Chapter 943: Harvest of Sangyu
"Old friend?"

Jin Fuyu's words immediately whetted the appetite of Ji Hou, Fu Yin and others.

"That's right!" Jin Fuyu was in a serious state of mind, his eyes deep, as if he was lost in past memories. "Since the turmoil at the Wulin Conference, I lost to Luo Tianjin. Not only did I miss the throne of the Wulin leader, but I also caused Jinjianwu to be burned down by Xunzhen. Later, I was surrounded and intercepted by the Mongolian army in Hexi and almost lost my life. Afterwards... the news of Hengshan Village leaked out, forcing us to disrupt the entire plan and make new preparations. After I came back, I reflected on myself three times a day, learned from my mistakes, and reflected on where I was worse than Luo Tianjin. It was not until Lu Tingxiang came uninvited to discuss joining forces with us to hunt down Liu Xunyi that I suddenly realized and woke up. Why am I one step behind Luo Tianjin? It's because I was too perfect in my actions and forgot to leave myself a way out in case of changes. As the saying goes, 'Man proposes, God disposes'. I have always been 'going with the flow', but inadvertently ignored the 'everything changes'. After countless setbacks, I gradually realized that no matter how careful our plans are and how well prepared we are, we can't take advantage of God's will, let alone control fate. Therefore, once things change, we are often caught off guard. These few times of disasters turned into blessings, and Jinjianwu was full of dangers. In the final analysis... it's just our good luck. "

"Master, you are right!" Seeing Jin Fuyu's courage after knowing shame, Song Yu couldn't help but feel ashamed. "I am highly valued by Master, but I can't share his worries. I am really... unworthy of being a minister."

"Eh!" Jin Fuyu waved his hands nonchalantly, "It is a great virtue to know one's mistakes and correct them. So far, the most difficult opponent I have encountered is undoubtedly Luo Tianjin. But he is not only my enemy, but also my confidant, and even... my teacher. From him, I learned not to bet everything on one throw, no matter how sure you are... you must be cautious and always leave yourself a way out. In this way, even if you 'lose in one place', you can 'gain in another'. Unfortunately, although Luo Tianjin is well aware of this, he was still careless and lost Jingzhou, and eventually lost his life in his own mansion. Therefore, it is far from enough to just 'ask for advice' from him. We must learn from his example and do better than our teacher."

Dong Xiaoer looked at Jin Fuyu with admiration, unable to suppress her curiosity, and asked repeatedly: "Master, what does 'the disciple surpasses the master' mean?"

"Leaving room for maneuver is a skill I learned from Luo Tianjin. But leaving a retreat in the retreat, leaving room for maneuver in the room for maneuver, is the experience I really understand." Jin Fuyu smiled slightly and generously explained, "At the beginning, Lu Tingxiang and I teamed up to hunt down Liu Xunyi, and Tang Afu was my retreat. As expected, Lu Tingxiang failed to steal the chicken in Hexi and ended up losing the rice, and finally returned empty-handed. So, I planned to use Tang Afu to find Liu Xunyi's whereabouts and wait for an opportunity to get rid of him. However, I couldn't fully trust Tang Afu, so I sent Ji Hou and Fu Yin as Tang Afu's 'retreat' to follow closely. What I guessed was that Tang Afu really couldn't kill Liu Xunyi. But I didn't guess... Ji Hou and Fu Yin would make the decision on their own and go and come back."

"This..." When mentioning this matter, Ji Hou and Fu Yin were both embarrassed and speechless.

"Fortunately, after Ji Hou and Fu Yin... I still reserved a 'way out' in advance." Jin Fu Yu changed the subject and said with a smile, "In fact, not long after Tang Afu and I made an agreement, I made another agreement with an 'old friend'. The content of our agreement... is Tang Afu's head. In exchange, he will provide three years of military supplies for our 100,000 troops. What do you think, is it worth it to use Tang Afu's head in exchange for three years of supplies for a 100,000-man army?"

"hiss!"

When Jin Fu Yu said this, except for Song Yu who remained calm, everyone else was dumbfounded and stunned.

"Tang Afu's head... is worth so much money?" Dong Xiaoer exclaimed in disbelief.

"Whether it's valuable or not depends on who you are talking to. To us, Tang Afu's head is worthless, but to my 'old friend'... it's a priceless treasure."

"The owner's old friend... is it Shen Dongshan?" Ding Ao boldly guessed, "Looking at the world, the only person who dares to spend so lavishly... is probably the 'richest businessman in the Song Dynasty'."

"Not bad!"

Jin Fuyu had long regarded the people present as his confidants, so he did not hide the grudge between Tang Afu and Shen Dongshan, and said with interest with a smile: "In fact, what Shen Dongshan really wants to buy is not Tang Afu's head, but his own life and property. As long as Tang Afu is alive, he will be worried and uneasy. Only when Tang Afu dies can he get rid of his worries forever. In this way, using three years of military supplies and fodder for a hundred thousand troops in exchange for the life and property of the 'richest man in the Song Dynasty'... doesn't seem to be a luxury."

