The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

Originally, no matter how abnormal this person was, Jiang Ning had no interest in investigating him. However, when Jiang Ning looked over, he found that this person was staring intently at him, while not even glancing at Liu Zhengfeng, who was in the center of attention.

When he realized that Jiang Ning had noticed him, the man opened his mouth and silently said something to Jiang Ning before turning around and disappearing into the crowd.

Ok?

Seeing this, Jiang Ning narrowed his eyes slightly.

He didn't understand lip reading, but the man's actions clearly indicated that he was coming for him, and the man's departure at the end was a hint for him to follow.

“Master, there’s a strange person leading me out. I’m going to take a look.”

Jiang Ning leaned down and whispered to Yue Buqun.

"Who?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun immediately turned his gaze to the group of martial arts practitioners present.

Jiang Ning said, "He has already left."

Yue Buqun frowned slightly: "Be careful. If you notice anything amiss, come back immediately, or shout loudly, and I will come right away."

The Golden Basin Tournament has already begun, and he and Ning Zhongze cannot leave halfway through. If Lu Dayou and the others go out with Jiang Ning and something goes wrong with that person, Lu Dayou and the other disciples will become a burden to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning nodded, then quietly left without attracting anyone's attention.

After bypassing the crowd, Jiang Ning followed the man's trail and left the Liu residence, heading towards a nearby alley.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning felt a little strange. This place was not far from Liu's residence. If this person wanted to harm him or set up an ambush, he would at least be far away, not near Liu's residence.

He doesn't seem to be someone with ill intentions.

Even with this thought in mind, Jiang Ning did not let his guard down. Instead, he approached the alley with full vigilance, his hand already on the hilt of his sword at his waist, ready to draw it at the slightest sign of trouble.

However, when Jiang Ning arrived at the alley entrance, he found the alley empty except for the hunchbacked man who had led him out.

Looking at the person in front of him, Jiang Ning narrowed his eyes and was about to ask a question, but the next second the person knelt down in front of him with a thud, his head deeply touching the ground.

“I had no choice but to lead you here, sir. I am burdened with a blood feud, and you are the most benevolent and righteous of all. In this world, only you can avenge me. I had no other option but to resort to this desperate measure. I beg your forgiveness, sir. I implore the heroes of the Huashan Sect to help me. If you can help me avenge my grievances, I am willing to pay any price.”

The voice sounded exceptionally young.

Looking at the person kneeling before him, Jiang Ning frowned slightly and asked, "What's your name?"

"Lin Pingzhi".

Chapter 77: Songshan Sect

It's him?

Jiang Ning looked surprised.

He had been wondering where this person had gone, but unexpectedly, the person came to him on their own initiative.

"Is the enemy you're talking about Yu Canghai of the Qingcheng Sect?"

Upon hearing this, the person kneeling before him suddenly raised his head, his eyes fixed on Jiang Ning, revealing a deep-seated hatred, though this hatred was not directed at Jiang Ning.

"That's right, it's Yu Canghai and his disciple."

"Yu Canghai wanted to seize the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual of my Lin family. He killed many of my uncles from the Fuwei Escort Agency and forced my parents to hand over the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual. I don't know where my parents have been imprisoned by him, and their fate is unknown. I humbly beg you, great hero, to help me."

Lin Pingzhi knelt before Jiang Ning, tears streaming down his face, leaving streaks on his grime-covered skin.

Hearing Lin Pingzhi's words, Jiang Ning's face remained expressionless as she simply stared at him.

The person in front of me can be described as a tragedy throughout the entire novel, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer; his misfortune began right from the very beginning.

Jiang Ning knew about his storyline, but he didn't know when the Fuwei Escort Agency was wiped out. In the previous year, he had spent almost all his time in Shanxi killing officials and wealthy merchants and providing relief to disaster victims. When he went to the Qingcheng Sect again, Yu Canghai and his disciples had already left the Taoist temple. Later, when Jiang Ning returned to Mount Hua and learned about it from Yue Buqun, several months had passed. By then, it was too late to go to Fujian.

Jiang Ning pondered for a moment and said, "I have heard about your matter from my master and my senior sister Yue Lingshan. Originally, this matter was a feud between your Lin family and the Qingcheng Sect, and it was inconvenient for my Huashan Sect to interfere. However, you suffered this fate while protecting my senior sister, and my Huashan Sect cannot stand idly by."

Righteous sects value having a legitimate reason for their actions. It is undeniable that Yu Canghai's purpose in massacring the Fuwei Escort Agency was to obtain the Evil-Slaying Sword Manual. However, his son died at the hands of Lin Pingzhi. If Yu Canghai wanted to use revenge for his son as a pretext, other sects would find it inconvenient to intervene.

But Jiang Ning was different. He had learned the details of the trip to Fujian from Yue Lingshan, which gave him and the Huashan Sect a reason to take action.

That's how righteous sects are. Apart from eradicating the demonic sect, they need a legitimate reason to do anything else. Even if Jiang Ning wanted to help Lin Pingzhi, he needed a reason, otherwise his actions would bring a reputation crisis to the Huashan Sect.

He is not Linghu Chong, who can act entirely according to his own whims. He wants to lead the Huashan Sect to flourish on the righteous path, so he cannot act recklessly.

If the name is not correct, then the words will not be proper; if the words are not proper, then things will not be accomplished.

"Get up."

Jiang Ning said to Lin Pingzhi.

Upon hearing that Jiang Ning would stand up for him, Lin Pingzhi's face lit up with excitement.

