Chapter 184: Arrangement of the Competition
"Luo Tianjin, you..."

"I am only acting on behalf of Heaven. Lord Qin and Mr. Pan don't need to thank me. This man has shifty eyes and speaks nonsense. He has been a troublemaker in Yingchuan for years, bullying the market and doing all kinds of evil. How can we trust his words? In my opinion, everything is because of this man behind the scenes. When he failed to seize the Pan family's foundation, he tried to kill Pan Wu. Then, he was afraid that the truth would be exposed, so he made up stories and slandered the Hexi Qin family as the mastermind behind it. He even hired someone to pretend to be Qin Tianjiu to cover up his tracks."

Before Qin Ming could ask, Luo Tianjin had already explained calmly. He then waved gently at Li Lao Hu's body, and Liu Xunyi quickly ordered Liao Chuan and Liao Hai to carry the body out of the meditation room.

"Amitabha, what a sin! What a sin!" Xuanming clasped his hands together, chanted the Buddha's name, and there was a look of compassion on his face.

"Lord Luo." Qin Ming suppressed his displeasure and said in a deep voice, "If you kill this person now, won't there be no evidence?"

Luo Tianjin stared at Qin Ming with his deep eyes, and said with a smile: "Now that the truth is out and the culprit has died to atone for his sins, what else does Palace Master Qin want to prove? Could it be that Palace Master Qin still insists that this matter was deliberately framed by Master Pan?"

"It is possible..."

Qin Da subconsciously opened his mouth to refute, but he was only halfway through his words when he was choked back by Luo Tianjin's intimidating gaze. Qin Ming saw this and immediately shouted, "Shut up! When is it your turn to speak here? You have no respect for your elders, why don't you apologize to Lord Luo!"

"I……"

"Forget it!" Luo Tianjin waved his hand casually and said to Qin Ming with a smile: "Pan Wu was poisoned to death, and everyone in Yingchuan knows it. Even if Mr. Pan Ba ​​wants to frame him, he will never use his son's life as a bet. What's more, Pan Wu is the best martial artist in the Pan family. Losing him is like losing both arms of the Pan family. How can they cope with tomorrow's battle?"

Seeing Luo Tianjin defending Pan Chuba, Qin Ming was extremely angry. At the same time, he also knew that if he continued to stalemate, not only would he not be able to make things difficult for the Pan family, but it might also cause trouble and affect the ten-year war.

Then, Qin Ming thought again, was this scene just now deliberately designed by Luo Tianjin and Pan Chuba? The purpose is to force him to take advantage of the situation and not give up. In this way, Pan Chuba will have an excuse to delay the battle, or even... break the contract.

With this in mind, Qin Ming's eyes suddenly moved, and a hint of coldness inadvertently emerged in his eyes when he looked at Luo Tianjin and Pan Chuba. He thought to himself, "You have joined forces to act as bait, trying to lure me into the trap, but I won't let you get what you want."

After thinking about it, Qin Ming's expression eased a little. He took another deep look at Pan Chuba, who looked confused, and said calmly, "Since Lord Luo has executed the culprit on the spot, Qin will naturally not pursue it any further. I can regard the farce just now as a misunderstanding. I just hope that Mr. Pan Ba, before you think about doing anything in the future, please think twice before you act, so as not to hurt others and yourself!"

Being mocked by Qin Ming, Pan Chuba's old face changed color, but he did not refute. In any case, Luo Tianjin came forward and saved his life and face. Pan Chuba was reasonable and would naturally not cause trouble.

It's just that the Pan family did suffer a great loss in the Yingchuan incident, but given the current situation, Pan Chuba can only "swallow the bitter pill in silence."

"If there are no other objections, please discuss tomorrow's affairs as soon as possible." Xuanming took the opportunity to speak, "There is a Manjusri Dharma Field in the back mountain of Shaolin, with a radius of 100 meters and a bluestone floor. It was originally the place where my Shaolin disciples held Dharma assemblies during the Buddha Bathing Festival. Today, I will temporarily lend it to donors Qin and Pan to help you resolve hostility and make peace as soon as possible, which can be regarded as a merit. Donor Qin and his party can rest in the temple tonight. Since there is a female family member in Donor Pan's entourage, it is inconvenient for them to stay in the temple. Please stay in the Guanyin Courtyard in the back mountain tonight. I have already ordered people to clean up the place."

