Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 136: Are the two functions originally one?
Before long, the waiter brought over two bowls of hangover soup. Duan Yu took a couple of sips and grinned foolishly, "As expected of Jiangnan, this hangover soup is even better than the one at my house."

Azhu took a sip, smacked her lips, and said, "This soup is made with orange peel, dried tangerine peel, sandalwood, kudzu flower, mung bean flower, and white cardamom, stir-fried with salt and simmered. If I were to make it, I would also add some ginseng rootlets to strengthen the spleen and replenish qi."

After drinking the hangover soup and eating some food, Duan Yu stood up and said, "Brother, I'm off now. Where does the helper you're asking live? Do you have any tokens?"

Jiang Mingzhe smiled and said, "You are the token! I'll see you downstairs."

He escorted Duan Yu downstairs, giving him instructions. Duan Yu nodded repeatedly and said, "Don't worry, brother!"

He then used his Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to cross the street in the blink of an eye, his sleeves swaying.

Jiang Mingzhe watched for a moment and nodded to himself: Duan Yu has put a lot of effort into this lightness skill in the past few months. However, given his personality, it was to be expected that he would diligently practice this kind of martial art that can avoid direct conflict.

Turning back upstairs, he saw A'Zhu giggling and saying something that made Qiao Feng laugh out loud. Hearing his footsteps, Qiao Feng turned around and waved: "Brother, there's plenty of time. Let's drink a few more bowls slowly."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed and said, "Alright, although my alcohol tolerance is poor, my courage to drink is still there."

They immediately took their seats, poured wine, and drank again. This time, however, it wasn't a drinking contest. Qiao Feng still drank bowl after bowl, while Jiang Mingzhe accompanied him sip by sip. The two drank and chatted, talking about the ups and downs of the martial arts world. Abi listened with a smile, while Azhu occasionally chimed in to make things interesting.

Time flew by unnoticed, and the other guests had already left. The group of people, however, became more and more animated as they talked, and Jiang Mingzhe and Qiao Feng drank most of the twenty catties of wine.

Just then, there was a loud thud on the stairs, and two beggars came running up, their faces filled with panic: "Chief, something bad has happened! Two scoundrels have broken into the 'Great Righteousness Branch.' Chief Jiang is afraid that he can't hold them off, so he ordered his men to come and ask the Chief to take charge."

Qiao Feng was in the middle of a lively conversation when he was suddenly interrupted. Slightly displeased, he frowned and said, "Chief Jiang is being too cautious. Can't a group of brothers really stop just two people? Who are those two people?"

The beggar said, "They were two skinny men, one tall and one short. The tall one was arrogant and unreasonable, while the short one had both forearms broken and was in a splint in front of his chest. He was still shouting and yelling, asking Chief Jiang to experience his leg techniques. Chief Jiang talked to him and they seemed to be from the Murong family of Gusu."

A'Zhu stood up in surprise and said, "Oh dear, two skinny men, one tall and one short, those are Mr. Bao San and Brother Feng Si, who are under our young master's command. Is Brother Feng Si injured?"

Jiang Mingzhe said, "The Fourth Brother Feng you mentioned, is he the same Feng Bo'e from Jiangnan? Uh, I think I broke his two arms."

Azhu and Abi were taken aback and looked over in disbelief.

Previously, Jiang Mingzhe believed he couldn't defeat Kumārajīva, so A'Zhu and A'Bi thought his martial arts skills wouldn't be too high. In their opinion, all four of the Murong family's generals were capable of dealing with Kumārajīva. They never expected that he would break Feng Bo'e's arm.

Qiao Feng asked in surprise, "Brother, don't you have some connection with the Murong family? How come you ended up injuring this so-called Fourth Brother Feng?"

Jiang Mingzhe said, "When I was in Dali, I was taught a style of boxing by an old steward named Yan Longyuan from the Murong family. I also promised to help the Murong family if they ever needed anything. On my way to Jiangnan, I encountered people from the Qingcheng Sect..."

He briefly recounted the events that had transpired, concluding with: "...Qingcheng is in western Sichuan, and Qin Family Village is in Yunzhou, yet both are said to have suffered at the hands of the Murong family. I felt there was something fishy about this, and I intended to investigate secretly. But then Feng Bo'e suddenly appeared and, without saying a word, utterly defeated both families. He then challenged me to a duel, and I dared not underestimate him. I used the boxing technique that Steward Yan taught me, but he couldn't withstand it, broke both his arms, and ran away. He even challenged me to another fight at Canhe Village."

Qiao Feng asked in surprise, "So, the guy surnamed Feng was defeated in just one move? Brother, you used the fist technique taught to you by the Murong family's steward to injure a master of the Murong family. Isn't that using their own methods against them? But how could that guy surnamed Feng not recognize the Murong family's kung fu?"

Jiang Mingzhe said, "The fist technique that Steward Yan taught me is not the Murong family's method, but the Great Vajra Pestle of Shaolin Temple."

