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

At the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, the autumn wind rustles, swirling up a carpet of withered yellow leaves.

A magnificent Akhal-Teke horse was tethered in a secluded grove at the foot of the mountain. Huang Rong dismounted, patted the horse's neck, and then untied the bundle from her back.

She was not in a hurry to go up the mountain to present her visiting card.

Logically, as the renowned Madam Guo and leader of the Beggars' Sect, she should have presented her visiting card and been personally welcomed into the main hall by the Seven Masters of Quanzhen. But this time, she had ulterior motives.

Naturally, it was for that nemesis.

"I wonder how Guo'er has been doing on the mountain this past year, whether he has lost weight, and whether he... misses me."

Huang Rong lightly bit her red lips, and in the blink of her eyes, there was not a trace of her usual dignified and majestic appearance. She was clearly a young girl in the throes of first love, eager to meet her sweetheart.

If we go up the mountain in a big way, we will definitely be entangled by those old Taoists like Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji, who will talk some meaningless platitudes. We will also have to consider Madam Guo's status, and it will be difficult to see her alone.

"Since we've come to see Guo'er, we naturally need to find out where he is first."

Huang Rong chuckled, opened her bundle, and took out a Quanzhen Taoist robe that she had casually acquired along the way.

Before long, a handsome young Taoist priest emerged from the woods.

Her hair was tied up in a high bun, a whisk swayed lightly, and a light layer of ginger powder was applied to her face, concealing her originally stunning beauty, leaving only a pair of extremely bright eyes that darted around, revealing a clever and witty spirit.

"Brother Jing is too honest, that's why he was completely fooled by Yin Zhiping's letter. I want to see what kind of tricks the Quanzhen Sect is hiding."

Huang Rong's figure flickered, like a wisp of green smoke, and silently disappeared into the dense forest beside the mountain path.

……

Chongyang Palace becomes exceptionally quiet after nightfall.

With her unparalleled lightness skills from Peach Blossom Island and her mastery of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, Huang Rong moved as if she were in an empty place. She didn't go to the Sanqing Hall, but instead made her way to the disciples' residences.

If you want to get information, this is naturally the place with the best connections.

She was crouching under the eaves when she overheard two young Taoist priests on night patrol whispering in a corner, their voices tinged with barely concealed excitement.

"Ah, that battle with Junior Brother Yang the other day was so satisfying!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Another fat Taoist priest shouted for silence, but his face was beaming with excitement. "Do you even need to tell me? I get so angry at how arrogant those Mongol barbarians Huo Du is. Even our senior uncles couldn't handle them, but then Junior Brother Yang made a move, and hey! He took care of that Darba guy in no time!"

"If you ask me, the most satisfying thing isn't driving away the Mongols," the skinny Taoist said in a low voice, unable to hide his schadenfreude. "The most satisfying thing is seeing that hypocrite Zhao Zhijing get his comeuppance! He always takes advantage of being the chief disciple to let that Lu Qingdu bully men and women. How much humiliation have we suffered?"

"That's right! That fat pig Lu Qingdu used to kick everyone he saw. Now look what's happened, not only is he being humiliated in front of the mountain gate, but I heard that in the past year, whenever he dared to cause trouble in the back mountain, he always got beaten black and blue by Junior Brother Yang, coming back looking like a pig's head. And Junior Brother Yang is so skilled, and his reasons are perfectly legitimate, that even Uncle-Master Zhao... oh no, now it's that scoundrel Zhao Zhijing, he can't even protect him!"

"Tsk tsk, I have to admire him." The fat Taoist priest looked at him with admiration. "Junior Brother Yang has only been on the mountain for a little over a year, right? We never see him around. It turns out he's been hiding in the back mountain, working himself to the bone in his cultivation. With that kind of perseverance and talent, it's no wonder he was able to save face for the entire Quanzhen Sect."

"That's right, Junior Brother Yang is now the most outstanding among our third-generation disciples!" The skinny Taoist gave a thumbs up. "In the future, our Quanzhen Sect will have to rely on Junior Brother Yang."

Hearing this, Huang Rong, who was on the roof, finally felt relieved, and a proud smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.

"That little thief..."

She cursed inwardly, but her eyes and brows were full of smiles.

In Yin Zhiping's letter, he belittled Yang Guo to the point of worthlessness, saying he was disobedient and had fallen into demonic ways. Now it seems that it was clearly those narrow-minded Taoist priests who were jealous of talent!

When Guo'er stood up for them and drove away the powerful enemy, and also helped his fellow disciples teach the bully a lesson, this was clearly a chivalrous heart. Where was there any trace of "demonic path"?

"It seems that Brother Jing was worried for nothing. This child not only did not slack off, but also became a hero of the Quanzhen Sect."