"Thank you, Master Xuanming!" Everyone thanked him in unison.

"I have been invited to preside over the martial arts competition tomorrow, so I must strictly abide by fairness." Xuanming continued, "May I ask, Master Qin and Master Pan, who will you send to compete tomorrow?"

Qin Ming glanced at Pan Chuba, who had a serious expression, and sneered, "Master Pan Ba, you can rest assured. Qin will not fight personally, so as not to be accused of bullying the weak. For the battle tomorrow, Qin will send Qin Tianjiu, Qin Er, and Qin San to fight."

"What?" As soon as these words came out, Luo Tianjin and Pan Chuba's faces suddenly changed. Luo Tianjin asked suspiciously, "Does Palace Master Qin really intend to send Qin Tianjiu to the field?"

"Why not?" Qin Ming said calmly, "As everyone knows, our Qin family is limited by destiny and has suffered for generations. No one in the Qin family can live past sixty. This may be related to our hard practice of the 'Red Fire Sword Technique'. The 'Red Fire Sword Technique' is too yang and lacks yin, too much fire and too little water, so that the qi prevails over the blood, and the yin and yang are out of balance, so it is difficult to prolong life. Now, only by harmonizing the yin and yang of the 'Red Fire Volume 1' and the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2' can this fate be resolved. Uncle Jiu is over fifty years old, and his destiny is coming. How can he not go into battle himself and fight for a way out for himself?"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi suddenly thought of Pan Wu, who had a strange temperament and was full of hostility. He thought to himself, "Since the 'Red Fire Volume 1' is more yang than yin, then the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2' should be more yin than yang. It is difficult for someone who only practices the 'Red Fire Volume 1' to live past sixty, and it is likely that someone who only practices the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2' will not live long. Recalling the second master of the Pan family, although he is young, he looks more vicissitudes than his eldest brother Pan Wen, which is due to his hard work in practicing the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2'. The reason why the Pan family members are not as short-lived as the Qin family members is because the eighth master Pan abolished his martial arts and did not allow his descendants to learn the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2', so they were lucky enough to avoid this disaster. In this way, it may not be a good thing to only get the 'Red Fire Volume 1' or the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2' without practicing the other volume. No wonder the owner of the mansion reacted so coldly to the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2' that the eighth master Pan wanted to give him. It turns out that he had already thought of this and knew that even if he got the 'Mysterious Water Volume 2', he would never practice it."

After thinking about it, Liu Xunyi subconsciously looked at Luo Tianjin, and the admiration in his eyes became even stronger.

"Qin Tianjiu is a senior in the martial arts world. If he takes action, how can the Pan family have a chance of winning?" Murong Bai said coldly, feeling indignant.

"There are winners and losers in a martial arts competition. If the Pan family has a chance of winning, then my Qin family will definitely lose, right?" Qin Tianjiu spoke slowly. His voice was like a jackal, sinister and hoarse.

"That's right!" Qin Ming agreed, "In a duel, everyone should rely on their own abilities, and they should be willing to accept defeat."

"you……"

"Ahem." Before Lin Fangda could refute him indignantly, Xuanming suddenly coughed twice and turned to ask Pan Chuba, "Donor Pan, who will the Pan family send to fight?" Pan Chuba was furious and looked extremely ugly. He said in a deep voice, "My grandson Pan Yun, my son-in-law He Hu and..." At this point, Pan Chuba cast a complicated look at Liu Xunyi and said bitterly, "My grandson-in-law, Liu Xunyi."

"What?" This time it was the Qin family's turn to be surprised, especially Qin Da. He stared at Liu Xunyi with a pair of suspicious and horrified tiger eyes, and said in astonishment: "Liu Xunyi, you... when did you become the grandson-in-law of the Pan family?"

Qin Ming raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

"The mansion master doesn't know that this Liu Xunyi was once in the Lu Mansion in Jiangnan..." Qin Da hurriedly leaned forward and whispered quickly in Qin Ming's ear, telling Qin Ming all the news about Liu Xunyi.

After hearing this, Qin Ming looked at Liu Xunyi with a look of scrutiny in his eyes. When Qin Da stood up, Qin Ming frowned slightly and asked suspiciously, "Are you from the Xianwang Mansion?"

"Yes." Liu Xunyi replied, "But he is also the grandson-in-law of Mr. Pan Ba."

