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

Page 73

Feng Buping had a hint of doubt in his eyes, but he didn't think much of it and followed after them.

Cheng Buyou frowned as he watched all this, without saying a word.

Ning Zhongze and the other Huashan disciples also looked at Yue Buqun's back with puzzled expressions, wondering what he was going to do.

Ding Mian, who was about to leave, Lu Lianrong of the Hengshan Sect, and the people of the Taishan Sect also stopped in their tracks upon seeing this scene.

Only Jiang Ning's eyes showed a hint of understanding.

He probably understood Yue Buqun's thoughts.

"Where do you want me to go?"

On the way, Feng Buping looked at Yue Buqun, who was walking ahead without saying a word, and couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind.

Yue Buqun did not speak, but walked ahead with his hands behind his back.

Feng Buping frowned upon seeing this, but in the end he said nothing and silently followed behind.

As he passed by buildings along the way, familiar scenes caught Feng Buping's eye, causing him to momentarily lose his composure.

The houses on Mount Hua are unchanged from when he left.

As he walked along the road, Feng Buping's gaze fell on an open space, lost in thought.

That place was where one of his senior brothers practiced swordsmanship back then.

Walking this familiar road again now, Feng Buping felt as if he had returned to decades ago.

Unbeknownst to him, Feng Buping had followed Yue Buqun for quite a long time.

"arrive."

When Yue Buqun's voice rang out, Feng Buping finally came to his senses. He looked ahead and then froze.

Why did you bring me here?

Feng Buping looked at Yue Buqun, his eyes filled with confusion.

This is the back hall of the Huashan Sect.

Yue Buqun didn't look at him, but went into the house.

Feng Buping's eyes deepened with doubt, but he only hesitated for a moment before following him inside. He then noticed that Yue Buqun was staring blankly at the plaque on the beam. Feng Buping looked up and was also stunned.

The sword energy soared into the sky.

Feng Buping was stunned.

He remembered that the Qi Sect later changed the plaque here to read "Controlling Swords with Qi".

Yue Buqun's voice slowly rang out.

"Twenty-five years ago, after my master led the Qi Sect to victory in the sword qi contest, he changed the plaque here to 'Controlling the sword with Qi,' but I later changed it back."

Feng Buping turned his head and stared at him blankly.

"wrong."

Yue Buqun stared blankly at the plaque on the beam, muttering something as if in a daze.

"what?"

Feng Buping did not hear clearly.

"We were wrong. We were all wrong."

Yue Buqun spoke again.

Feng Buping heard it clearly this time, but he understood Yue Buqun's meaning even less.

Yue Buqun stared intently at the plaque: "We were all completely wrong about the sword qi dispute."

Upon hearing this, Feng Buping's pupils dilated, and he stared at Yue Buqun in shock.

Yue Buqun's tone carried a hint of sadness: "If there hadn't been the sword qi dispute back then, my master, uncles, senior brothers, senior brothers, and junior brothers wouldn't have become enemies."

"Wouldn't it be better if everyone were on Mount Hua, practicing swordsmanship if they wanted, and practicing internal energy if they wanted? Why do we have to divide ourselves into the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect? Why do we have to fight for a result?"

Feng Buping opened his mouth several times, looking at Yue Buqun, wanting to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Yue Buqun seemed to have spoken his mind, then fell silent and walked inside.

Feng Buping followed behind like a wooden man, but when he entered the inner room, what came into view was the densely packed memorial tablets on the table.

"Master!"

When Feng Buping saw the name engraved on one of the memorial tablets, his expression changed drastically, and his mind collapsed instantly. He scrambled to his knees before the tablet, pressed his head to the ground, and wept bitterly.

"Master... Your unworthy disciple has failed you..."

Feng Buping was already over fifty years old, but at this moment he was crying uncontrollably.

Chapter 114: Sword Qi Soars to the Sky

Yue Buqun came up behind Feng Buping and looked at the memorial tablets on the table.

"Not long ago, I placed the memorial tablets of my Uncle-Master Feng, Uncle-Master Cheng, and other uncles and senior uncles of the Sword Sect on it."