Huang Rong was very pleased, and a sense of pride welled up in her heart that "her own child has made something of himself." She was even thinking about how to praise Yang Guo properly when she saw him later, and by the way... "reward" him a little.

However, the next moment, her brows furrowed slightly.

The two young Taoist priests just mentioned a place repeatedly—the back mountain.

"He's been cultivating diligently in the back mountains..." Huang Rong murmured to herself, a hint of doubt flashing in her wise eyes. "The front hall of the Quanzhen Sect is a place for training, but the back mountains are a forbidden area."

Since Yang Guo is in the back mountain, there's no good place for him to stay in Chongyang Palace in front.

Just as she was about to turn and head towards the back mountain, her gaze suddenly fell upon a secluded hermitage not far away. The hermitage was brightly lit, and two disciples were guarding the entrance, clearly indicating that the person living inside was of high status.

"That's... the residence of the third-generation head disciple?"

Huang Rong's heart skipped a beat. Among the third-generation disciples of the Quanzhen Sect, Zhao Zhijing was the leader. Judging from their words, Zhao Zhijing seemed to have been expelled. So now Yin Zhiping should be the leader.

The letter was written by Yin Zhiping. Since we're passing by, why not stop by and see what this upright gentleman is up to?

She lightly touched the ground with her toes, her figure moving like a gecko through the shadows of the wall, silently landing outside the back window of the hut.

He stretched out his finger, moistened it with saliva, and gently poked a small hole in the window paper.

Inside the room, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.

Yin Zhiping was not meditating or practicing martial arts, but sitting at the table, staring blankly at a piece of jade pendant of extremely poor quality.

The jade pendant was clearly a woman's item, but its workmanship was rough, like a cheap item from a street vendor. Yet Yin Zhiping caressed it with great enthusiasm, his eyes glazed over, and he murmured to himself.

"Miss Dragon..."

"Once Yang Guo leaves, no one in the Quanzhen Sect will be able to protect you..."

"I have already written to Guo Jing, saying that Yang Guo has practiced evil arts and colluded with a witch. With Guo Jing's stubborn nature, he will definitely capture Yang Guo and take him back to Peach Blossom Island to cripple his martial arts and discipline him strictly."

"By then, without this vicious dog guarding the gate, you, this high and mighty flower, will be at my mercy..."

The remaining half of the sentence was too soft to hear clearly, but Huang Rong saw that Yin Zhiping's face, which had originally looked fairly square, now revealed a nauseating lewdness and greed.

Huang Rong was all too familiar with that look in her eyes.

That's the same look Ouyang Ke gave her back then.

But Ouyang Ke was openly evil, while Yin Zhiping was merely a hypocrite, a despicable person in disguise!

"Pooh!"

Huang Rong cursed inwardly, feeling nauseous.

That's it!

What "yin-yang replenishment" and "falling into demonic ways"? They're all just excuses! This scoundrel clearly has his eye on that so-called Dragon Girl, and because Guo'er is getting in his way, he came up with this plan to use someone else to kill him, hoping to use Guo'er's hand to get rid of him!

What a brilliant disciple of Quanzhen! What a brilliant Yin Zhiping!

Huang Rong was burning with anger. She was the type of person who always sided with her own people, regardless of right or wrong, especially since Yang Guo had been wronged this time.

"Those who dare to scheme against me, Huang Rong, also dare to plot against Yang Guo..."

A dangerous glint flashed in Huang Rong's eyes.

"If I don't teach you a lesson you'll never forget, I'm not the leader of the Beggars' Sect!"

She didn't just rush in and kill him. That would be too easy on him, and it would easily alert him.

To deal with this kind of hypocrite, you have to make him suspicious.

inside the house.

Yin Zhiping was immersed in his own beautiful dream, fantasizing about the wonderful life after Yang Guo was taken away.

Sudden.

"call--"

A strange, eerie wind suddenly arose.

The oil lamp on the table went out without warning, plunging the room into a deathly silence and darkness.

"Who?!"

Yin Zhiping was startled and jumped to his feet, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Which fellow disciple is playing such a joke?!"

No one answered.

Only the rustling sound of the autumn wind sweeping through the treetops outside the window sounded like the whispers of countless vengeful ghosts.

Yin Zhiping swallowed hard, trying to remain calm. He took out the tinderbox and, with trembling hands, tried to relight the oil lamp.

"puff."

The tinderbox had just lit up, and before it could even get close to the wick, it was as if it had been extinguished by an invisible hand.

Immediately afterwards, a cold hand gently touched the back of his neck.

The touch was wet, slippery, and cold, like a snake's forked tongue.

"what!"

Yin Zhiping screamed in fright, shrank back, and knocked over the chair behind him.

"If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear. Yin Zhiping, your heart... is so black."

