The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 141 I've Come to Keep My Appointment
The remaining clouds and waning sun play with the changing weather.

The evening mountains are bright, and a small stream flows across them.

The branches are covered with tender branches; let them not utter heart-wrenching sounds.

……

"Senior, is Escort Zhou not coming?"

Hong Qigong took the gourd from his back, uncorked it, and took a few gulps. He said, "Nonsense. I saw that kid when I was in Lin'an. He was thinking about the promise outside Datong Prefecture."

"Really?"

"How was it faked?"

"Why don't you tell me about Chief Escort Zhou?"

Hong Qigong was a little troubled; telling stories to a young girl was not something he was good at.

He tricked Ouyang Feng in the Lin'an Imperial Palace. The Western Poison coveted the "Wumu's Legacy" and even speculated whether there were martial arts manuals in the stone box. After Wang Chongyang passed away, when the Huashan Sword Tournament was held again, the victor was the number one in the world.

Ouyang Feng thought to himself that if the stone box contained the superb martial arts created by Yue Fei, and the old beggar got his hands on it, wouldn't he be the one to take advantage of him?

Therefore, Ouyang Feng pursued relentlessly.

Hong Qigong was already planning to head north, and he was happy to have the old poison master to keep him entertained along the way. The two compared their speed, and after traveling from Lin'an to Zhongdu, he said that the stone box was originally empty.

Seeing Ouyang Feng's embarrassed expression once again, Hong Qigong was overjoyed and left Zhongdu with a hearty laugh, heading straight for Datong Prefecture.

When he arrived, Li Mochou had been waiting for a long time.

Hong Qigong didn't think much of it.

When Zhou Yan works at the escort agency, it's normal for him to be busy and delayed for a while.

Hong Qigong was not good at telling stories to younger people, especially women, but seeing Li Mochou's increasingly disappointed expression, he said, "Alright, I'll tell you. That kid has done more than one or two interesting things."

"Please, senior, tell us slowly."

Hong Qigong recounted his encounter with Zhou Yan on the Lantern Festival and his subsequent meeting with him in Lin'an, and the night fell in this rhythm.

When Li Mochou heard that Zhou Yan was fighting a powerful enemy, she would be tense, and when she heard that he had escaped danger, she would breathe a sigh of relief. Sometimes she would also sigh, realizing that the bodyguard had experienced so much in the past year.

Li Mochou was so engrossed in listening that she completely forgot the time. Only when Hong Qigong finished speaking did she realize that night had fallen.

"Senior, it's getting dark. Escort Zhou hasn't arrived yet."

Unlike Li Mochou, Hong Qigong was always paying attention to his surroundings and watching the sky when he talked about Zhou Yan's experiences. Now, as dusk fell, he felt uneasy.

He knew Zhou Yan was a man of his word, but the escort agency was busy, so a delay of an hour or two was normal. However, now that the appointed day was only two or three hours away, this was a bit unusual.

Hong Qigong took the gourd from his back, intending to uncork it and drink, only to realize that he had already drunk all the wine while telling Li Mochou stories.

He shook his gourd and said, "This old beggar is going to buy some wine, and while he's at it, he might as well take a look around the road."

"I'll go with my senior."

Hong Qigong said, "What if that kid comes?"

“What you say makes sense.”

Hong Qigong stood up, his figure flashed, and like a large bird, he disappeared from Li Mochou's sight after a few leaps from the treetop.

"Could something have happened to that kid?" Hong Qigong thought anxiously as he sped away. "I'll wait until I get back. If that kid doesn't show up by midnight, something must have happened. I'll go to the Zhongdu Escort Agency to find out."

……

Datong Prefecture was once the secondary capital of the Liao Dynasty, a densely populated area with bustling markets.

Hong Qigong entered the city and arrived at a time-honored hotel.

The store was bustling with noise and excitement.

"Waiter, fill the gourd with wine."

"Alright, please wait a moment, sir."

The waiter fetched wine, and Hong Qigong waited. The sounds of conversation from several people drinking in the tavern could be heard.

"You have no idea how lively Huayan Temple was yesterday."

"Is a high-ranking monk giving a sermon?"

"No, I happened to be offering incense and saw it clearly. It was a fight between a man with a high nose and deep-set eyes from the Western Regions and a young man. The roof of the main hall was blown open."

"Why the fight? This is a peaceful Buddhist sanctuary. Did some people from the Western Regions cause trouble, and the young man intervened to help them out?"