Qin Ming turned his displeased eyes to Luo Tianjin, and asked with a hint of meaning: "Lord Luo, I know that you have always been on good terms with the Pan family, but I also know that the Northern Sage King has always been upright and honest. But I never expected that you would resort to such means today? It seems... not the behavior of a gentleman, right?"

Luo Tianjin pretended to be innocent, shook his head and smiled, "Palace Master Qin has misunderstood. Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin love each other. They held a grand banquet in Yingchuan and got married. These are their private affairs. How can we, as elders, interfere too much?"

"That's right!" Pan Chuba continued, "Yuyin and Xunyi have known each other for a long time, and I have already decided on him as my grandson-in-law. At that time, Xunyi had not yet entered the Xianwang Mansion. Therefore, Xunyi was the son-in-law of the Pan family first, and became a disciple of the Xianwang Mansion later. Moreover, now that he and my granddaughter are married, he is of course a member of the Pan family, and can naturally fight on behalf of the Pan family."

Seeing Luo Tianjin and Pan Chuba singing the same tune, Qin Ming felt ashamed, but he did not argue too much.

Qin Ming knew that since Pan Chuba was determined to let Liu Xunyi fight, no matter how many doubts he raised, Pan Chuba would shamelessly evade them one by one. As for what happened between Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin, how could Qin Ming, as an outsider, know? In the end, wouldn't he just let Pan Chuba make up stories? Even if Pan Chuba insisted that they were engaged in a marriage arranged by birth, no one would be able to verify the truth?
Moreover, Qin Ming looked down on Liu Xunyi, a nobody, from the bottom of his heart. Seeing that he was young and had little experience, he did not take him seriously. In addition, with Qin Tianjiu in charge tomorrow, Qin Ming would have even less time to haggle over every penny.

"Donor Qin, do you have any objections?"

In response to Xuanming's question, Qin Ming just snorted but did not answer.

Xuanming hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Since the candidates for the duel between the Pan and Qin families have been decided, let's have a duel at the Wenshu Dharma Field at the beginning of the morning hour tomorrow. According to the agreement, the winner will be eligible to obtain the 'Xuan Shui Volume 2'. So, everyone can go back and rest for the time being..."

"Wait a moment!"

Without waiting for Xuanming to leave, Qin Ming suddenly said, "Since we are going to fight for the 'Xuanshui Volume 2' tomorrow, shouldn't Senior Pan hand over the 'Xuanshui Volume 2' first? In order to avoid being defeated tomorrow and making excuses."

"This……"

"I have no selfish motives." Qin Ming added, "Master Xuanming is a high-ranking monk who is fair and impartial. Why don't I give the "Xuanshui Volume 2" to the master for safekeeping? After the winner is decided tomorrow, he will hand it over. What do you think, Senior Pan?"

"This is a good idea! It's fair!" Qin Dalian responded quickly.

"That makes sense!" Qin Tianjiu laughed. After that, he cast a suspicious glance at Pan Chuba and asked, "Could it be that Master Pan Ba ​​doesn't even trust Master Xuanming?"

"This..." Pan Chuba hesitated again and again, and then turned his hesitant eyes to Luo Tianjin. Seeing Luo Tianjin think for a while, and then nodded gently, Pan Chuba finally made up his mind and said seriously, "Okay! I will hand over the "Xuanshui Volume 2" to Master Xuanming for safekeeping, so that no one will say anything."

After that, Pan Chuba took out a one-foot-square wooden box from his carry-on luggage, and the "Xuanshui Xiajuan" was hidden inside. Seeing this, Qin Ming, Qin Da, and Qin Tianjiu's eyes all flashed with excitement at the same time.

"This is the only copy of the lower volume of Xuanshui. Please keep it carefully, Master Xuanming." Pan Chuba handed the wooden box to Xuanming reluctantly. Xuanming opened the box for inspection in public. After confirming that it was correct, he locked and sealed the wooden box to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to spy and copy it.

"Don't worry, Mr. Pan!" Xuanming said solemnly, "I will seal this scroll and temporarily store it in the Shaolin Sutra Library. It is a forbidden area of ​​Shaolin, guarded day and night by the four great monks of the Dharma Academy. No one in the world can enter without permission. I will ensure that this scroll is safe."

……

(End of this chapter)