Chapter 354: Taking over as a substitute
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way quickly!"

On the seventh day of the third lunar month, early in the morning, a man and a horse rushed into Luoyang City at high speed. They continued to ride non-stop through the crowded streets, galloping past, frightening the people on the street and making them dodge. Some vendors were unable to dodge in time, and their cars and people fell over, with vegetables flying everywhere.

Faced with endless complaints and insults, the man showed no intention of stopping. He rode away, leaving only a mess behind him.

The whip was whipped hard, making crisp sounds. The man and the horse sped up three times faster. The man seemed to be very familiar with the streets of Luoyang City. He ran through the streets and alleys at lightning speed and headed straight for the Prince Xian's Mansion.

"who?"

As if awakened by the sound of rapidly approaching horse hooves, the disciples guarding the gate of Prince Xian's Mansion drew their swords one after another, each with a cautious look on their face.

"I have something urgent to report to the Lord of the Mansion. Please open the door and make way!"

"It's Yue Hao, a disciple of the Shang Sect. He went to Jiangzhou with the Fifth Master to do some work not long ago. Now he has returned in a hurry. Something must have happened! Brothers, open the door quickly and let him in!"

A gatekeeper disciple recognized the man's identity and his face changed. He quickly ordered people to open the gate and let Yue Hao ride his horse into the mansion.

In the morning, in the central hall of Prince Xian's Mansion, Yue Hao, in a disheveled state, knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, and couldn't wait to tell Luo Tianjin and others everything that happened in Jiangzhou.

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces turned pale with anger and they gnashed their teeth in hatred.

"Where is Jin Fuyu's handwritten letter? Take it out quickly!" Lin Fang urged in anger.

Yue Hao nodded quickly as if he suddenly realized something, took out a secret letter from his arms tremblingly, and presented it to Luo Tianjin tremblingly.

Luo Tianjin read it carefully without saying a word, but his face remained calm and expressionless, making it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

"Master of the Palace..."

"Yue Hao, you've worked hard along the way." Luo Tianjin ignored the indignation of the crowd and said calmly, "Go down and rest!"

"Yes..." Yue Hao didn't dare to look directly into Luo Tianjin's eyes. He could only agree timidly, and then, with the help of two disciples, he slowly left the hall.

Jiang Yiwei frowned and said in a deep voice: "Yin Baimei is a traitor, he is really a despicable villain."

"It's a pity that our 100,000 gold coins have gone down the drain." Huang Yulang's voice was as cold as ice. "If I had known this would happen, I might as well have fed them to the dogs!"

"I can't figure it out." Murong Bai pondered, "No matter how useless Yin Baimei is, he is still the leader of a sect. Can't he see that Jin Fuyu has ulterior motives towards him?"

"How could a cunning old man not be able to guess Jin Fuyu's intentions?" Xie Xuan sneered, "I dare to guarantee with my life that Yin Baimei knows Jin Fuyu's intentions very well."

Su Tang was puzzled and asked, "Since he knew that Jin Fuyu was up to no good, why did Yin Baimei fall for it?"

"Yin Baimei is not stupid, he is just pretending to be confused." Luo Tianjin said faintly, "Because of the incident in Jueqing Valley, he was already dissatisfied with me, so after meeting Jin Fuyu, he simply took advantage of the situation and pushed the boat with the purpose of forcing me to make an explanation as soon as possible."

At this moment, sitting next to Jiang Yiwei was a woman dressed in tight clothes, she was in her forties, with a good figure, clear eyes and eyebrows, bronze complexion, and a slim body. This might be related to the fact that she had been traveling outside for many years and was often exposed to the sun and rain.

Her appearance was far from being as stunning as a beauty that could make fishes sink to the bottom of water and geese fall to the ground, or moons hide in shame. However, her facial features were clear and her appearance was pretty. Due to years of martial arts training, her figure and appearance remained as delicate and exquisite as a young girl even in her middle age.

Her figure is not as slender and graceful as that of an ordinary woman. Instead, her every move and gesture is more like that of a man, decisive, free and easy.

Such a woman, though not a beauty, has a unique heroic spirit that is as good as a man. Her expression is shrewd, her behavior is capable, and her voice is like jade beads falling on a plate, clean and clear, resounding, and will always give people a refreshing and refreshing feeling at any time.

This girl is the only woman among the seven heroes of the Xianwang Mansion. She is known in the martial arts world as "The Sword of the Thousand Miles" and "The Wild Goose Never Returns". The disciples of the Xianwang Mansion all respectfully call her "The Fourth Master of the Wild Goose".