Qiao Feng was shocked. Although he was the leader of the Beggars' Sect, he had once studied under the Shaolin monk Xuanku and naturally felt a deep affinity for Shaolin. He exclaimed, "The Great Vajra Pestle? That's one of the most powerful of the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts. How could the Murong family..."

Suddenly noticing that Azhu and Abi looked embarrassed, she frowned slightly and didn't finish her sentence.

Azhu frowned and said, "Young Master Jiang, we won't hide it from you. The Murong family has some businesses in various places, and naturally there are stewards and others to manage them. However, Abi and I have been with you for a long time, but we have never heard of any steward named Yan Longyuan!" She pondered for a moment and looked at Qiao Feng: "Brother Qiao, so many bloody cases in the martial arts world these days are imitating the methods of the Murong family. Perhaps the mastermind behind them is this Yan Longyuan."

Qiao Feng remained silent in thought.

A'Zhu added, "The Murong family's Huanshi Water Pavilion has collected many martial arts techniques, including some lost moves from various sects. The Huanshi Water Pavilion also has the original versions. Ordinary people may not know this, but Brother Qiao, as the leader of the Beggars' Sect, must know it."

Qiao Feng frankly said, "That's right, I have heard that the Murong family's Water Pavilion is no less impressive than the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Repository."

Azhu said, "I dare not compare with the Scripture Pavilion, but the Murong family does indeed gift martial arts manuals to some sects that are on good terms with them. However, the techniques they gift are all originally owned by these sects. As for the scheme of giving the Zhang family's unique skills to the Li family, the Murong family would never do that. Therefore, Yan Longyuan's teaching of Shaolin's unique skills to Young Master Jiang is not the Murong family's style. I find this move highly suspicious."

Qiao Feng nodded slowly: "If what you say is true, there must be a huge conspiracy behind this. However, the most urgent thing is to go to the Righteousness Branch first, so as to avoid casualties on both sides and create an irreconcilable blood feud."

Azhu, being a woman of her own mind, immediately said, "Alright, I'll go and persuade Brother Bao and Brother Feng to stay."

Qiao Feng said to the two beggars, "Go and borrow three horses for my three friends to ride. I'll go and take control of the situation first."

Jiang Mingzhe stood up and said, "Brother Qiao, let your subordinate escort the two young ladies. I will go with you."

Qiao Feng hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Alright."

Seeing Qiao Feng's expression, Jiang Mingzhe knew that Qiao Feng was worried that he would slow him down, so he didn't say anything more. He followed Qiao Feng downstairs, and Qiao Feng strode straight out of the city. Jiang Mingzhe followed closely behind. After they left the city gate, he smiled and said, "The situation is urgent. How about Brother Qiao walk faster?"

Qiao Feng said, "Alright! Then let's hurry up."

Immediately, Jiang Mingzhe swiftly moved forward, using his Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to reach Qiao Feng in three steps, and said with a smile, "Brother, go faster!"

Qiao Feng was both surprised and delighted, and laughed loudly, "Good, as you wish."

With a surge of inner energy, he kicked up billowing yellow dust, which shot out into the distance like cannonballs.

Jiang Mingzhe let out a clear whistle, unleashing his full power with the Lingbo Weibu technique. In no time, he overtook Qiao Feng, turning back to laugh and saying, "Brother, I still have plenty of courage to spare!"

Qiao Feng listened to him speak calmly and casually, as if he were just taking a stroll. He admired him and his heroic spirit surged forth.

With a roar, he leaped into the air, his feet treading the air as he ran, his momentum like a dragon emerging from the deep sea, or a giant eagle soaring through the sky. In almost an instant, he overtook Jiang Mingzhe.

Jiang Mingzhe remained silent, his Northern Darkness True Qi surging and flowing throughout his body. His footwork shifted and changed, and he pursued the enemy with lightning speed. At this moment, the road gradually became rugged, with ditches and boulders blocking the way from time to time. Jiang Mingzhe subconsciously used the lightness skill that came with the Hanging Cloud Sword Technique to leap over them. Before he could land, he took several steps in mid-air, and his figure suddenly flashed a great distance away.

"what!"

Jiang Mingzhe was taken aback, suddenly realizing that the lightness skill in this sword technique was extremely similar to the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique)!

He blinked, and couldn't help but think of the Starry Sky Sect's lightness skill—the Moon Chasing and Star Chasing Technique!

I remember Azi once said that the Xingxiu Sect's lightness skill is divided into two types: one is the Moon Chasing Skill, which is as swift as lightning after mastering it, and the other is the Star Chasing Skill, which allows one to leap freely after mastering it. When both are mastered, it becomes the Moon Chasing and Star Chasing Technique.

At this moment, Lingbo Weibu seems like the "Chasing the Moon" skill, and Chuiyun Qinggong seems like the "Chasing the Stars" skill. Could it be that these two skills were originally one set, but were deliberately separated and passed on to Li Qiushui and Tianshan Tonglao respectively?
(End of this chapter)