Jianghu Qimen Lu

Liang Erji sneered and said sarcastically, "How can you be so brainless? Our main force has gone to Xiaojinchuan Official Residence, and we've completely surrounded that tiny place, like an iron barrel! Even if the Japanese wanted to invade our Qiongshan Official Residence, they wouldn't have the strength! Your mother is really something, always so suspicious and cowardly. What great things can she accomplish in the future?!"

Yu Ruyi thought it made sense. She thought to herself, "As my master, who understands Teng Linjun better than me? He is always cautious and steady in his work. With the army pressing down on the city, he will definitely not launch another sneak attack on my Qiongshan official residence! As for Xiaojinchuan official residence, my father and the others are shouting and fighting at the front gate, like dark clouds pressing down on the city and about to collapse. The rear must be empty. Liang Erji and I can take advantage of the situation and rescue my brother from prison without anyone knowing! Mother will forgive us then." She readily agreed.

Originally, both men were high-ranking generals in the army, and Xiangquan had assigned them to guard the village gate at the foot of the mountain and the plank road halfway up the mountain, respectively, both of which were the most important passes and routes! However, the two men rashly assigned this heavy responsibility to their deputy generals and then left! This ultimately led to a great disaster, and the Qiongshan official village was easily swallowed up by others, but that is another story.

The two men each chose a fine steed from the military camp and galloped away like a wisp of smoke. They deliberately chose to travel through deserted wilderness, taking shortcuts and small paths, and arrived at the back gate of the Xiaojinchuan official residence in less than half a day.

As the sun set and night fell, it was a cloudy night with no moon; visibility was extremely low. Liang Erji chuckled and said, "It seems even the heavens are on our side. There's hope of saving your brother tonight!" Yu Ruyi smiled and whispered, "Let's hope so. When we deliver my brother safely to my mother, she'll be beaming with joy and reward us handsomely in front of everyone! We'll regain the face we lost during the day!"

Seeing Liang Erji nod, looking very happy, he asked quietly, "I heard from the soldiers that you dare not admit our relationship. What do you mean?" Only then did Liang Erji realize that the harsh words he had spoken to her when she was being led to the execution ground, wanting to sever all ties with her, were probably already told to her by those with ulterior motives in the army!

He immediately evaded the question, saying, "You're overthinking it! There's a deeper reason why I don't want others to know about our relationship: you're a virgin of marriageable age, how could you possibly have an affair with any man? I hate gossipy people the most, they'd love to portray you as a promiscuous and shameless woman! How could I dare admit our relationship in public? I can only try my best to cover it up for you!"

"So that's how it is!" Yu Ruyi immediately felt relieved, as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. She let out a long sigh and said, "Alright, let's get started!" The two of them hid the horses and quickly climbed up the high gate tower. In the blink of an eye, Liang Erji struck the guards with his canes, knocking them unconscious one by one, and they fell silently onto the stone floor of the tower.

Yu Ruyi secretly praised, "Your kung fu is getting better and better! Is the injury on your waist and ribs healed?" Liang Erji chuckled softly, "I feel much better now. So much time has passed, and with my constant practice of internal energy to heal the injury, the bone should have healed by now!" Yu Ruyi said gently with concern, "You still need to be careful. Be careful not to exert yourself too much, lest the bone break and the old injury recur!" Liang Erji smiled coldly, "I won't die!" Then he leaped down from the city wall and headed straight for the main building.

Yu Ruyi, like a large bird, moved with the agility of a wisp of smoke, gracefully following. The two arrived at the main building entrance in an instant, where they found four Japanese ninjas guarding it. Yu Ruyi took the lead, unleashing a "scattering flowers" technique, sending four iron caltrops flying from her hand. Before the four ninjas could even utter a sound, they were all twisted and fell to the ground, lifeless. Each of them had a blood-stained iron caltrop embedded in their throat!

The two men quickly stripped the clothes off the two corpses, changed into them, and transformed themselves into two masked Japanese ninjas. They then disposed of the four bodies before swaggering into the main building's stairwell and quickly reaching the underground prison. Several prison guards blocked the cell door, one of them shouting in Japanese, "Who are you? What do you want?"

Yu Ruyi, having grown up in a Japanese ninja training camp, naturally spoke Japanese. She shouted, "What's all the noise about! We're here on the orders of our sect leader, Mr. Fujibayashi, to interrogate that prisoner we just arrested this morning, what's his name, Bai Jin? Take us there now!" The jailer hurriedly asked, "Do you have the sect leader's token?" Unexpectedly, Yu Ruyi rushed forward and slapped him twice across the face, yelling, "Damn it, are you blind? Don't you even recognize the sect leader's personal guard? What token do you need! You're asking for it!"