Yan Bugui said calmly, "Yin Baimei pretended to be ignorant even though he knew the truth and deliberately bit Jin Fuyu's hook. This shows that he is not sincere and has bad intentions."

"Jin Fuyu took advantage of Yin Baimei's incident to attack us and win the favor of Kunlun Sect." Xie Xuan nodded, "Yin Baimei played along with Jin Fuyu and kept silent, pretending that he knew nothing. In this way, even if the truth is revealed in the future, he can put all the blame on Jin Fuyu and escape. These two are more cunning and treacherous than each other. They will only use each other and take advantage of each other when they get together."

“Although Yin Baimei still has concerns about us, the fact that he is willing to cooperate with Jin Fuyu is enough to show that he has secretly harbored ulterior motives.” Deng Quan analyzed, “Therefore, we can no longer regard Yin Baimei and Kunlun Sect as our own. We must be more cautious in the future.”

"That's right." Jiang Yiwei agreed, "Perhaps Yin Baimei and Jin Fuyu have already become birds of a feather, and we are the only ones who have been kept in the dark. As the saying goes, if you don't do it once, you'll do it once and for all. Jin Fuyu's move may seem to help Yin Baimei relieve his worries, but in fact it is forcing Kunlun Sect to break with us."

"Break up if we want to!" Lin Fangda yelled angrily, "How dare a mere Kunlun Sect threaten us? If it weren't for the Palace Master's protection, the Kunlun Sect would have been kicked out of the list of the six major sects in the Central Plains. Now, this old man Yin Baimei is not only ungrateful, but also repays kindness with hatred. He simply doesn't know how to live or die!"

"That's wrong!" Luo Tianjin shook his head and said, "What the Kunlun sect is doing today can't be considered right, but it can't be considered wrong either. Yin Baimei is not betraying us, he is just waiting for a good price to see who is more qualified to be the leader of the Kunlun sect, us or Jin Jianwu. In fact, if it were me, I would probably make the same choice as Yin Baimei."

"Master of the Palace..."

"And more importantly..." Luo Tianjin waved his hand to interrupt Jiang Yiwei's argument and continued, "You must never be arrogant and break with this person or turn against that person at will. Although Kunlun Sect is not as powerful as Xianwang Mansion, we should not forget the truth that a tower can be built by gathering sands and a tower can be built by many efforts. We have already lost the support of Qingcheng and Emei Sects. If we give up Kunlun Sect, it will undoubtedly be a self-defeating move. How can September compete with Jinjianwu?" Luo Tianjin's words made the crowd fall into deep thought.

"Palace Master, I have something to say that has been stuck in my throat for a long time and I have to get it out!" Huang Yulang suddenly stood up, bowed to Luo Tianjin with a stern look, and said bluntly, "I really can't understand why the Palace Master cut off his own hands and feet for a martial arts heresy and created a rift with the Kunlun Sect? If the Palace Master could stand up for justice for the Kunlun Sect and call on the martial arts heroes to help Yin Baimei, there would be no danger today, and Jin Fuyu would not have caught his weakness and taken advantage of him!"

Hearing this, Luo Tianjin's eyes suddenly flashed with a gleam of light, and he asked in a cold tone: "What exactly do you want to say?"

Huang Yulang took a deep breath, then made up his mind and answered word by word: "Forgive me for being rude, but I think the fault in this matter does not lie with Yin Baimei or Jin Fuyu, but with... the Palace Master!"

"Yulang, you are too presumptuous!" Jiang Yiwei's face darkened and he shouted angrily, "Do you know who you are talking to? Apologize to the Palace Master!"

"I can apologize. If the mansion master is still not satisfied, I will even die to apologize." Huang Yulang said in a tough tone, "But even so, I still have something to say! It's clear that the mansion master made a mistake at every step. A mistake is a mistake, how can you put the blame on others?"

"Sixth Master, you are confused. I will help you go back and rest!"

"Let him say it!"

Without waiting for Lin Fangda to step forward to dissuade him, Luo Tianjin suddenly shouted loudly, scaring everyone so much that they trembled physically and mentally.

"Master of the Palace!"

Huang Yulang fell to his knees with a plop and said in a serious tone, "Jueqing Valley is a heretical sect in the martial arts world. For so many years, there have been constant disputes with my Xianwang Mansion. They have a lot of blood debts, and their hands are stained with the blood of Xianwang Mansion's disciples. The Palace Master once said that Jueqing Valley is our sworn enemy. Have you forgotten? I don't understand, facing a group of martial arts scum, why would the Palace Master risk the world's condemnation to save them? And offending Kunlun Sect for this, is it really worth it? Which is more important, Kunlun Sect or Jueqing Valley, can't the Palace Master really judge?"

