Chapter 35: Disputes Begin
The appearance of Zhongli Mu made the atmosphere in the martial arts arena suddenly subtle, and the originally harmonious scene became a little weird. Most of the people present wanted to wait until Mo Cen retired before asking about the Jingfenghuayutu, which would at least give some face to Mo Cen and the Jiangnan Lu Mansion. However, no one expected that Zhongli Mu would appear halfway and be so ignorant of the current situation.

Zhongli Mu rolled off the donkey awkwardly, shook the wine gourd in his hand with a smile, and jumped lightly seemingly casually. His figure turned into a series of "staggering" afterimages in the martial arts field. When he spoke again, he was already sitting on the empty chair of the leader of Kongtong Sect.

"Junior Brother Mo is a disciple of my Kongtong Sect. If he quits now, I will not be able to say some things. So it is better to explain some things clearly in advance to avoid misunderstandings in the future. Hehe..." Zhong Limu said with a harmless look, "I believe Junior Brother Mo and Master Lu will not blame me for being nosy, right?"

"Master brother has arrived. I hope Mo Cen can forgive me for not coming to greet you..." When Mo Cen saw Zhong Limu, his originally confident and calm expression suddenly became a little nervous. He hurriedly bowed to Zhong Limu, and at the same time, he turned his head inadvertently and looked at Lu Tingxiang with a pleading look, as if asking Lu Tingxiang to help him out.

Lu Tingxiang thought for a moment and said with a smile, "What are you talking about, Sect Master Zhongli? This morning, only Madam Zhuang and Miss Zhongli came to my house. I thought I had no honor to meet Sect Master Zhongli, but now it seems that I was worrying too much. Hehe..." After the greetings, Lu Tingxiang glanced at Mo Cen, who was embarrassed on the scene, and coughed twice, saying, "It's just that Senior Mo has chosen an auspicious time to retire early in the morning. Why don't you come with us to testify for Senior Mo? After Senior Mo retires, I will invite Sect Master Zhongli and Senior Mo to sit in the back hall. You can talk slowly if you have anything to say."

"Before he retired from the sect, Mo Cen was a disciple of Kongtong, but now he is no longer my disciple of Kongtong." Zhong Limu looked at Lu Tingxiang with a smile and said in a strange tone, "Now I want to borrow your precious place to talk to Junior Brother Mo about the family affairs of Kongtong Sect. I believe that Master Lu will not stop me, right?"

After hearing what Zhongli Mu said, the smile on Lu Tingxiang's face froze slightly, and then the corners of his mouth twitched twice, and he laughed dryly: "Of course not, in this case, Master Zhongli can just reminisce about the past with Senior Mo." Lu Tingxiang was a person who cared very much about his reputation. Now that Zhongli Mu brought up the word "family affairs" to pressure him, if he said more, he would be suspected of interfering in the family affairs of Kongtong Sect, which was a taboo in the martial arts world. How could Lu Tingxiang be rude in front of so many people?

"Thank you." Zhong Limu casually bowed to Lu Tingxiang, then his eyes fell on Mo Cen who was smiling rather awkwardly, and said, "Junior Brother Mo, you should know what I want to say, right?"

"Please explain clearly, Master." Mo Cen pretended to be confused and laughed dryly, "I haven't been back to Kongtong for more than 20 years. It's rare that Master still remembers me, a disciple of Kongtong." Mo Cen's words had hidden meanings, implying that Zhongli Muguan's tone was a bit too broad.

"The first rule of Kongtong is that once you are a Kongtong disciple, you are a Kongtong disciple for life, unless you commit a serious mistake and are expelled from the sect by the sect master." Before Zhongli Mu could speak, Madam Zhuang, who was sitting next to him, spoke in a cold tone, "Senior Brother Mo's martial arts all came from Kongtong, how could the sect master forget you?"

Mo Cen knew that Madam Zhuang was always straightforward. If he dared to say something sarcastic again, Madam Zhuang would not show him any mercy. Even if Mo Cen was not good enough, he was still a senior in the martial arts world. How could he argue with a woman in public?
Mo Cen smiled awkwardly and nodded quickly, saying, "Junior Sister Zhuang is right." Then he looked at Zhong Limu and said with a smile, "Please forgive Mo Cen's stupidity. I really don't know what else I need to tell my master. I would like to ask the head master to give me some advice."

"Where is the picture of the Wind-Turning-Rain-Turning-Water?" Zhongli Mu was not polite at all and he spoke directly to the point. His question also made everyone present excited, and they all cast strange eyes at Mo Cen.

