as the lone traveler Tian Boguang, though he might reappear in the future.

Now his face is all fat, with big puffy eyes, a blank expression, and he looks very old. This face can be described in three words: Su Daqiang.

After entering the city, Wu Chengyu made several turns in Daxing City and came to a pharmacy. The doctor in charge of the pharmacy was a middle-aged man in his forties with a thin face. There weren't many patients in the pharmacy at the time. After those people left with their medicine, Wu Chengyu leisurely sat down in front of the doctor. The doctor came up and asked, "Sir, where do you feel unwell?"

Su Daqiang's face was only suitable for a blank expression, but when he glared with his big eyes, he said in a hoarse voice, "When you reach middle age, you inevitably feel restless. I'm looking for a medicinal herb with the surname Niu."

The doctor's eyes changed, and after glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he immediately replied, "I'm afraid it's not surnamed Niu, but Ma. I just don't know what kind of horse it is."

Wu Chengyu replied, "That's right, the surname should be Ma. I wonder if your esteemed shop has a medicinal herb called Ma Yinglong?"

The doctor stood up: "Of course, but this medicine is precious and cannot be shown to just anyone. Please, sir, go inside and we'll talk."

When Wu Chengyu followed him into the inner hall, the doctor first bowed and then asked, "My name is Wu Yu. May I ask which incense stick you are burning, sir?"

This is the other party verifying Wu Chengyu's identity; Guan Su had asked the same question before.

"Three incense sticks were lit in front of Yue Fei's tomb, each incense stick being nine inches and three-tenths of an inch long."

Even among the rebels, Hong Niangzi only burned incense sticks that were nine inches long. The only one who could burn incense sticks that were nine inches and three-tenths inches long was Wu Chengyu. This was unique to Wu Chengyu, the benevolent and righteous elder brother.

Upon hearing Wu Chengyu's answer, Wu Yu looked puzzled. He knew who the code word represented, but this face...

Soon, the doubt on his face disappeared, because Wu Chengyu had returned to his original appearance.

"Wu Yu greets Brother Renyi."

"Brother Wu, please don't stand on ceremony. I've come here today to ask you to pass on a message to the Commander-in-Chief."

This pharmacy was the liaison point for the rebel army in Daxing City of the Jin Dynasty. Considering that it was the capital of the Jin Dynasty, this liaison point was extremely secretive, and only a few people at the highest level knew about it.

Moreover, for security reasons, this contact point does not engage in intelligence gathering on a daily basis; it is only responsible for transmitting information. For example, at this time, Hong Niangzi's whereabouts in Shaanxi Province are uncertain, and Wu Chengyu must pass through here if he wants to find his wife.

The secret code for the rendezvous was just a prank by Wu Chengyu, something he came up with for Hong Niangzi. He figured no one in the world knew what Ma Yinglong (a traditional Chinese medicine) was for, and if anyone did, then something really serious would happen.

Wu Yu immediately replied: "What message does Brother Renyi want to convey?"

"I'll leave Daxing after delivering this message. My next stop is Chang'an. Tell the Grand Commander that we'll meet in Chang'an and discuss anything. I just don't know if your message can get ahead of mine."

"Brother Renyi, rest assured, our righteous army now uses gyrfalcons to transmit messages. It won't take more than a few days to get from Daxing to the Qinling base, and the base will also notify the Commander in a timely manner."

"Very good, then thank you very much, Brother Wu."

After leaving a message, Wu Chengyu casually inquired about the current situation in Daxing City, especially about the Prince Zhao's residence.

"Reporting to Brother Renyi, I have heard that Prince Zhao went to the Mongolian grasslands and did something unknown. After returning, he was reprimanded by the Jin emperor. However, he married a noblewoman from the Nalan clan more than half a year ago. Although he was not made crown prince, he has the greatest influence among all the princes."

As for the young prince of the Zhao Prince's Mansion, he has been challenging masters throughout Daxing City for the past six months. Apart from the established elders, no one among the younger generation can match him. He is now hailed as the number one young master in the Jin Kingdom.

Wu Chengyu nodded. Wanyan Honglie would be criticized for failing to eliminate Temujin in Mongolia, but he believed that he had left Tian Boguang as a backup plan. Now, judging by the time, Temujin was dead, and the news would arrive soon. Wanyan Honglie would actually gain merit for this.

Given his decision to abandon his Han Chinese wife and marry a noblewoman from the Jin Dynasty, coupled with his superior intelligence compared to his brothers, he might actually be able to obtain the position of crown prince.

As for Yang Kang, although his upper limit is already limited after he has mastered the Innate Skill, he is progressing very quickly. By the time he is eighteen, he will probably be able to reach the threshold of a first-class master. It is just unknown how long he can endure before breaking the vow of celibacy. When that happens, it will be another good show.

But Wu Chengyu had lost interest in watching the show, and he didn't even think about going to see his cheap disciple Yang Kang. He mostly set traps for Yang Kang, and was far less attentive to his true disciple Guo Jing.

After leaving Daxing City, he rode south at full speed, then traveled through Hebei and Shanxi, taking two whole months to finally enter Shaanxi Province. After that, he traveled non-stop to Chang'an City.

He didn't care about being travel-worn and went straight to a pastry shop.

"May I ask, sir, what kind of pastries would you like?"

Do you have any Oreos here?

"No Oreos, but plenty of Oreo Gei."

Clearly, this code word also originated from Wu Chengyu's perverse sense of humor; he set different code words for different contact points.

The pharmacy sells Ma Yinglong ointment, the pastry shop sells Oli Gei, and the inn has a secret code: "I shouldn't have married into this family. If I hadn't married into this family, my husband wouldn't have died..."

After making contact with the pastry shop, Wu Chengyu was quickly led to a small courtyard house in the west of Chang'an.

　On the last day of August, today's two chapters also mark the end of this volume. In general, they are transitional chapters, wrapping up and explaining things. Please bear with us a little longer. The next volume will begin after Wu Chengyu returns to Jiangnan. His return to Peach Blossom Island to seek revenge against Huang Yaoshi will also be officially scheduled. At the same time, the foreshadowing laid earlier has been completed, and a series of plot developments will follow.

　　The next chapter will be delivered a little later.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)