Wandering Swordsman |

At this moment, Yun Jingchen, the leader of the Emei Sect, had arrived at Zhou Xinlian's side, put his hand on her shoulder, and asked with concern, "Xinlian, are you alright?" Her eyes were full of worry, and she was obviously extremely dissatisfied with what had just happened.

After Zhou Xinlian assured her that she was alright, the Emei Sect Leader turned to Shen Mo and bowed deeply, saying, "Young brother, if it weren't for your timely assistance today, the consequences would have been unimaginable. On behalf of the Emei Sect, I extend my sincerest gratitude to you." Her voice was calm and solemn, and every word was sincere.

Shen Mo quickly returned the greeting: "Senior, you flatter me. As a member of the martial arts world, I was just doing what I should do."

Meanwhile, the Diancang Sect disciple had already been captured by the sect leader's men. Diancang Sect Leader Duan Qianya's face was extremely grim in front of everyone; he knew this incident not only caused the Diancang Sect to lose face but could also potentially provoke conflict with the Emei Sect.

The Emei Sect leader angrily shouted at the Diancang Sect leader below the arena, "Sect Leader Duan, you must discipline your disciple! This despicable behavior is an insult to our Taoist sect!"

Duan Qianya's face was ashen. He knew the situation was serious, but he also understood that the most important thing now was to quell the storm. He suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Sect Leader Yun, I will deal with this matter severely and will not tolerate it."

However, the atmosphere remained tense, with murmurs rising and falling among the audience, clearly indicating their extreme dissatisfaction with the Diancang Sect's behavior. Seeing this, Zhang Taixuan, the leader of the Wudang Sect and the organizer of the temple fair, immediately stepped in to mediate.

Zhang Taixuan stepped onto the arena, looked around, and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet! Today's temple fair is to enhance friendship and exchange between different sects, not to create conflict. We should value harmony and work together to maintain harmony in the martial arts world."

His voice was loud and powerful, quickly attracting everyone's attention. The commotion below the stage gradually subsided, and everyone turned to look at him with anticipation.

Zhang Taixuan continued, "Although the disciples of the Diancang Sect have made a mistake, we cannot let it spoil the atmosphere of this grand event. I believe that Sect Leader Jiang will give the Emei Sect a satisfactory answer."

Duan Qianya took a deep breath, stood up, and bowed to the entire audience: "Fellow martial arts practitioners, today's events are the fault of my Diancang Sect. I will severely punish the disciples involved and publicly apologize to the Emei Sect."

The Emei Sect leader nodded, his tone softening slightly: "Since Sect Leader Duan has made this statement, we are willing to accept the apology. However, we hope that similar incidents will not occur again in the future."

The matter seemed to have been initially resolved, but the atmosphere on the arena remained somewhat tense. Zhou Xinlian walked to Yun Jingchen's side and whispered the story: "Master, I met that Diancang disciple at the martial arts alliance meeting two years ago, and he began pursuing me afterward. But I was focused on pursuing the Dao and didn't want to get involved in romantic relationships, so I rejected him several times. I didn't expect him to come to the Wudang temple fair this time..."

Upon hearing this, Yun Jingchen frowned deeply: "So that's how it is. No wonder he went so crazy." A hint of anger and worry flashed in her eyes, clearly indicating her extreme dissatisfaction with the matter. As the leader of the Emei Sect, she knew that such an incident not only affected Zhou Xinlian's personal safety but could also damage the reputation of the entire sect.

Shen Mo, who was standing nearby, naturally heard Zhou Xinlian's words and couldn't help but sigh to himself: It seems that being too beautiful also brings a lot of trouble.

Yun Jingchen gently patted Zhou Xinlian's hand and said softly, "Xinlian, you should rest for a while. Let the other junior sisters take your place in the remaining matches." Her tone was full of concern, as if she was trying her best to protect her beloved disciple from further harm.

Zhou Xinlian nodded. Although she still felt resentful, she understood her master's intentions. She slowly turned and walked off the stage, returning to the area where the Emei Sect was located. She sat down and closed her eyes to regulate her breathing. Although her body was exhausted, her mind was far from calm. The sudden turn of events had made her realize that the dangers of the martial world were far more complex than they appeared on the surface.

Shen Mo stood aside, quietly observing everything. He knew that in this turbulent world of martial arts, especially a beautiful woman like Zhou Xinlian, she was more likely to become a target for some people.

At this point, the matter seemed to be temporarily resolved, and just as they were preparing to resume the duel, a scream suddenly rang out. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a Huashan Sect disciple lying on the ground, clutching his chest and coughing up blood. The surrounding disciples rushed over to try to help, but the situation did not look optimistic.

Zhang Taixuan rushed to the scene and, after examining the injuries, his expression changed drastically: "Someone has secretly poisoned me!"

These words immediately threw the entire venue into chaos. The leaders of various sects rushed forward to investigate, their expressions grave. Clearly, this was no ordinary accident, but rather a deliberate attempt to disrupt the temple fair. Zhang Taixuan, disregarding everything else, immediately ordered his men to help the Huashan disciple to his feet, and personally used his internal energy to expel the poison from him.

In the chaos, taking advantage of the crowd's attention being drawn to the poisoning incident, the Diancang Sect disciple swiftly broke free from his fellow disciples' grasp. His movements were agile and decisive, as if premeditated. With a flash, he squeezed a path through the crowd and sprinted towards the temple fair's exit.

"Catch him! Don't let him get away!" Several disciples of the Diancang Sect immediately gave chase, shouting as they ran. However, in the chaotic situation, their shouts were quickly drowned out by the noise and panic of the crowd. Most people were focused on the reactions of the fallen Huashan Sect disciples and Wudang Sect members, and no one noticed the fleeing figure.

Shen Mo keenly noticed this scene and frowned slightly. He immediately gave chase, but due to the chaos at the scene and Shen Mo's extremely fast movements, no one noticed his departure.

The hearts of all the disciples present were filled with unease. Having witnessed the sudden poisoning, they were filled with fear and anxiety. Everyone was afraid they might be the next to be poisoned. Some began to whisper among themselves, speculating about who had done it; others nervously looked around, fearing danger might strike at any moment. A suffocating atmosphere hung in the air, as if a greater storm was about to break.

After the Huashan disciples were out of danger, Zhang Taixuan quickly organized the leaders and elders of various sects to discuss countermeasures. He said in a deep voice, "Everyone, the most important thing now is to stabilize the situation and prevent it from deteriorating further. We must rescue the people as soon as possible and find out who is behind this."

Just then, a Qingcheng Sect disciple suddenly clutched his chest, collapsed to the ground in agony, and coughed up blood. The surrounding disciples gasped in alarm, and the situation became even more tense.