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

Yue Buqun looked at him coldly: "Last year, your disciples Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong encountered my Huashan Sect disciple Linghu Chong and my daughter Lingshan in Hanzhong. At that time, your disciples spoke rudely to my daughter. I thought this was due to their improper conduct and had nothing to do with the Qingcheng Sect. However, your son Yu Renyan did the same thing in Fujian. Your personal disciples and your own son are of such character. Is this how the Qingcheng Sect educates its disciples? Is this the righteous way?"

"Your disciple has twice spoken rudely to my daughter. Does Abbot Yu intend to give me an explanation? Do you really think I have no temper?"

Is this even possible?

All the martial arts practitioners looked at Yu Canghai and his Qingcheng Sect disciples in surprise.

What's wrong with your Qingcheng Sect? You've been caught red-handed twice for harassing women, and the women you harassed were even the only daughter of Sect Leader Yue. And yet you're still going after them?

Yu Canghai's face was grim. After a moment of silence, he said, "This matter may be a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"

At this moment, Laudenuo, whose face was still swollen, stepped forward, following closely behind Yue Buqun, and sneered, "We weren't the only ones there at the time; your other disciple was also there. Ask him if it's a misunderstanding!"

Laudenuo pointed to one of the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect.

Although Laudenau was an inside man, he acted perfectly well before his identity was exposed, just like now.

When Laudenuo pointed at him, the disciple instinctively shrank back, looking somewhat flustered.

Those in the martial arts world present immediately understood what was going on based on his reaction, and they all looked at Yu Canghai with strange expressions.

Abbess Dingyi, known for her fiery temper, directly questioned Yu Canghai: "Abbot Yu, what's going on here?"

The Five Mountains Sword Sects are one family. Regardless of whether this is truly the case internally, when outsiders bully their disciples, their stance must be consistent. Tianmen Daoist is no exception. His red face stares intently at Yu Canghai, waiting for an explanation.

Seeing that things were not going well, Yu Canghai's expression became even more unpleasant, but then his eyes darted around and he sneered, "Sect Leader Yue, you say my son harassed your daughter, where are the witnesses? It's not that I don't believe you, Sect Leader Yue, but it was your sect's disciple who harassed my son, and no one else saw it. Neither did my Qingcheng Sect disciple see it either. Moreover, my son is already dead, and yet you still slander him like this. I, Yu, will not accept it!"

“Master Yu”.

Jiang Ning asked, "Do you recognize this person?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Canghai looked at Jiang Ning, only to see Jiang Ning pointing to a spot where a disheveled man was standing.

"Yu Canghai!"

A voice filled with hatred came from this person's mouth.

"Where did this beggar come from?"

Luo Renjie of the Qingcheng Sect covered his nose in disgust and said, "You didn't just find some random beggar to slander my Qingcheng Sect, did you?"

Jiang Ning sneered, "What? The person you've been searching for all this time is standing right in front of you, and you don't recognize him?"

"what?"

Yu Canghai was taken aback, then looked at the man with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.

"Are you Lin Pingzhi?"

Lin Pingzhi lifted his messy hair, wiped the dirt off his face, revealing a handsome and dashing face.

"It really is you!"

Yu Canghai's expression changed drastically.

"It seems you recognized him."

Jiang Ning sneered and said, "Your son, Yu Renyan, harassed my Huashan disciples, and Lin Pingzhi stepped in to save him, accidentally killing your son in the process. The witness is right here. Does Abbot Yu still want to deny it?"

Yu Canghai never expected that Lin Pingzhi, whom he had been searching for for months, would suddenly appear in front of him as a witness. This left him unable to react quickly, so he could only remain silent.

"It seems that Abbot Yu's silence is an admission of consent."

However, Jiang Ning wouldn't give him time to think of a solution, pressing him relentlessly with a chilling tone: "Your Qingcheng Sect disciples are of questionable character, provoking my Huashan Sect twice. Abbot Yu, how do you intend to give the Huashan Sect an explanation?"

Jiang Ning stared at him fiercely, his sword slightly raised, as if he would draw his sword against Yu Canghai if he said anything wrong.

Clang~ Clang~ Clang~

A series of sword-drawing sounds rang out, and Lu Dayou, Gao Genming, and other Huashan disciples who had followed also drew their swords.

Yue Buqun's attitude was already clear. He didn't say anything, but Jiang Ning's words represented his stance, so the Huashan disciples naturally had no reservations.

Linghu Chong was even more excited; the endless fights were incredibly thrilling for him.

Yu Canghai's face was grim, and the Qingcheng disciples behind him also placed their hands on their swords, nervously watching the Huashan disciples opposite them.

The Qingcheng Sect can easily manipulate the Fuwei Escort Agency, but the Huashan Sect is different.

"What does Sect Leader Yue want? My son, Renjie, has already been killed. Do you want me to dig up his remains for your sect to avenge him?"

After a brief moment of thought, Yu Canghai decided not to argue with the Huashan Sect about whether or not the matter actually happened, but instead to feign weakness.

Even if it was my son who did it, so what? He's already dead. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Do you hate him so much that you want to whip his corpse?

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun shook his head and said, "Since your son has already paid for his mistakes with his life, then I, Yue, will not pursue the matter too much. However, you have taken your anger out on Lin Pingzhi and slaughtered the entire Fuwei Escort Agency. Is this not a matter of justice?"

Yue Buqun didn't reveal that he wanted to seize the Evil-Slaying Sword Technique, ultimately saving face for Yu Canghai.

Moreover, if this matter were exposed, his position of sending Yue Lingshan and Lao Denuo to Fujian would be untenable.

Lin Pingzhi stared intently at Yu Canghai, his eyes filled with deep-seated hatred: "Yu Canghai, where have you imprisoned my parents?!"