Upon hearing Yue Buqun's words, Feng Buping had no doubts.

Judging from the placement of these memorial tablets and the incense ash on the table, the tablets of the Sword Sect's senior uncles and elders have been placed here for some time.

Yue Buqun placed them and the senior disciples of the Qi Sect together, without separating or treating them differently.

"Junior Brother Feng."

Yue Buqun, who had previously said that he was no longer Feng Buping's fellow disciple, said to him at this moment: "Actually, I have always had an idea, which is to enshrine the names of the fellow disciples who died innocently in the sword qi dispute here, so as to give the disciples of Huashan Sect a warning in the future."

"It's just that so much time has passed that I don't remember the names of my fellow disciples from the Sword Sect very clearly, so I would like to ask you and Junior Brother Cheng to come back and help me."

Feng Buping raised his head and stared blankly at Yue Buqun, trying to discern something from Yue Buqun's face.

All he saw was sincerity.

Yue Buqun extended his hand to him.

"come back."

……

"Where did Master take that person? Why has it taken so long?"

"I don't know. Maybe they wanted to humiliate us. After all, these people came to Mount Hua in a menacing manner, trying to force us to leave. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to tolerate this."

"Don't talk nonsense, Master is not that kind of person."

In the training ground, the Huashan disciples, unaware of where Yue Buqun had taken Feng Buping, were all whispering among themselves.

Ding Mian, Lu Bai, and the others exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what Yue Buqun was up to.

After a while...

The crowd that had been waiting in the training ground finally saw Yue Buqun, followed by Feng Buping.

"Master."

"Master."

The disciples of Mount Hua bowed to Yue Buqun and said...

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded slightly, then looked at everyone, cleared his throat, and said, "Fellow disciples of the Five Mountains Sword Sect."

As soon as Yue Buqun spoke, everyone's attention was drawn to him.

Yue Buqun's gaze swept over Ding Mian, Lu Bai, Abbess Dingyi, and the others. He paused for a moment and said, "I suppose some of my fellow disciples from the Five Mountains Sects don't understand why my Huashan Sect is doing this today."

Master Dingyi nodded; she truly didn't understand.

Although she had overheard the argument between Yue Buqun and Feng Buping in the main hall, she was somewhat confused. She wanted to ask what was going on, but considering it was a matter within the Huashan Sect, she felt it was inappropriate to ask.

Yue Buqun continued, "Now that things have come to this, I will no longer hide it from you all. I'm sure you all know that twenty-five years ago, the Huashan Sect was struck by a plague that killed many of my uncles and senior disciples, right?"

Master Dingyi nodded.

"Actually, this story is false. There was no plague at the time; it was just an internal strife within our Huashan Sect."

Upon hearing this, apart from Ding Mian, Lu Bai, Lu Lianrong, and a few other high-ranking members of the Five Mountains Sword Sect who knew about the matter, Abbess Dingyi and her Hengshan disciples were completely dumbfounded.

"Decades ago, a disagreement arose within my Huashan Sect regarding the path of martial arts. One side believed that the sword should be valued more than the internal energy, while the other side believed that the internal energy should be valued more than the sword. Both sides believed that their ideas were correct and the other side was wrong. It was because of this that my Huashan Sect split into the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect."

"Twenty-five years ago, a sword-qi conflict broke out within my Huashan Sect. At that time, a great sword competition was held on Jade Maiden Peak. The victorious sect took control of the Huashan Sect. Although my Qi Sect won, my Huashan Sect lost a large number of experts and disciples as a result. This matter was a tragedy for my Huashan Sect and could not be revealed. Therefore, it was called a plague that broke out in the Huashan Sect at that time."

It turned out to be the case.

Master Dingyi nodded.

So this was the real reason for the decline of the Huashan Sect. The other Hengshan disciples were astonished. They never expected that a battle of sword energy would cause the once-prosperous Huashan Sect to decline and become the weakest of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects.

"A sword qi dispute back then led to the decline of my Huashan Sect. My fellow disciples turned against each other. Over the years, I often feel deep regret when I think back on the past."