Mo Cen's face was as still as water, and he thought to himself, "Sure enough, what was supposed to come finally came." He turned his head and glanced at Lu Tingxiang again, then smiled faintly at Zhong Limu and said, "The Wind and Rain Painting was brought back from the Bianjing Palace by Mo Cen at the risk of his life. I wonder what the painting has to do with Kongtong?"

As soon as Mo Cen said this, the atmosphere on the field sank again. Although his tone was quite gentle, the tit-for-tat implication contained in it was already beginning to emerge.

"Junior Brother Mo should remember that you went to the Bianjing Palace because of your master's order. How can you say now that it has nothing to do with Kongtong Sect?" Zhong Limu said with a smile, "Junior Brother Mo should know what it means to obey the master's order. At that time, you did not represent yourself, but the entire Kongtong Sect..."

"Master Zhongli, what you said is wrong!"

Before Zhongli Mu finished speaking, the elder Teng Cang of the Xiangxi Teng Clan who was sitting opposite him slowly shook his head and said, "Twenty-five years ago, it was not only your Kongtong Clan that sent people to the Bianjing Palace to assassinate Wanyan Shouxu. There were also many other sects such as Shaolin, Wudang, Hexi Qin Clan, etc. Of course, my Xiangxi Teng Clan also contributed a little. Therefore, rather than saying that Brother Mo represents your Kongtong Clan, it is more appropriate to say that the thirteen of them represent my entire Central Plains martial arts world."

"That's right. Speaking of which, my Qin family should also get a copy of this "Qingfenghuayutu"." Qin Da agreed.

"Amitabha, what donors Teng and Qin said is not right." Shaolin Master Yuankong interrupted, "The righteous men who went there back then were for the common people of the Song Dynasty. The assassination of Wanyan Shouxu was to drive out evil and welcome good. How could they have other ill intentions? The Jingfenghuayutu was not their purpose for going to Bianjing. It was just an unexpected gain for donor Mo. How could donor Qin say that your Hexi Qin family had a share of it? What's more, some of the sects that participated in this matter no longer exist, but how can their merits be erased because of this?"

"Old monk, you speak so beautifully, could it be that you are not interested in the picture of the wind and rain?" Teng Qin'er of the Teng tribe in western Hunan saw Yuankong refutate Teng Cang, and couldn't help feeling dissatisfied, so she said sarcastically, "It is said that you monks don't talk nonsense. Do you dare to swear to heaven that the purpose of your Shaolin coming here is just to celebrate the birthday and nothing else? Now, don't blame me for not reminding you, it is said that there are many monks in front of the gate of hell. If you lie, you will violate the rules and precepts, and your end will be much more miserable than ours..."

"Girl, don't be rude to Master Yuankong." Teng Cang still had some sense of propriety, so he stopped Teng Qin'er's ridicule in time, "The Golden Basin Washing Hands Conference is a solemn event in the martial arts world. How can you, a girl, be here with a frivolous smile and nonsense?"

Teng Qin'er stuck out her tongue at Yuan Kong and Zhong Li Mu opposite her with a look of unwillingness, but did not dare to speak again without permission.

Seeing the hostility between the two sides, Song Yu of Jinjianwu could not help but say quietly, "If I heard correctly just now, Master Yuankong meant that this Jingfenghuayu map was obtained by Senior Mo by accident, so this map cannot belong to the Central Plains Wulin or the Kongtong Sect, but should belong to Senior Mo himself. Master Yuankong, I wonder if there is anything wrong with Song's explanation?"

"This..." Yuan Kong was speechless when Song Yu seized on the loopholes in his words and quibbled with him. "The ownership of the Wind and Rain Painting was already determined more than 20 years ago when Lu Chongyang, the head of the Lu family, was still alive. At that time, all the sects had already recognized it, so there is no need for us to argue about it today." Zuo Hongxuan, the head of Qingcheng Sect, said coldly, "Brother Mo, Master Lu, what Lu Chongyang said back then should still count today, right?"

Lu Tingxiang nodded and said, "My father's words are as good as gold. What he said will still count, not to mention today, even hundreds or thousands of years later."

"That's good!" Zuo Hongxuan said, "If that's the case, then this map should belong to all the sects that sent people to assassinate Wanyan Shouxu. My Qingcheng Sect also sent people. According to what Qin Da said, shouldn't my Qingcheng Sect also have a copy of this map?"

