Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

The wind in Zhongnan Mountain blows through the pine forest, its mournful sound sounding exactly like someone wailing for someone's funeral.

Yin Zhiping quietly made his way down the mountain. Instead of taking the main road that pilgrims usually took, he slipped into a deserted path known only to woodcutters and farmers.

Outside Taiping Town at the foot of the mountain, he stole a farmer's coarse linen garment that was hanging on the fence.

He hid behind a haystack, took off his Quanzhen Taoist robe, stuffed it into a mud pit, and stomped on it a few times.

He ripped his topknot and haphazardly tied it back with a hemp rope. At this moment, where was the slightest trace of the refined elegance of the chief disciple of Quanzhen? He looked exactly like a down-on-his-luck vagrant.

"Yang Guo, Xiaolongnu... if you won't let me have a good life, then nobody will have a good life."

He gritted his teeth and muttered those two names under his breath, his hatred overflowing.

Taiping Town, Yuelaiju Inn.

This place had long been booked by the Mongols. Outside the inn, a dozen burly Mongol warriors gripped their scimitars, their eyes like those of wolf cubs, staring at every passerby.

As Yin Zhiping approached the inn's entrance, a heavy vajra was placed across his chest.

Darbana's towering figure blocked out the light, and his booming voice rang out: "Where did this beggar come from? Get lost!"

Yin Zhiping didn't back down; instead, he straightened his back and stared into the inn.

"Go tell Prince Huodu that Yin Zhiping of the Quanzhen Sect has arrived with a great gift."

Inside the inn, Huo Du was slumped in a grand chair. His once handsome face was now swollen and red like a rotten peach, the result of being slapped by Ouyang Feng a few days ago. Although he had applied expensive ointment, the burning pain was a constant reminder of the humiliation he had suffered.

Upon hearing the words "Quanzhen Sect," Huo Du snapped his folding fan shut with a "click."

"Bring it in."

Yin Zhiping was shoved into the lobby. Darba threw him to the ground like a chick.

Huo Du glanced sideways at the sweaty man and sneered, "Since when did the Quanzhen Sect learn to crawl down the mountain through dog holes? Yin Zhiping, I know you, you're Qiu Chuji's prized student, aren't you?"

Yin Zhiping patted the dirt off his clothes and slowly stood up.

Huo Du's eyes hardened, and he waved his hand at Darba: "There's not a single good person in the Quanzhen Sect. Senior brother, break his legs first, then ask him what he's here for."

Darba responded and swung his vajra, ready to smash it down.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Yin Zhiping suddenly burst into laughter. The laughter echoed in the empty hall, carrying a wild energy that made Huo Du frown.

"What are you laughing at when you're about to die?"

Yin Zhiping stopped laughing, his eyes fixed on Huo Du's swollen face with amusement: "I laugh at Your Highness, a member of the Mongol royal family, for being toyed with by a mere fourth-generation junior of the Quanzhen Sect. You don't even know who your enemy is, yet you want to go up the mountain to seek revenge? I'm afraid that if you go up there, you'll only be offering your head as a sacrifice."

Huo Du's expression changed, and he immediately signaled Darba to stop.

"What did you say? Fourth-generation junior?"

Yin Zhiping took a step forward and lowered his voice: "That little beggar who tricked you so badly down the mountain that day wasn't some random bastard. His name is Yang Guo, a fourth-generation disciple of my Quanzhen Sect. In reality, he's the gigolo kept by that demoness from the Ancient Tomb Sect."

He deliberately avoided mentioning Ouyang Feng.

Ouyang Feng's fearsome reputation was known throughout the world. He knew that Huo Du was a suspicious and suicidal man. If he heard that the old madman was on the mountain, Huo Du would pack his bags and return to Mongolia overnight.

Huo Du suddenly stood up, aggravating the wound on his face, causing him to gasp in pain: "Yang Guo? That little beast who spews filth?"

"It is him." A hint of pleasure flashed in Yin Zhiping's eyes. "He is currently hiding in a secluded cave in the back mountains. But Your Highness, don't worry, he is seriously injured and unable to move. With him is the famous Red Serpent Fairy Li Mochou. It's a pity that Li Mochou is also crippled; she is now just a living dead who can only breathe."

Huo Du narrowed his eyes, gently tapping his palm with the folding fan in his hand.

"Yin Zhiping, as a disciple of Quanzhen Sect, you betray your fellow disciples and offer this kind of good fortune to me, the prince? Do you think I, Huo Du, am a three-year-old child? This is probably a trap set by your Quanzhen Sect to lure me into a snare, isn't it?"

Yin Zhiping noticed that Huo Du had become suspicious. He was prepared, so he took out a roll of yellowed parchment from his pocket and casually threw it on the table.

"Your Highness is a discerning person. This is the most treasured artifact of my Quanzhen Sect, the formation diagram of the 'Big Dipper Formation'. It not only contains the footwork, but also the weaknesses that my master and his disciples have never told anyone."

Huo Du picked up the parchment with suspicion, and after only a few glances, his breathing became heavy. He was a renowned martial arts master; the flow of energy and the shifts between yin and yang on this diagram could not have been fabricated casually.

This thing is real.

