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

Chapter 442 What a well-laid net!

Lu Youjiao immediately became excited: "Bandits? Burning, killing, and looting? Good, good, good! How can our Beggars' Sect sit idly by and do nothing about such evil deeds? I just happened to bring all my men with me this time. Tell me quickly what kind of bandits they are, and I'll take my men to meet them."

Zhou Quan said, "I don't know where they came from. They are all teenagers of fifteen or sixteen years old, and the oldest should be under eighteen. There are two or three hundred of them in total. They are all highly skilled in martial arts and all carry long swords. There are traces of an army when they fight."

Recently, gangs large and small inside and outside Hangzhou have been targeted by them without any reason. They have been extremely ruthless and have basically wiped out entire groups, killing hundreds of people. Now everyone calls them the Asura Clan.

Seeing the situation was turning against me, I immediately summoned everyone from the branch headquarters back, forbidding them from going anywhere for the next few days.

“You cowardly fellow, in Jiangnan, we Beggars’ Gang are not afraid of anyone. Since you have committed arson, murder, and looting, you must be a villain. Hand you over to us.”

"But Brother Lu, didn't you come to rescue Inspector Mo?"

"Oh dear, now that you mention it, I almost forgot. Quick, tell me where Mo is right now, I'll go save her right away."

Zhou Quan was speechless, both at Lu Youjiao's personality and because he couldn't say anything useful.

Wu Chengyu watched coldly, equally speechless. In the end, he still had to rely on himself. The Beggars' Sect, especially Lu Youjiao, was unreliable.

There was no way to rely on Zhou Quan, so Wu Chengyu had no choice but to reveal the clues he had found.

"I have news that A-Ku is heading to Hubei and then south to return to Junshan, Hunan. However, the people who ambushed her are still chasing her. A-Ku has been injured and is in a very critical situation."

I'm here today to ask you to send a message by carrier pigeon to the Beggars' Sect headquarters, asking them to send someone to Hubei to provide assistance. Although I still don't think you can be relied on, the Beggars' Sect has a large number of members, so they might be able to make a difference.

I will also set off for Hubei immediately to rescue A-Ku. Please send another message to Hong Qigong, telling him I need an explanation for this matter.

"What explanation do I, a member of the prestigious Beggars' Sect, need to give to a pretty boy like you?"

Just as Wu Chengyu was about to turn and leave, he heard Lu Youjiao's words and stood still again, his eyes fixed on Lu Youjiao.

"Although your Beggars' Sect has a large force, it is extremely scattered. It takes nearly two months to gather people and travel all the way from Hunan to Zhejiang. I will just assume it's because the journey is too long and I won't say anything."

However, I have never doubted that the Beggars' Sect is well-informed. But since A-Ku's incident, you have not been able to find any information about him, whether it is A-Ku, the sect leader's personal disciple, or the person who made the move. The Hangzhou branch has not found a single clue.

"Lu has feet, use your brain and think carefully, is this normal?"

At this point, Wu Chengyu turned to look at the leader Zhou Quan, who had an awkward, bitter smile on his face. Wu Chengyu was also somewhat helpless. He had felt that there was something wrong with this person from the beginning, but after observing him until now, apart from the fact that this person was slow to act and acted like a good-for-nothing, he could not find any flaws.

After listening to Wu Chengyu's words, Lu Youjiao finally realized the problem. He was straightforward and a bit of a rascal when he was young. It wasn't until he became an elder a few years later that he finally gained some experience and composure. In the end, he was not a complete fool.

"You mean there's something wrong with the Beggars' Sect?"

“I don’t know. This is a matter for your Beggars’ Sect. Your best course of action is to find Hong Qigong immediately and tell him what happened.”

However, if Ah Ku is alright afterward, fine. But if something happens to him and it is indeed related to the Beggars' Sect, then the Beggars' Sect has no reason to exist.

"You only have a lot of people, but so what? We can kill them slowly. In a few years, we can eventually kill all the disciples with five bags or more. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Wu Chengyu's words were blunt and full of murderous intent. Lu Youjiao, who always took pride in the Beggars' Sect, immediately flew into a rage, but was held firmly by Zhou Quan. Wu Chengyu did not want to get entangled with this scoundrel, so he turned around and left the Beggars' Sect branch, rushing to the dock.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Wu Chengyu traveled from Hangzhou to Hubei, along the Yangtze River, and disembarked in Yichang. This was the same waterway he had traveled. Back then, when his foundation was completely destroyed, he also traveled by boat. Finally, he traveled by land from Yichang to Xiangyang, where he found the Tomb of the Dugu Sword and ate the Bodhi Snake.