"Ah!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Canghai sneered, "A life for a life is a matter of course. Lin Pingzhi killed my beloved son, so it's not unreasonable for me to avenge him, is it? Why does your Huashan Sect have to interfere in this? You're meddling too much."

“It’s not excessive, but Lin Pingzhi incurred your revenge because he helped save my Huashan disciples. The Fuwei Escort Agency was destroyed, and I, Yue, will take responsibility for this.”

Yue Buqun looked at him: "Master Yu, as the saying goes, every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt its debtor. If you want to avenge your son, you only need to find Lin Pingzhi. Why did you have to massacre the entire Fuwei Escort Agency and seize their property? The Qingcheng Sect is a righteous sect, but you massacred the Fuwei Escort Agency to avenge your son. Is such a bloody and cruel revenge the behavior of the righteous path? How innocent were those you killed? Do you want them to be buried with your son? How is what you did any different from the demonic sect?"

Other sects and martial artists in the Jianghu despise the actions of the Qingcheng Sect, but since they are using the banner of avenging their son, even if they go too far, they can't say anything. However, now that the Huashan Sect's leader, Master Yue, has stepped forward to speak out for the Fuwei Escort Agency, other martial artists who have long disliked the Qingcheng Sect's behavior will naturally not let this opportunity pass.

You can't do whatever you want just because you're in the right. Others will see what you do. When they find out that you're using morality as a pretext to act recklessly, they will retaliate against you when they use the same moral banner.

Chapter 81: We Treat You Like Family

Needless to say, both Master Dingyi and Daoist Tianmen looked at Yu Canghai with unfriendly expressions.

The other martial arts figures also looked at Yu Canghai and his Qingcheng Sect disciples with strange eyes, ready to attack him if he said anything wrong.

"What exactly does Sect Leader Yue want?"

Yu Canghai clearly couldn't withstand the backlash and backed down.

Yue Buqun said, "Return Lin Pingzhi's parents to him."

Fuwei Escort Agency's business spans the world, and the Qingcheng Sect has plundered most of their assets this time. Yue Buqun did not make Yu Canghai return the gold and silver jewelry; given the current situation, stopping there was enough.

Money is just an external thing; as long as you can get it back, that's fine.

"Humph!"

Yu Canghai gave a heavy, cold snort: "They are in a dilapidated temple twenty miles south of Hengshan City."

After saying that, he turned and left without lingering.

"Father! Mother!"

Having finally learned the whereabouts of his parents, Lin Pingzhi wanted to go find Lin Zhennan and his wife, but Jiang Ning stopped him.

“Yu Canghai and the others haven’t gone far. If you go alone now, you’ll inevitably get caught. I’ll go with you.”

"Thank you, thank you."

Lin Pingzhi was at a loss for words. Although he had suffered such a devastating blow, Jiang Ning's selfless help moved him to tears.

"Ning'er, let me accompany him."

Just as Jiang Ning and Lin Pingzhi were about to set off, Yue Buqun called Jiang Ning back.

“You just went out to pick up Chong’er and fought with Tian Boguang. Your internal energy hasn’t recovered yet. Your master’s wife and I will go with Lin Pingzhi. You can rest here with Chong’er and Lingshan.”

Yue Buqun chose to make the trip himself, so that Jiang Ning could rest.

"Yes, Master."

Jiang Ning thought for a moment and nodded.

It's good that Yue Buqun is going. If Yu Canghai really disregards the reputation of the righteous sects and ambushes him with Qingcheng Sect disciples, he can definitely leave on his own, but Lin Pingzhi will surely die.

"Let's go."

Yue Buqun glanced at Lin Pingzhi and said.

Lin Pingzhi could no longer contain his desire to see his parents, and upon hearing this, he immediately followed Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze out of the Liu residence.

Seeing that everything was alright, the other martial arts practitioners also left.

Although the trip to Hengshan to attend the Golden Basin Washing Hands Ceremony did not end perfectly, they still got to eat a lot of gossip. One piece of gossip after another left them stuffed and completely satisfied.

This is truly eye-opening.

"In that case, the Hengshan Sect will take its leave."

Master Dingyi was about to leave with the Hengshan disciples, but before leaving, she glanced at Jiang Ning with undisguised amazement in her eyes.

Despite his young age, he possesses first-rate talent, speaks sharply, acts decisively, and employs clean and efficient methods.

Having only met him once today, Jiang Ning's qualities so far have amazed her; he is not a pretty face raised in a greenhouse.

And she also discovered something.

When Jiang Ning rescued Liu Qin and confronted Yu Canghai, the Huashan disciples remained silent. Yue Buqun was also silent. When Jiang Ning pointed his sword at Yu Canghai, they showed their support through their actions. All of this indicated that Jiang Ning held a very high position in the Huashan Sect, higher than his senior brothers, including Yue Lingshan. His position was likely on par with, or even surpassed, that of Linghu Chong, the eldest disciple of the Huashan Sect.

After all, Jiang Ning was a first-rate master, while Linghu Chong was just a second-rate scoundrel.

All along, Dingyi and the other leaders of the Five Mountains Sword Sects have believed that Linghu Chong is the next leader of the Huashan Sect. This is a consensus among them.

But from that moment on, their views began to change.

Perhaps the young man before us is the true successor to the leadership of the Huashan Sect.

From any perspective, Jiang Ning seems more like Yue Buqun's true disciple.

After realizing this, Abbess Dingyi was speechless at Yue Buqun.

Are you trying to play the secret succession game with me?

If you have such an outstanding disciple, you should have shown him sooner.

The Five Mountains Sword Sects are as close as family, we treat you as family, but you treat your family as outsiders.