Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 267 Ding Chunqiu's Question
Upon hearing Duan Yu's words, Jiang Mingzhe's heart skipped a beat, and he frowned, saying, "That's strange. I clearly felt that I was walking straight ahead, so how did I end up going in circles? Could it be the power of Qimen Dunjia?"

He stood beside Duan Yu, staring intently at the trees lying on the ground, neither straight nor crooked, with lush canopies that obscured the view, vaguely resembling a Bagua (eight trigrams) shape.

Duan Yu, who was quite knowledgeable about the I Ching, watched for a while and then exclaimed in surprise, "Second Brother, could this be the Eight Trigrams Formation passed down by Zhuge Liang? I heard that Zhuge Liang used stones to form a formation to block the 100,000-strong army of Eastern Wu. This formation is made of wood. Even if it is not as good as the stone formation, it is probably not something that a few people can break."

Jiang Mingzhe sneered, "Regardless of its Eight Trigrams Formation or Nine Palaces Formation, it's nothing more than an illusion, a trick to fool the eyes. I can definitely get through it if I close my eyes and lie down."

Duan Yu quickly grabbed him and said, "Second Brother, you mustn't do that. If you act like this, what if there are enemies hiding among them who could launch a sneak attack? Wouldn't that be dangerous?"

Jiang Mingzhe was taken aback, then smiled with satisfaction: "Brother, you've really come through this experience. With this kind of vigilance, I can rest assured that you'll be able to roam the martial world or rule the country in the future."

Before Duan Yu could speak, Jiang Mingzhe leaped onto the ground, activating his Kun-transformation-Peng Divine Skill. His bones creaked, and a murderous aura surged forth. He sneered, "Since we can't just walk away blindly, let's dismantle this formation!"

Having said that, he drew the Seven Swords, channeled his inner energy, and a golden sword light shot out, extending three feet, as wide as a wrist. Duan Yu exclaimed, "Golden Essence Piercing Sword! I understand, this is using metal to break wood!"

Jiang Mingzhe smiled, swung his sword and slashed. With a hiss, the sword struck the pine tree and broke, leaving a thin mark on the giant tree, which was as tall as a person.

Duan Yu channeled his inner strength and pushed with both palms. With a loud bang, the pine tree snapped at the sword mark, creating a path as wide as a person's width, like a doorway.

The two brothers walked straight through without looking to the left or right, continuing on their way. Even when trees blocked their path, they did so anyway. After walking about twenty or thirty feet, they suddenly heard someone call out, "Young Master! It's Master Jiang!"

The voice was weak, but full of surprise.

The two turned their heads and saw a man leaning against a pine tree in a blind spot on the side, half-lying and half-sitting. It was Zhu Danchen, one of the four guards.

"Uncle Zhu!" Duan Yu exclaimed in surprise, rushing forward to check on him: "What's wrong?"

Of the four guards, Duan Yu was closest to Zhu Danchen, and his eyes immediately welled up with tears when he saw him injured.

Zhu Danchen didn't even have the strength to raise his hand. He shook his head slightly and said, "Young Master, don't worry, I'm not going to die. I was hit by a flaming blade from Kumārajīva, but fortunately I blocked it with my judge's pen. The weapon crashed back and broke a few of my ribs."

Sure enough, there was a judge's pen beside him, bent in the middle, which showed how amazing the force of that palm strike was.

Then Zhu Danchen said, "Young master, hurry and save the prince. The prince is seriously injured, and that senior surnamed Li is no match for the enemy. It is only thanks to the Eight Friends of Hangu Pass that the mechanism here was activated that the enemy has been temporarily blocked."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Jiang Mingzhe, his expression extremely complicated: "Master Jiang, your master is also up ahead..."

Jiang Mingzhe knew what he was worried about and smiled slightly: "Mr. Zhu, rest assured, I have taken on the title of Duan's retainer and have also become sworn brothers with my third brother, so he is my master and will not be able to harm Uncle Duan."

Zhu Danchen was initially both surprised and delighted to see Jiang Mingzhe arrive. He was delighted because Jiang Mingzhe was highly skilled in martial arts and would be a powerful ally, but surprised because of his status as a disciple of the Xingxiu sect. Who knew if he might become Ding Chunqiu's ally, which would be adding insult to injury? Now, after hearing Jiang Mingzhe's words, his worries vanished, and he was filled with ecstatic joy. He repeatedly said, "Gentleman Jiang is so benevolent. I, Zhu, will repay this kindness even if I have to be your slave in my next life!"