The problem now is that Hubei is, after all, a province, and there are no surveillance cameras in this era. The Beggars' Sect's informants are clearly unreliable, and there's no news of A-Ku. He doesn't know which way to start his pursuit.

At this time, the dozen or so boats they had chartered were going upstream at a slow speed, and it would take at least several more days to reach Hubei.

As dusk approached, Song Mu walked to Wu Chengyu's side, carrying a tray with a steamed river fish, a roasted lamb leg, two side dishes, and a pot of wine.

"Master, please have something to eat."

Wu Chengyu looked at the dishes in front of him, initially having no appetite. Just as he was about to tell Song Mu to go down, he suddenly tilted his head as if listening intently. He then looked at the river below the boat, and the corners of his mouth curled up, as if he had discovered something amusing.

“Song Mu, you guys have killed quite a few people recently, and your murderous aura is hard to hide. Plus, there are quite a few of you. When you went to the dock to charter a boat, is it possible that you left your mark?”

After a moment's thought, Song Mu nodded: "We didn't deliberately try to hide at the time. With so many of us together, our presence would be too obvious and would inevitably attract attention."

"So if I boarded the ship with you, I'd probably be discovered, especially since I was using my real face, right?"

"It was my carelessness that exposed the master of the manor. I beg the master to punish me."

"I don't mean to blame you. It's good that you were exposed; at least I found their trail."

You made such a big show of things and used such powerful methods that you scared some people, but they don’t know why you’re causing trouble for those martial arts practitioners everywhere.
But once they found out you were with me, those with ulterior motives couldn't help but guess.

They know I'm heading south to rescue Aku, and I'm bringing so many of your experts with me. To avoid my plan being exposed, they'll naturally try to intercept me along the way.

Song Mu immediately understood Wu Chengyu's meaning. He looked around, closed his eyes and listened carefully, and finally nodded.

"The manor lord is indeed wise. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have noticed anything unusual around us. It seems the current under the boat is a bit unnatural, as if someone is coming from underwater and slowly approaching."

"What I fear most now is that those people will do nothing and leave me to search desperately in this vast sea of ​​people. Now that they have come to me on their own initiative, I am relieved."

"Song Mu, I had extremely high expectations for you all back then. You were expected to be able to charge into battle on land, and fight like tigers and leopards on horseback. I even invited brothers from Yue Fei's army who were skilled in naval warfare to teach you how to swim. I wonder how you are doing now?"

“We all grew up in the Northwest and aren’t as good at swimming as people from the South. However, Zhuang has taught us the secrets of holding our breath and how to fight in the water. Even if there are water ghosts, we’re no match for them.”

"Alright, I'll start drinking and eating meat now, just to liven things up for me. Before I'm full, take care of all the water ghosts down there, and remember to catch a few of the leaders to be interrogators."

"Your subordinate obeys." After receiving the order, Song Mu began to whistle to communicate with his companions. This trick was not taught by Wu Chengyu, but was a skill passed down from Yue Fei's army.

As soon as he blew his whistle, twenty or thirty young men from each boat took off their shirts, put short knives in their mouths, and jumped into the water. Soon after, the water began to churn inexplicably, and then the river water turned red, with large amounts of blood and corpses appearing on the surface.

When Wu Chengyu looked at the river, smelled the increasingly strong stench of blood, ate half a fish, and finished a whole roasted lamb leg, the water gradually returned to calm, and the young men of the Beiwei Army returned to the boat from underwater.

"Song Mu, first check if any of our brothers have suffered any losses." A moment later, Song Mu turned back: "Reporting to the Master, a few brothers have suffered minor knife wounds, nothing serious, and they have been bandaged up."

"The training is still insufficient. These water ghosts are only good at swimming, but their martial arts skills are not good at all. There are dozens of them in total, and you have nearly a hundred people in the water. You can still get injured even when you are outnumbered. Write this down. When we get back to Suzhou, throw all these injured guys into Taihu Lake for a good training session."

Several people were arrested and brought here.

With a wave of his hand, Song Mu brought over three water ghosts. Their tendons in their feet and hands had been severed, and they lay prostrate in front of Wu Chengyu.

"Want to die?"

The leader of the water ghosts had a dragon tattooed on his shoulder and neck, a bald head, a big beard, and a very fierce appearance.

"You pretty boy, don't try to scare me. I'm not afraid of death."

Wu Chengyu shook his head and said, "You're wrong. The death I'm talking about isn't a punishment for you, but a reward. Death will become the thing you look forward to most in your life."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Chengyu gently raised his right hand, and a small ball of water in the river below the boat automatically bounced up from the surface of the river and fell into Wu Chengyu's hand. Then it split into three and flew towards the three water ghosts. The speed was not fast, and at the same time, it gradually froze into ice during the flight.