There's a reason why he only sought out Jiang Ning and no one else.

Aside from the fact that he had clearly witnessed Jiang Ning's brutal beating of the unknown Qingcheng Sect disciple and his exchange of blows with Yu Canghai from the outside, he felt that even if others wouldn't help him, Jiang Ning definitely would.

He made the right bet!

"Thank you, thank you."

Lin Pingzhi felt a lump in his throat and burst into tears of joy.

He was originally just a carefree rich young master, but after his family suffered such a great change, he experienced the coldness and warmth of human relationships that he had never felt in the past twenty years in just a few months. The fact that this proud rich young master had to kneel down to others shows how much of a blow he had suffered.

"You don't need to kneel before me."

Jiang Ning told him to get up and said, "After the Hengshan Sect's Uncle Liu's Golden Basin Washing Hands Ceremony, I will personally go to Yu Canghai to ask for the person."

Lin Pingzhi nodded repeatedly. For the past few months, his heart had been shrouded in despair. Now that there was hope, he didn't mind waiting a little longer.

After he finished speaking, Jiang Ning took him back to the Liu residence.

When Yue Buqun noticed Jiang Ning's return, a look of relief flashed in his eyes, but he looked surprised when he saw the hunched-over person behind Jiang Ning.

“Master, he is Lin Pingzhi.”

Knowing what Yue Buqun was thinking, Jiang Ning said in a low voice.

"It's him?"

Yue Buqun was even more surprised. He didn't say anything, but just looked at Jiang Ning, the questioning look in his eyes becoming even more obvious.

Jiang Ning said, "His parents have been imprisoned by Yu Canghai, and he wants us to rescue them."

Yue Buqun suddenly realized, but then his brows furrowed, and he said in a tone that only Jiang Ning could hear, "My Huashan Sect has no reason to help him?"

"He helped Senior Sister Ling Shan."

Jiang Ning didn't say much, but with just this one sentence, Yue Buqun understood what Jiang Ning meant.

Jiang Ning wanted to use Yue Lingshan as an excuse to force Yu Canghai to release the person.

Without further conversation, Yue Buqun nodded slightly, indicating his agreement.

Lin Pingzhi was too far away to know what Jiang Ning and Yue Buqun were saying, but he did see Yue Buqun nodding, which made him even more excited.

"Huh? Who are you? Why are you back with Junior Brother? Do you two know each other?"

Yue Lingshan's voice rang out as she looked curiously at Lin Pingzhi, who was standing right behind their Huashan Sect, and asked.

When Lin Pingzhi saw the girl he had once saved, he quickly shook his head and turned away without saying a word.

"strangeness."

Yue Lingshan frowned at his appearance, but then ignored it.

At this moment, Jiang Ning noticed that the atmosphere in the room had cooled down and was not as lively as before. The surrounding martial arts figures were all staring silently at Liu Zhengfeng in the center, who was holding up a yellow silk cloth with both hands.

"The imperial officials just arrived, and Junior Brother Liu received an official position from them."

Yue Buqun explained to Jiang Ning in a low voice.

Jiang Ning nodded in understanding; he remembered this part of the story.

Next, the people from the Songshan Sect should arrive.

Seeing the increasingly indifferent attitude of his fellow martial artists, Liu Zhengfeng didn't care. Although people in the martial arts world looked down on the imperial court and disdained to associate with it, he had already given his reasons and would no longer concern himself with the affairs of the martial arts world. He didn't care anymore.

"Take the golden basin."

Liu Zhengfeng said to the disciples beside him.

The disciple nodded and then brought over the golden basin that had been prepared beforehand.

Liu Zhengfeng placed the imperial edict on the table, rolled up his sleeves, and stretched out his hands to put them into the basin.

"Wait a minute!"

A loud shout rang out from outside, and several middle-aged men rushed in with a group of people, stopping Liu Zhengfeng's actions.

People from the Songshan Sect have arrived.

Jiang Ning could tell from their clothing that they were from the Songshan Sect.

He was the most aware among those present of the purpose of the Songshan Sect's trip.

Liu Zhengfeng's entire family was massacred by the Songshan Sect at the very beginning of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, even when he was about to retire from the martial arts world. The cause of this was Liu Zhengfeng's association with Qu Yang of the Demonic Sect.

Even though Jiang Ning hadn't read much of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer before, he had been in this world for over a decade and had a clear understanding of the actions of the Demonic Sect. He had also witnessed them firsthand, such as Hu Anyu of Xiangyang Prefecture. During his travels, he had also seen some members of the Demonic Sect.

He wouldn't immediately draw a conclusion as to whether all members of the Demonic Cult deserved to die, but he had heard of Qu Yang before.

Previously, when Jiang Ning left Xiangyang and traveled north through Huaiqing Prefecture, he visited Yuzhou, where he learned about what Qu Yang had done.

Qu Yang once dug up the tomb of Cai Yong of the Eastern Han Dynasty and stole the Guangling San from it. When Cai Yong's descendants discovered this and tried to retrieve it, Qu Yang massacred them.

How can someone like this be described as a pure white lotus flower emerging from the mud of a demonic sect?

Chapter 78: Liu Zhengfeng, the Love-Obsessed Girl

"Senior Brother Lu? Senior Brother Ding? Junior Brother Fei?"

Liu Zhengfeng was surprised to see that the people sent by Songshan were Lu Bai, Ding Mian, and Fei Bin.

"I, Liu Zhengfeng, am about to retire from the criminal world. Why are you three stopping me?"