Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Observations Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Observations Editor: Atlas Studios Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun encountered a pair of martial brothers and sisters from the Luoxing Sect by chance during their journey through Funiu Mountain.
They also happened to come across the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord who was hiding nearby, intending to kidnap Lou Jingjing.
After a struggle, that’s when they learned about some of the changes within Xuanji Valley.
After they parted that time, Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun continued their journey to Yuliu Manor.
Meanwhile, Cheng Feiyu and Lou Jingjing planned to disguise themselves and infiltrate Xuanji Valley to scout for information.
Since their parting, their next meeting was right now.
Su Mo rolled out of bed, helping Yang Xiaoyun to take Lou Jingjing out of the trunk.
He quickly released her acupoints with a flick of his finger.
It was only then that Lou Jingjing caught her breath, instinctively hiding behind Yang Xiaoyun, looking at Su Mo with a slightly fearful gaze.
Su Mo’s mouth twitched: “Miss Lou, it’s been a while.”
“…”
Lou Jingjing composed herself, slightly embarrassed, she smiled at Yang Xiaoyun. Returning to normal for the moment, she gave a fist-and-palm salute to Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun:
“Greetings to Lord Su, the Chief of the Escort, and Young Master Yang, the Young Leader.”
Yang Xiaoyun returned the courtesy to Lou Jingjing, then asked: “Miss Lou, what… what happened to you?”
Lou Jingjing, like Su Mo, was dressed entirely in black and being chased by ‘Xuanji Valley Disciples.’ Though one could guess the general situation by association, the specifics still needed to be provided by Lou Jingjing herself.
Prompted by Yang Xiaoyun, Lou Jingjing snapped back to reality and quickly said: “It’s really good to see both of you. My… my martial brother has been captured by them!”
“Oh?”
Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun exchanged a glance, seeing Lou Jingjing was somewhat panicked, Yang Xiaoyun led her to sit down and poured her a cup of tea: “Take a moment to steady your breath, then tell us exactly what happened.”
Lou Jingjing took a sip of tea and finally exhaled, calming down a bit.
Seemingly organizing her words, she finally began:
“That day, after we parted ways in front of the inn, my martial brother and I thought it through. We first wrote a letter to the Luoxing Sect, then planned to disguise ourselves and go to Xuanji Valley.”
“The distance from the Luoxing Sect to Xuanji Valley is vast, and the letter might not be safe during the journey, so we did not place all our hopes in it.”
“We just wanted to see what Mystical secrets Xuanji Valley actually held.”
“Unexpectedly, the journey there was all calm.”
“Once at Xuanji Valley, we mixed in under the guise of delivering vegetables.”
“There were some twists and turns in this, but I’ll keep it short…”
Once the two of them entered Xuanji Valley, they were extremely cautious, afraid of being discovered by others.
Their experience in Jianghu was shallow, but fortunately, they were prudent enough, and for a short time, they weren’t discovered by the people of Xuanji Valley.
But this also posed a disadvantage.
Being cautious and wary meant that they couldn’t investigate anything.
On the surface, Xuanji Valley was peaceful and as serene as an Immortal Realm.
In the end, the martial siblings decided to take a risk.
They pretended to be injured and unable to leave Xuanji Valley, hence they were temporarily accommodated by the people of the valley.
Afterwards, every night they went out to investigate, the results were meager.
Until one night, they witnessed something: in the darkness of yin ye, someone was hurriedly being led by disciples of the Xuanji Valley.
After a brief moment of contemplation, the two of them followed behind them.
However, due to their weak martial arts, they dared not get too close, only knowing that the two people eventually went to the Xuanji Hut.
That place was the residence of Master Cangming.
The person being led was no ordinary man; he was known as Divine Finger, Elder Beichen!
He counted as an elder of the Jianghu.
Cheng Feiyu and his sister waited quietly from a distance, observing the changes.
Unexpectedly, in just a short while, a figure was suddenly thrown out of a window, and after hitting the ground, blood spurted out wildly.
It was none other than Divine Finger, Elder Beichen.
At that time, the distance was too far, and the two of them couldn’t see the expression on Elder Beichen’s face, but they assumed it certainly wasn’t a good one.
Just then, someone came out of the window, swiftly pressed several acupoints on Elder Beichen, and then two men from the Xuanji Valley came to take him away.
“It was just after those two men took Elder Beichen away that we clearly saw, the one who had pressed his acupoints… it was actually Master Cangming himself!”
Lou Jingjing said this with a pale face: “But this is not the most shocking part yet.”
Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun glanced at each other, feeling that they had guessed what she was about to say next.
Indeed, Lou Jingjing continued: “Right after Elder Beichen was taken away, from inside the Xuanji Hut, another figure came out, facing Master Cangming… This person, however, looked exactly like Elder Beichen. They seemed to be smiling, but due to the distance, it was unclear, making it seem all the more eerie.”
Su Mo sighed, thinking of the Qingshan Wanderer, wondering what could be happening to him now.
Yang Xiaoyun then asked, “And then? After witnessing such a thing, you didn’t leave in a hurry?”
“I did want to leave…”
Lou Jingjing sighed: “However, my elder brother said that we are both part of the Martial Arts World, Elder Beichen is a precursor of Jianghu, and is also known for his chivalry. If we ignore his predicament, wouldn’t it be a case of evil triumphing as virtue fades?
“So, in the end, we followed them, wanting to see if there was a way to rescue Elder Beichen.
“Besides saving someone, there was another thought. As weak disciples, we knew that something major has changed within the Xuanji Valley, but who would believe us if we talked about it?
“If Elder Beichen experienced this and he has the reputation in Jianghu, his words would naturally carry different weight.
“Unexpectedly, our pursuit eventually aroused the alertness of those inside the Xuanji Valley.”
The two siblings’ martial arts were not yet perfected, and the disciples of the Xuanji Valley were all disguised members of the Youquan Sect, with extremely ruthless methods.
It took only a few moves for Cheng Feiyu and Lou Jingjing to be completely at a disadvantage.
At that critical moment, Cheng Feiyu fought desperately, giving Lou Jingjing a chance to escape.
Although Lou Jingjing was reluctant to abandon her elder brother, she knew that if both of them fell into enemy hands, it would be even less hopeful, so she left, thinking of finding an opportunity to rescue her brother.
Thus, Lou Jingjing did not leave the Xuanji Valley immediately, fearing it would be easy to leave but hard to return.
She simply hid within the valley, avoiding detection. The valley’s terrain was full of strange rocks and odd formations, and she managed to hide for several days.
Until tonight.
After hearing the story, Su Mo pondered for a moment: “Miss Lou, from what you say, you do not know whether your brother is dead or alive, do you?”
Yang Xiaoyun couldn’t help but give Su Mo a blank look upon hearing this, but she also knew that it was the right question to ask.
Lou Jingjing then said, “My brother isn’t dead. Afterwards, I discreetly went to explore the previous battle location and found the secret signs left by my brother. Following these signs, I eventually found where my brother might be imprisoned, but unfortunately… with my weak martial arts abilities, I was detected before I could get close, and in my panic, I stumbled into your room by mistake.”