Next, the three pieces of ice hit the three water ghosts and instantly merged into their bodies. After only two or three breaths, their bodies began to itch unbearably. However, since their tendons in their hands and feet had been severed, they could do nothing but roll around and howl in pain.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Wu Chengyu flicked his finger from a distance and injected three streams of internal energy into them, and the intense itching of the three gradually disappeared.

The three of them were panting heavily on the ground, their eyes bloodshot, but they dared not look at Wu Chengyu again.

"Want to die?"

None of the three water ghosts dared to speak again, nor did they beg for mercy.

"You're really tough. I was itchy just now, so I'll help you stop the itch."

Wu Chengyu unleashed three more finger strikes from a distance, but this time it wasn't to dispel the Life and Death Talisman; instead, it was to infuse the Life and Death Chain.

The three water ghosts convulsed again, their screams, like slaughtered donkeys, frightening away all the birds on the river. Veins began to appear on their bodies, and their skin began to turn slightly blue.

Wu Chengyu helped them stop the torment of the chain of life and death: "I'll ask you one more time, do you want to die?"

The bald, bearded man at the head of the group shuddered at the mention of those three words again and immediately pleaded in a hoarse voice, "We want to die, we really want to die, please give us a quick death."

Wu Chengyu revealed a cruel smile. Recently, he had been feeling depressed because of A Ku, and he couldn't shake off his frustration. He wouldn't just stop after a little bit.

"Really? I don't believe it." As soon as she finished speaking, she used the Life and Death Talisman and Life and Death Chain on the three water ghosts twice more, and even sealed their meridians to prevent them from defecating and urinating and disgusting themselves.

After the third use of the Chain of Life and Death, Wu Chengyu didn't need to ask anymore. The three water ghosts shouted hoarsely, "We want to die, we just want to die quickly."

"Answer my question, where do you water ghosts come from?"

“We are all soldiers of the Jiangnan Navy. We were suddenly ordered to come secretly and puncture your ship.”

"Navy? Why would the Song navy get involved in matters of the martial world? Who sent you?"

"Yes, it is Duan Tiande, the commander of the Yichang naval town of Jiangnan."

Wu Chengyu chuckled: "How come all the rotten sweet potatoes and stinky bird eggs have been exposed as soon as I returned to Jiangnan? Duan Tiande, that name sounds surprisingly familiar."

In the original novel, Duan Tiande reappears several years later when the Jin envoy comes to the Song Dynasty. He is the general in charge of escorting the Jin delegation, which also includes Yang Kang.

Later, the mission encountered Lu Guanying at Taihu Lake and was wiped out by the lake bandits. Duan Tiande was captured and taken to Guiyun Manor, where he happened to run into Guo Jing. In the end, Guo Jing stabbed him to death as a tribute to his ancestors.

It's still a few years before the incident, and Wu Chengyu doesn't know where Duan Tiande is now. He has no intention of looking for such a nobody. Who knew that this guy would suddenly appear on his own?

Originally, I planned to visit Guo Jing in Jiaxing on my way back to Suzhou after rescuing A-Ku, but now I have a gift for him.

Where is Duan Tiande now?

"He secretly came to the dock ahead with his men and sent us to quietly approach and sabotage the ship. He must still be there now."

"Do you know why he, a naval commander of the Song Dynasty, would suddenly attack me?"

“I heard from him that a big shot from the north has approached him and given him an order. If this matter is successful, there will be a great reward.”

"What big shot from the north?"

"I don't know, but judging from his clothes, he should be a Jin person."

Wu Chengyu silently looked at the flowing river, wondering why A-Ku was being hunted down.

A group of people with Jiangnan accents, from different places, gathered in Hangzhou and suddenly attacked A-Ku.

The well-informed Beggars' Clan suddenly became unable to see or hear anything, completely disregarding the fact that this was Hong Qigong's personal disciple.

That so-called Lin the Great Philanthropist might be a member of the Iron Palm Clan. He managed to injure even the combined forces of the Beiwei Army who attacked him. If he really is a member of the Iron Palm Clan, he must hold a high position.

Furthermore, Duan Tiande suddenly attacked him, and the person behind him was a Jin person. Considering that Qiu Qianren had already defected to the Jin state many years ago.

All these things combined seem to form a large net, but Ah Ku is a small fish; she shouldn't be worth so many forces targeting her at the same time.

The only one in the Beggars' Sect worth targeting, someone of significant importance, is that gluttonous street urchin.

“If you want to die, lead the way. I’m going to meet Duan Tiande, who doesn’t appear often but has a great reputation.”

(End of this chapter)