"What do you want?" Huo Du put away the drawing, his eyes turning venomous. He knew that anyone who could produce something like this must have a heart blacker than ink.

"I don't want much." Yin Zhiping held up two fingers and waved them in the dim light. "First, I want Yang Guo's life, he must be dead. Second, I want Zhao Zhijing's head."

Huo Du raised an eyebrow, his swollen face contorting into a strange expression: "Kill your disciple, slaughter your senior brother? Daoist Yin, you have quite the appetite. Zhao Zhijing is the third-generation leader of your Quanzhen Sect. If you kill him, aren't you afraid Qiu Chuji will skin you alive?"

"Once he dies, I will be the leader." Yin Zhiping's face flushed with a sickly red, and his voice trembled slightly. "Once I take the position of leader, the entire Quanzhen Sect will be the sharpest blade for His Highness's southward march. With inside help from within, the natural barrier of Zhongnan Mountain will be nothing more than our own backyard for the Mongol cavalry."

Huo Du stared at Yin Zhiping for a long time, then suddenly clapped his hands and laughed.

"Good! What a brilliant inside-outside collaboration! I used to think you Han people were just old-fashioned, but I never imagined there were born bad seeds like you. Compared to you, that idiot Zhao Zhijing is nothing but a blockhead."

Huo Du stood up and paced back and forth in the lobby, seemingly weighing the pros and cons. Suddenly, he stopped, turned to look at Yin Zhiping, and his eyes held a lewd glint that any man could understand.

"By the way, I've heard that besides Li Mochou, there's also a girl named Xiaolongnu in the Tomb of the Living Dead? Rumor has it that she's as beautiful as a celestial being, untouched by worldly affairs. Is that true?"

Yin Zhiping's hand, hidden in his sleeve, clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his flesh.

That was his private property.

That was the object of his fantasies countless nights, the last untouchable sacred place in his heart. It was one thing for Yang Guo to touch it, but this Mongol barbarian also wanted to lay a finger on it?

A violent killing intent surged in his chest, but he forced a nonchalant expression onto his face.

"Your Highness, most of the rumors are false." Yin Zhiping licked his chapped lips, his voice hoarse. "That Little Dragon Girl is always cold and aloof, like a block of wood. What charm does she have? But that Li Mochou..."

He paused deliberately, his Adam's apple bobbing, and began to describe it vividly: "She's a ripe peach. Now she's severely injured, her acupoints sealed, lying motionless in that cave. The ruthless female demon who used to kill without blinking an eye is now like a toothless kitten, completely at the prince's mercy. Isn't the feeling of conquering the Crimson Serpent Fairy better than playing with a piece of wood?"

Huo Du's eyes lit up when he heard this.

The sheer thrill of conquering a fearsome female demon in the martial arts world is more intense than anything else.

"Excellent! Absolutely excellent!" Huo Du snapped his folding fan shut, his swollen face seeming to glow even brighter with excitement. "In that case, this prince will gladly accept it. Darba, pass down the order to gather the troops!"

"Wait a minute." Huo Du waved his hand again, his suspicious nature making him cautious. "Tonight is too rushed, my men aren't all here yet. We'll meet up again in three days. Master Yin, you go back and keep an eye on things, don't let that scoundrel couple get away."

Yin Zhiping breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Huo Du was willing to take action, Yang Guo would surely die.

It's a deal.

The two men clapped hands under the dim light of the oil lamp.

Yin Zhiping didn't dare linger. He wrapped the stolen tattered hemp clothes tightly around himself and hurriedly left the inn.

On his way back to the mountain, his steps were much lighter. If he waited just three more days, Yang Guo would be dead, and Zhao Zhijing would be dead too. Then, no one would know what he had done that night; he would still be the revered Quanzhen Taoist, perhaps even the future leader.

As for Little Dragon Girl...

Once Yang Guo dies, she'll be all alone in the Ancient Tomb. There's plenty of time; he can slowly wear her down.

Yin Zhiping became more and more excited as he thought about it, and even the mountain road no longer seemed difficult to walk.

However, when he finally made his way back to the gates of the Quanzhen Sect, panting heavily, the sight before him sent a chill down his spine, instantly extinguishing any excitement he had felt.

The once solemn and dignified Chongyang Palace was now in a state of chaos.

The massive stone tablet had broken in two and lay fallen by the roadside. The ground was littered with rubble and broken sword blades. Several gatekeeper disciples lay on the ground groaning, some clutching their chests, others hugging their legs, their faces filled with terror.

In the distance, towards the main hall, flames soared into the sky, and shouts of battle filled the air.

"What...what happened?"

Yin Zhiping grabbed a young Taoist priest who was running out and shouted sternly, "What happened? Who attacked us?"

The young Taoist priest was terrified. Seeing it was Yin Zhiping, he cried out in a tearful voice, "Uncle Yin! Something terrible has happened! A mad old man has stormed in! He's attacking everyone he sees, shouting that he'll kill everyone in the Quanzhen Sect to avenge his son! Grandmaster and the others can't hold him off!"

A crazy old man?

son?

Yin Zhiping's mind went blank.

Ouyang Feng!

That old poisoner has actually returned! And he's here to avenge that little bastard Yang Guo!