A fleeting, elusive voice echoed in the room. The voice was neither male nor female, shifting from left to right, as if it came from the deepest hell.

"Who are you? Don't play tricks! I am a disciple of Quanzhen Sect, protected by my ancestor. I am not afraid of you!" Yin Zhiping brandished his longsword, slashing wildly in the darkness.

"The founding master?"

The voice chuckled softly, laced with deep mockery, "If Wang Chongyang knew he had a disciple like you, he'd be turning in his grave."

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap sounded.

Yin Zhiping felt a sharp pain in his left cheek and was spun around on the spot as if he had been hit.

Before he could even stand up straight...

"Snapped!"

Another hard blow to the right cheek.

"These two slaps are for your master, to teach you how to be a decent human being."

Huang Rong moved through the darkness like a ghost. She did not use her internal energy to kill him, but instead used her exquisite "Falling Flower Divine Sword Palm" technique, specifically targeting the thickest and most painful parts of his body.

Yin Zhiping was so dizzy from the beating that he couldn't even touch the hem of his opponent's clothes, and his fear was amplified to an extreme.

Finally, Huang Rong grabbed his collar, lifted him up, and casually threw him onto the table.

"Trying to scheme against Yang Guo?"

Huang Rong leaned close to his ear, her voice suddenly turning icy and chilling, "Is that someone you can touch?"

"A toad lusting after a swan, doesn't it even know how to look at itself in the mirror?"

After saying that, Huang Rong took out a "itchy pill" from her bosom. It was a modified version of the Old Urchin's recipe. Although it was not fatal, it could make people itch all over for three days and three nights, and the more they scratched, the itchier it became.

She pinched open Yin Zhiping's chin and flicked it in.

"Cough cough cough... What did you feed me?!" Yin Zhiping coughed in terror.

"This is a good thing, something that helps you calm down."

Before he could finish speaking, the window was suddenly blown open by the wind.

When Yin Zhiping lit the tinderbox again, the room was already empty.

On the desktop, there was a new line of large characters written in ink, next to which was a drawing of a turtle with its head tucked in:

[Despicable and shameless, you're a disgrace to humanity. If you commit any more evil deeds, I'll take your dog's life!]

As Yin Zhiping looked at the words, he felt an intense, tingling itch spreading throughout his body.

"A ghost...it really is a ghost..."

He collapsed to the ground, trembling, his eyes filled with terror.

……

The edge of the dense forest behind Chongyang Palace.

Huang Rong was in a great mood. She dusted off her hands and listened to the screams coming from the distant hermitage. A smile appeared on her lips.

"Hmph, killing this kind of scoundrel would only dirty my hands. Let him itch for three days and see if he still has the mind to think about those sordid things."

After dealing with the buzzing fly, Huang Rong looked up into the deeper mountains and forests.

It was pitch black there, with only the mournful sound of the wind whistling through the treetops, carrying a chilling aura.

Huang Rong, however, was not afraid and continued on alone. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, a stone tablet suddenly appeared, on which was written: "Forbidden Zone. Anyone who enters without permission will be put to death."

Looking at the inscription on the monument, Huang Rong felt somewhat dazed.

"Why does this look so familiar?"

"Is this not a moment's time?"

While Yang Guo was on Peach Blossom Island, Huang Rong taught him to read and write every day, so she naturally recognized Yang Guo's handwriting.

"This kid is truly audacious and reckless, even scribbling on the forbidden stone tablet of the Quanzhen Sect!"

Huang Rong chuckled softly, her longing to see Yang Guo growing stronger. Just as she was about to gather her strength and fly deeper into the distance, she suddenly stopped after taking a step.

She looked down at the Taoist robe she was wearing.

They had ridden at full speed from Xiangyang, covered in dust and grime. Although they had disguised themselves, their clothes were not only stained with dust but also smelled of horse sweat.

Just now, in order to teach Yin Zhiping a lesson, I spent half a day lying on the roof beam, and I got quite a bit of dust on myself.

"no."

Huang Rong wrinkled her delicate nose, sniffed her sleeve with disdain, and said, "If I go to see my son looking like this, wouldn't that little thief look down on me?"

not to mention……

Huang Rong subconsciously touched the bundle in her arms. Inside, she had specially brought the pink mandarin duck-patterned bodice.

"Those kinds of embarrassing things should naturally be worn after bathing and changing clothes, so that you smell nice."

Thinking of this, Huang Rong's initial eagerness subsided somewhat.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so one more night won't make a difference.

Huang Rong's eyes flickered as she looked at a mountain stream not far away. "Since we're going to catch that heart thief, I naturally have to make myself look beautiful so that he can't take his eyes off me."

Having made up her mind, she turned around and, instead of heading deeper into the forbidden area, found a sheltered cave.

"Let's get some rest tonight."

"I'll go look for Guo'er again tomorrow!"