The jailer was stunned by the beating, thinking to himself, "I've been on duty at the dungeon entrance all this time, and I really don't recognize the sect leader's personal bodyguard. Besides, we're all dressed as ninjas, and we're always masked. Even if we met, we wouldn't recognize each other!" Seeing Yu Ruyi about to strike again, he hurriedly opened the cell door, forcing a smile, and said, "Don't get angry, brothers. I'll take you two there right away! Follow me—" He led the way into the dark dungeon passageway.

The passageway, about two meters wide, stretched far into the distance. On both sides were low, locked cells with iron doors, from which faint, mournful cries and groans could be heard. In this vast dungeon, only a single, flickering lamp embedded in the stone wall emitted a chillingly dim light. Layers of water droplets rolled on the damp stone ceiling, occasionally dripping down to the shallow water on the floor with a tinkling sound, further enhancing the eerie and terrifying atmosphere of the dungeon!

The jailer led the two to the innermost cell and yanked open the chains. But before he could even push the door open, the two iron doors were suddenly smashed open from the inside with a loud bang. The impact slammed the jailer against the stone wall, splattering his brains and killing him instantly! Luckily, Yu Ruyi and Liang Erji were quick-witted and immediately lay flat on their backs, narrowly avoiding the fierce blow!

As the two of them sprang to their feet, they saw a huge black cat leap out of the cell! With a whoosh, it bared its teeth and claws and attacked Liang Erji! Yu Ruyi hurriedly called out, "Jin'er, it's me!" The big cat was indeed agile. Just as it was about to pounce on Liang Erji's face, it suddenly somersaulted and lightly kicked his chest with its hind paw, flipping away with lightning speed!

Standing on the damp stone floor, he had transformed into a wealthy young master in fine clothes! It was none other than Mr. Bai Jin, the leader of the Cat Ghost Evil Sect, known in the martial arts world as Mad Dragon! He cried out in ecstasy, "Sister! Is that you? What brings you here? Did you come here specifically to save me?" Yu Ruyi lifted her veil, and Bai Jin, both surprised and delighted, rushed into her arms, embracing her and weeping.

Bai Jin said with great frustration, "Last night, while I was fast asleep, someone drugged me and brought me here. They put me in handcuffs and leg irons and chained me to the stone slab. The drug was too strong; I only just woke up. I used my 'slimming and unshackle-removing technique' to free myself from the restraints when I heard the sound of the cell door opening. I rushed over and gave the iron door a flying kick! But it was one of our own people; I almost hit you!"

Yu Ruyi smiled and said, "Luckily we acted quickly, otherwise things would have been disastrous!" Bai Jin was shocked and asked, "What exactly happened? Tell me in detail, sister!" Just then, a commotion erupted outside, and countless ninjas rushed in! Liang Erji, enraged, said, "Look, how many times have I told you to rescue your brother without anyone noticing, but what happened? Sigh, General Bai, really, why did you break down the door? Couldn't you have used a surprise attack? As a top assassin, you're far from qualified!"

Bai Jin flew into a rage and shouted, "Who are you? How dare you speak to me like that!" Liang Erji scoffed, "What time is it? Still trying to be tough! How do you think you're going to escape from so many ferocious ninjas?!" As he spoke, a dark mass of ninjas surrounded them, completely blocking their way!

After kowtowing three times, Bai Jin raised his head and said indignantly, "Master, you always taught us brothers to be upright and honest, and to treat our own people with sincerity and without malice! But why did you send someone to ambush me last night and secretly kidnap my disciple here?"

Hearing this, Teng Linjun flew into a rage, shouting, "You unfilial disciple! Do you think I know nothing about what you and your sister have been up to lately? You two are two-faced, hypocritical, saying one thing to my face and another behind my back. You've committed countless acts of betrayal, disloyalty, and treason! And now you dare to blame me for arresting you last night? You're utterly incorrigible! I was initially reluctant to punish you because of our years of master-disciple relationship, but now it seems unnecessary. I have no choice but to cleanse the sect!"

With a shout, he suddenly struck out with two palms, aiming straight for the tops of Yu Ruyi and her brother's heads! The two seemingly ordinary palms contained boundless internal force, forming a vast net of magic that enveloped the two. The two tried to stand up and dodge, but it was as if a powerful force was sucking them in, and they could not move at all. They could only grit their teeth and catch the blow!

These two palm strikes were incredibly powerful, knocking the two unconscious! It seems that no matter how skilled or capable my disciple is, he is still inferior to his master and cannot be compared to him!