Jiang Mingzhe said, "You flatter me!"

Zhu Danchen hurriedly said, "It's too strenuous for you to move forward by splitting the trees like this. Just look at the direction of the tree crowns. If it's left, go right; if it's right, go left. Do this for three sets. Then change it to left if it's left and right if it's right. After changing it every three sets, you can get out. Hmm, we've just finished one set. This time, you can go right."

The two nodded and noted it down. They got up and left. Following the method described by Zhu Danchen, they soon walked out of the maze. There, under the thickest and tallest pine tree, sat three people sitting cross-legged. They were Ding Chunqiu, Kumārajīva, and Duan Yanqing.

Not far in front of the three people were three wooden houses, but now thick smoke was rising and swirling, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Hearing footsteps, the three of them turned around at the same time. Jiang Mingzhe smiled and clasped his hands in greeting, saying, "Master, how are you? Grand Preceptor, you're escorting the coffin to Suzhou, how come you've ended up with my master? Boss Duan, it's been a long time. Are you well from your injuries?"

Duan Yanqing remained expressionless and silent, while Kumārajīva forced a smile and said, "Haha, this is truly a gathering of heroes, a time of great upheaval and triumph. I happened to meet you, Old Immortal, and Mr. Duan on my journey, and we inadvertently discussed the grievances of the Murong family. You, Old Immortal, with your chivalrous spirit, were filled with indignation upon hearing this and immediately decided to seek justice for Senior Murong Kuang. As a friend of the Murong family, I naturally couldn't stand idly by, so I came to Leigu Mountain."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingzhe feigned surprise, widening his eyes and exclaiming, "Master, you are truly a master strategist! So you knew all along that our sect's greatest enemy was hiding here?"

Ding Chunqiu's eyes were icy cold, and he smiled insincerely, saying, "If I had known earlier, I would have already killed my way here and leveled this mountain! Heh, it was that piece of trash Su Xinghe who brought this upon himself. That piece of trash swore to me that he would pretend to be deaf and mute, and actually founded a Deaf-Mute Sect, recruiting disciples to make things difficult for me. He somehow found out that my brother Duan was disabled, and specially wrote a letter to invite him to join the sect. But he didn't think that my brother Duan has the appearance of a dragon and phoenix, and has his own pride. How could he be willing to be subordinate to that piece of trash? He just needlessly revealed his hiding place."

Old Ding's words were full of information. Jiang Mingzhe blinked and thought that Duan Yanqing and the Xiaoyao Sect had such a connection. Wu Yazi had always wanted to take on a talented disciple. Could it be that he heard that Duan Yanqing had mastered a unique skill despite his disability and swept away his enemies in the two lakes, and that he was attracted by Duan Yanqing's firm character and amazing talent, and wanted to take him on as a disciple?

Thinking about it this way, Duan Yanqing's ventriloquism and mind-controlling techniques are probably the methods that Su Xinghe gave him with his letter back then!

He couldn't help but look at Duan Yanqing and said with a smile, "Brother Duan, so you're saying that the reason they gave you the art of ventriloquism, the art of mind manipulation, and other wonderful techniques was to invite you to join them? You've learned their skills, but you're unwilling to actually join them. That's not the behavior of a true gentleman."

Duan Yanqing snorted coldly and said dismissively, "They wanted to use me, but I took advantage of them. That's their incompetence, what does it have to do with me?"

Ding Chunqiu laughed and nodded repeatedly, saying, "That couldn't be clearer. Su Xinghe, that good-for-nothing, and the old thief Wuyazi hiding behind him, are only good at these muddled tricks."

After saying that, his eyes were like knives as he stared at Jiang Mingzhe and said, "Young Jiang, let's not talk about other things for now. Now that you're here, I have two questions to ask you!"

"Let me ask you the first question: In your heart, are you now considered my disciple, or... my junior brother?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingzhe knew that when Li Qiushui had asked him for the silkworm silk earlier, she had already mentioned wanting to take Jiang Mingzhe as her apprentice.

The old guys from the Xiaoyao Sect acted erratically and recklessly. This matter was not a big deal in itself, but the problem is that Ding Chunqiu and Li Qiushui have fallen out. Therefore, this question, which seems to be about seniority, is actually about stance.

(End of this chapter)