At this point, Yue Buqun looked at Ding Mian and the others: "I had never heard of any disciples of the Huashan Sword Sect in the martial arts world for so many years. I thought the Sword Sect was extinct. But I never expected that Brother Ding would find them and bring them up the mountain in person, allowing my fellow disciples to reunite. I am very grateful."

Upon hearing this, neither Ding Mian nor Lu Bai looked too pleased.

But Yue Buqun no longer looked at them. Instead, he turned to his Huashan disciples and said loudly, "I have something to announce today."

"From this day forward, the former Sword Sect Junior Brother Feng has returned to Mount Hua. From this day forward, the Sword and Qi Sects shall put aside their past grievances and merge again. Regardless of whether you belong to the Sword Sect or the Qi Sect, you are all disciples of Mount Hua. The Mount Hua Sect will no longer be divided into the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect. All of you disciples, please remember this."

The entire audience was shocked by Yue Buqun's words.

Cheng Buyou, in particular, stared at the scene in astonishment.

How come things have changed so quickly after Senior Brother Feng only went in with Yue Buqun once?

"Yes, senior brother."

Before anyone else could say anything, Feng Buping, who was standing next to Yue Buqun, cupped his hands in greeting.

The other Huashan disciples were shocked, but since Yue Buqun had already said so, they could only nod and accept the order.

"Yes, Master."

Jiang Ning and the other Huashan disciples nodded in agreement.

The move Yue Buqun made shocked not only outsiders like Ding Mian, but also Ning Zhongze.

She never knew that Yue Buqun had this idea, and Yue Buqun had never told her about it.

Although she was surprised when Yue Buqun put the memorial tablets of the Sword Sect's senior uncles back in the back hall, she didn't say anything, since they were all dead people.

But Yue Buqun's actions now baffled and angered her.

She disliked the people of the Sword Sect very much. She was too young to participate in the Sword Qi Competition back then, but she also knew that many people died in the Sword Qi Competition.

Outsiders may not know, but she and Yue Buqun are very clear that although the Sword and Qi sects are from the same sect, they are hostile to each other, and countless people from the Qi sect have died at their hands.

Back then, when the two sects were fighting to the last minute, the Sword Sect masters massacred the Qi Sect disciples. Yue Buqun was struck by a sword from one of the Sword Sect seniors and barely escaped with his life. The terrifying scar on his body is still there to this day. If it weren't for her father's heroic efforts, the Qi Sect would have been wiped out by the Sword Sect, and she wouldn't have escaped either. In the end, it was her father who spared Feng Buping and the other two, but he died not long after due to his severe injuries.

She had absolutely no goodwill towards the people from the Sword Sect, especially since they had just joined forces with the Songshan Sect to force Yue Buqun to abdicate at Mount Hua.

Ning Zhongze frowned as she looked at Yue Buqun. She hesitated several times before finally saying nothing. In this situation, any questioning would be disrespectful to Yue Buqun, and she wouldn't do that.

She planned to see how Yue Buqun would explain things to her after he returned to his room that night.

After announcing this, Yue Buqun looked at Cheng Buyou and said, "Junior Brother Cheng, you were also a disciple of the Sword Sect. Now that our Huashan Sect no longer has the Sword Sect and Qi Sect, you can come back if you wish."

Cheng Buyou was stunned and didn't know how to answer.

Yue Buqun did not intend to wait for his answer immediately. Instead, he turned to Ding Mian and said, "Brother Ding, Brother Lu, and Brother Fei have gone to great lengths to find my long-lost junior brother. I will remember this kindness. Today is a joyous day for my Huashan Sect. Why don't all of you fellow disciples from the Five Mountains stay for now so that I can prepare a feast to thank you all?"

Ding Mian and the others were at a loss for words.

They originally came to take over the Huashan Sect, but who could have imagined that things would turn out this way? Not only did they fail to achieve their goal, they even sent their junior brother back to the other side, giving away two great masters.

This act of offering warmth to the enemy made them feel very uncomfortable.

They could already imagine the expression on Zuo Lengchan's face when he heard this news.