"There is only one map, but there was more than one sect that sent people to participate in this matter back then." Lu Tingxiang smiled, "We can't tear up the map, can we? According to me, since this map was obtained by Senior Mo, it should always belong to him. Even if he retires from the world, he can leave this map to his descendants as a family heirloom, and there is nothing wrong with that." Lu Tingxiang acted so righteous that it seemed as if the Jiangnan Lu family had no desire for the Jingfenghuayu map, but in fact they had other evil intentions.

"Master Lu's move may harm Master Mo." Master Miao'an, the head of Emei, shook her head and refuted, "Everyone in the world knows that the Jingfenghuayutu contains peerless martial arts. Master Mo has already retired from the martial arts world, so why would he use it as a family heirloom? Isn't this courting disaster?"

Tang Ren of the Shuzhong Tang Sect continued, "What Master Miao'an said is correct. If this map continues to remain in Senior Mo's hands, it will indeed cause trouble. So I suggest that Senior Mo take advantage of the opportunity of the heroes of the world gathering together today and give this map to someone else openly. This way, Senior Mo will be willing to give the map, and the recipient will also accept it reasonably. Secondly, it will prevent the heroes of the world from fighting over a mere map and hurting the harmony. Thirdly, it can prevent Senior Mo from getting into trouble because of this map in the future, and truly enjoy the happiness of family life in peace. What do you think? By the way, to show the neutrality of our Tang Sect, even if Senior Mo gives this map to the Tang Sect, we will never accept it."

"That's a good idea!" Qin Da nodded in agreement, "Whoever has the map has the final say. He can give it to whoever he wants, saving trouble."

After that, Qin Da exchanged a look with Tang Ren, and then they both nodded to Mo Cen. It looked like they had already colluded before the Golden Basin Retirement Conference.

"But I wonder what Master Luo thinks?" Lu Tingxiang did not express his opinion, but cast an inquiring look at Luo Tianjin.

Luo Tianjin smiled faintly, and said, "I was not a big shot back then, so I did not participate. How can I be qualified to comment on it today?" Luo Tianjin, like Lu Tingxiang, pretended to be an outsider, seemingly indifferent to the world, and said with a faint smile, "However, I have some friendship with Master Zhongli of Kongtong Sect, and what Master Zhongli said just now is reasonable. I would like to listen more to Master Zhongli's opinions and try to come up with a win-win plan to avoid hurting the harmony among everyone. Haha..." Luo Tianjin's words were soft on the outside but hard on the inside, and it was obvious that he was on the side of Kongtong Sect.

Liu Xunyi looked at the various sects talking to each other and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, "It's clear that these people have been colluding with each other for a long time. Everyone present wants this map, but they are deliberately pretending to be confused. Everyone wants it, but no one wants to be the first to tear their relationship apart, so as not to become the target of public criticism. They are really more cunning than each other. I want to see how they can calmly find a buyer for this map."

Song Yu couldn't help but chuckle when he heard Luo Tianjin's words, and turned to Mo Cen and said, "Senior Mo, today is your sixtieth birthday, and it is also the day you retire from the martial arts world. I wonder what your plans are for the Jingfenghuayutu? Whatever your plans are, I, Jinjianwu, will do my utmost to help you."

"I……"

"Actually, Shen also has a suggestion."

Before Mo Cen could speak in embarrassment, Shen Dongshan suddenly laughed and said, "Since this map belongs to Mr. Mo, we must maximize its value. Only in this way can Mr. Mo justify his narrow escape from death 25 years ago. Isn't that right?"

"I'd like to hear Mr. Shen's opinion." Mo Cen was in a dilemma at the moment. Since he had chosen to retire from the world, he didn't want to offend any force at this critical juncture. Therefore, no matter who spoke now, he had to listen patiently.

Shen Dongshan smiled and nodded, "I see that Mr. Mo's son is still young, and Mr. Mo is already sixty years old. I don't think he has the interest or energy to do business. Then Mr. Mo has to think more about the future life of your son and your wife. After Mr. Mo retires from the underworld, he can no longer have any contact with people in the underworld, including the Jiangnan Lu Mansion. Is that right or not?"

Shen Dongshan's meaning was very straightforward. What will your family live on after today? What will your wife and children live on after you die of old age? It was just that the words were more subtle, but Mo Cen still understood.

"Mr. Shen means..."

"Mr. Mo, since you have the treasure, why don't you strive for more benefits for your wife and children in the future?" Shen Dongshan said with a smile, "Please forgive me for only thinking about profit. What I mean is that Mr. Mo, why don't you take out this map and let us compete fairly. The highest bidder wins. On the one hand, everyone can bid fairly according to their own ability, and on the other hand, it will be of great benefit to Mr. Mo's family's future life. Isn't it the best of both worlds?"

……

(End of this chapter)