"It's hard to say. The boy was inside the hall when the man from the Western Regions entered and walked over, saying something like 'You don't need to burn incense to see the Buddha.' The boy suddenly threw lime at him." "That's strange. But wouldn't that put the man from the Western Regions at a disadvantage? How could they fight then?"

The persuader took the bowl and slurped down a few mouthfuls.

"Say it."

"Those Western Region people are fierce. Even with lime blinding them, they were still as fierce as tigers. In no time, the boy was blasted to the offering table."

"died?"

"It's hard to say. I was afraid of being caught in the crossfire, so I ran out of the main hall. Later I saw the roof of the hall explode. But this incident may be related to the Changfeng Escort Agency."

When the drinkers mentioned the Changfeng Escort Agency, they deliberately lowered their voices, but Hong Qigong, with his exceptional hearing, heard everything clearly.

The man continued, "I watched the commotion from outside and didn't see the boy, but later the people from Changfeng Escort Agency came to clean up the mess and donated a lot of incense money."

"Is the young man from the Changfeng Escort Agency?"

"possible."

Hong Qigong became increasingly suspicious as he listened: Zhou Yan failed to keep the appointment on time, the incident occurred during yesterday's fight, and the people were from the Western Regions.

"Brother, what do those Western Region people look like?" Hong Qigong asked.

The drinker glanced at Hong Qigong and said, "The sound is like the scraping of an anvil, harsh and unpleasant to the ear..."

"Old poison!"

Hong Qigong instantly connected all the dots. Ouyang Feng had chased him to Zhongdu and inexplicably appeared at Huayan Temple in Datong Prefecture, where the boy happened to be. The old poison master had sharp eyes; he had seen the boy on the main street of Zhongdu and in the Lin'an Imperial Palace. He must have become suspicious of his figure, which is why he said "Don't light incense when you see a Buddha" to test him. Given the boy's character and methods, he would definitely make the first move and then try to escape.

Hong Qigong's heart clenched. The incident happened yesterday, that kid...

"Sir, here is your wine."

Hong Qigong picked up his wine gourd and asked, "Where is Changfeng Escort Agency?"

The waiter, unaware of the situation, told him the location of the escort agency. Hong Qigong then slipped a silver ingot to the man and vanished from the hotel in a flash.

……

A crescent moon hung in the azure sky, and the night wind rustled through the woods.

Li Mochou got up and looked over.

The shadows of the trees were long and there was no one around.

She sighed softly. In the cool of the night, the bluebird of memory flew back, and she thought of Zhou Yan's many words.

Even beneath the flowers and leaves may lie thorns; the human heart is hard to guarantee it is free of malice.

When wandering the world, beggars, monks, and nuns are the most difficult to deal with.

You can't trust a man who seems honest and kind.

Li Mochou muttered to herself, "A seemingly honest man can't be trusted. Is he implying something? No, if that were the case, why would he help me? But why didn't he keep his appointment? It must be as the senior said, that he was delayed or forgot."

Two conflicting thoughts began to collide within Li Mochou, to the point that she overlooked the figure slowly walking towards her from the woods.

As the figure drew closer, the footsteps became heavier.

Li Mochou came to her senses and looked in the direction of the sound.

"It's you……"

All of Li Mochou's anxiety and slight doubt vanished the moment she saw Zhou Yan. She stood up, smiling, and quickly stepped forward: "Senior arrived a long time ago. He went to get wine and looked for you on the way. I thought you were going to stand me up..."

"Pfft!" In the black night, bright red blood spurted out.

Zhou Yan's injuries were more severe than Huang Rong's, but he possessed profound internal strength and was nourished by the gentle energy of the Jade Guanyin, which helped repair his internal injuries and thus saved his life.

Even so, he did not regain consciousness until the evening of the following day.

He didn't even know how long he had been unconscious. He couldn't heal his injuries by using the Quanzhen Heart Sutra to intercept the warm and pure energy. He didn't have time to regulate his breathing and rest. He took a pill, sorted out the direction, and slowly found the mountain god temple.

When Zhou Yan heard Li Mochou's words, he was about to say "I've come to keep the appointment," but as soon as he opened his mouth, he choked, his body churned, and blood gushed out.

But as promised, he finally saw Li Mochou, and Zhou Yan relaxed and fainted again.

"what!"

Li Mochou cried out in surprise.

(End of this chapter)