Having said this, Wong Yuk-long's eyes were red with grief and indignation.

Although his words were harsh and offensive to Luo Tianjin, he also expressed the thoughts of others and spoke the truth that others wanted to say but dared not.

Everyone had complicated expressions and were hesitant. Only Luo Tianjin and Xie Xuan looked at each other with bitterness in their eyes.

"Ahem..." Su Tang seemed to feel that the atmosphere in the hall was too tense. He couldn't help but cough twice and changed the subject: "Master, what did Jin Fuyu write in the letter? Did he put forward any conditions?"

"That's right!" Luo Qi said, "Right now, Di Mo has a broken arm and is seriously injured, Xu Heng's injury has not healed, and Liu Xunyi has not returned yet. The Lower Three Sects are leaderless, and have been relying on Ling Qing to support them. Now he is also imprisoned and can hardly protect himself. I'm afraid that as time goes on, the morale of the Lower Three Sects will inevitably drop. And the Fifth Master has also been imprisoned by Jin Fuyu and Yin Baimei. We must find a way to rescue him as soon as possible."

"The martial arts conference is about to be held, and the palace is in need of people. Fifth Master and Ling Sect Master must not make any mistakes." Lin Fang gritted his teeth and resolutely asked, "Please give the order, Palace Master, I will take people to Jiangzhou immediately to rescue them."

Luo Tianjin pinched the letter with two fingers and asked with a smile: "Golden Sword Dock and Kunlun Sect have gathered a large number of people. Do you dare to go?"

"Why not?" Lin Fangda said contemptuously, "Whoever dares to stop me from rescuing people will be killed by me!"

"Fang Da, I know you are not afraid of death, but I will not let you die in vain." Luo Tianjin smiled with relief and said faintly, "What's more, Jin Fuyu has already named someone in the letter and only let this person go to Jiangzhou to get someone. It would be a wasted trip for others to go."

When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.

Yan Bugui asked suspiciously, "Could it be that Jin Fuyu wants the Palace Master to go to Jiangzhou in person?"

"Jin Fuyu is not a fool. He is trying every possible way to win over Kunlun Sect. How dare he let me meet Yin Baimei?" Luo Tianjin shook his head and said, "If I really give Yin Baimei a satisfactory explanation, wouldn't Jin Fuyu's wishful thinking be in vain? Haha, the person he wrote in the letter is not me."

"Do you think Jin Fuyu really wants to help Kunlun Sect to seek justice?" Jiang Yiwei sneered, "On the contrary, what he least wants now is for the Palace Master to give Yin Baimei a satisfactory explanation. He just wants to use this incident to sow discord between us and Kunlun Sect, that's all. For Jin Fuyu, the most satisfactory result is that we completely break up with Kunlun Sect, and then he will help Yin Baimei to attack Jueqing Valley, so as to completely pull Kunlun Sect into the camp of Jinjianwu."

"More than that!" Xie Xuan pondered, "Jin Fuyu never does business at a loss. He first tried to alienate the relationship between Kunlun Sect and Xianwang Mansion. After that, if Yin Baimei wanted to save the life and property of Kunlun Sect, he only had one choice, which was to throw himself into the arms of Jinjianwu. Therefore, if we really broke with Kunlun Sect, Jin Fuyu would not stand up for Yin Baimei at all, let alone attack Jueqing Valley. He could take Kunlun Sect under his command without any effort. This is where Jin Fuyu is really cunning."

"Not only cunning, but also treacherous and frightening." Luo Qi sighed, "Yin Baimei was too clever for his own good, and Jin Fuyu took advantage of his cleverness and played the entire Kunlun Sect in his hands. He was truly one step ahead. Fighting with such a powerful opponent, every step is extremely dangerous, and one could be doomed if one is not careful."

"Master, who is the person that Jin Fuyu specified in the letter?" Murong Bai asked curiously.

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall where people were whispering suddenly became silent. Everyone's eyes were all focused on Luo Tianjin, each of them with a look of nervousness and expectation in their hearts.

At this moment, Luo Tianjin's face looked strange and his eyes were complicated. It was hard to tell whether he was happy or sad, ashamed or angry.

Suddenly, he let out a bitter sigh, then slowly raised the letter in his hand and said word by word: "Jin Fuyu specifically mentioned that if you want to rescue Deng Changchuan and Ling Qing, it must be...Liu Xunyi."

……

　Trapped in nightmares, with trembling hearts, how can one escape from the nightmares that keep coming back? How can one return to a peaceful world and wander the world?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)