"Not really! Of course not!" Dong Xiao'er's heart surged as she listened, nodding excitedly, "We hunted down Liu Xunyi for the benefits promised by Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao. Whether it's the deputy leader of the Central Plains Wulin or gold, silver and jewelry, in the end, we are all serving the master's cause of restoring the country."

Dong Xiaoer rolled her eyes and asked curiously, "Just now the owner said that 'more than one old friend' is interested in Tang Afu's head. I wonder... who else is it besides Shen Dongshan?"

However, faced with Dong Xiaoer's questioning, Jin Fuyu, who was always full of witty remarks, suddenly remained silent.

Seeing this, Ding Ao quickly stepped out to smooth things over and took the opportunity to change the subject: "I'm very curious, how did Liu Xunyi make Tang Afu put aside the revenge of exterminating the family? As far as I know, the 'ruthless swordsman' is not someone who can change his mind easily." "There is only one reason, he never wanted to kill Liu Xunyi from the beginning to the end." Song Yu sneered, "He was just pretending to be friendly with us in an attempt to deceive us for clues about the extermination of the Tang family..."

"Whether it's sincere or not, it doesn't matter. Now that things have come to this, there's no point in you saying more." Jin Fuyu interrupted everyone's discussion impatiently, "The best time to assassinate Liu Xunyi is before he enters the tiger's den and dragon's pool. Unfortunately, we missed this God-given opportunity. Changbai Mountain is overcrowded right now. Don't look at the people from all walks of life rubbing their hands, each of them is determined to win. But I dare to assert that they will definitely return empty-handed this time."

"Why?"

"Because I received news that a local boss named Yuan Xiao in Shenzhou was worried that the Northeast was full of mixed people and would affect his territory and business, so he took the initiative to step forward and try to mediate." Jin Fuyu said dimly, "Relying on his familiarity with the people and the place, he acted as a 'peacemaker' and acted as a bridge between the Wudang Sect and the Tiger's Den. He persuaded Huang Yangming and Mei Zichuan to open the door and let the Wudang disciples enter the Tiger's Den to search for Liu Xunyi's whereabouts, in order to prove his innocence. Haha... If Huang and Mei did not agree to this, Yuan Xiao would not dare to step forward to mediate. However, their agreement does not mean that they are really innocent, it only means that they are fearless. In other words, they are fully confident that the Wudang disciples will get nothing in the Tiger's Den."

Leng Yiyi frowned slightly, thinking: "Master, what you mean is... Liu Xunyi has already left the tiger's den and dragon's pool?"

"That's right!" Jin Fuyu's eyes flashed, and he said confidently, "Tang Afu said in the letter that his skills were not as good as others, which proved that Liu Xunyi's injuries had healed. There is probably no one else in the world except Granny Taohua who can make a dying person recover in just a few days. So Liu Xunyi must have gone to the tiger's den and dragon's pool to ask Granny Taohua for help. Now, Huang Yangming and Mei Zichuan dared to take the initiative to 'open the door to thieves'. The only explanation is... Liu Xunyi has already left."

"Then...what should we do?"

"Liu Xunyi has found a new backer. It will become increasingly difficult to deal with him in the future. He is no longer a piece of 'fat meat', but a piece of 'stinky meat'. If you swallow it rashly, it will not only fail to satisfy your craving, but may also cause your stomach to break. Therefore, we simply throw this hot potato to Qingfeng. After all, it concerns the status of the leader of the martial arts world, and he is more anxious than anyone else. Let Qingfeng and Shao Qinwang fight each other, and we will take the opportunity to prepare for battle and make steady progress." Jin Fuyu gently slid his fingers along the wall of the cup and said slowly, "Right now, you need to do three things. The first one is... First, get Tang Afu's head back as soon as possible, and leave this matter to Ji Hou and Fu Yin. Second, secretly find out about Yuan Xiao's background. I always have an inexplicable feeling that this "local snake" in Shenzhou... is not as simple as the outside world says. The "Shuangsu Exiled Immortals" have always been arrogant and proud. They don't even take Luo Tianjin seriously in the past, so how could they be willing to show some mercy to Yuan Xiao? Not long ago, there was a rumor in the martial arts world... roughly meaning that Yuan Xiao had an ambiguous relationship with Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen. However, this matter is purely groundless and there is no evidence, so the rumors quickly disappeared without a trace. "

"Master, let Dong Xiaoer and I investigate this matter!" Ding Ao said with a calm expression, and volunteered, "I once dealt with Shao Qin Wang when I was in Tianshan Yulong Palace. If Yuan Xiao and Xunzhen really have a connection... I will do everything I can to get to the bottom of the truth."

"So good!"

Jin Fuyu nodded with satisfaction, thought for a moment, and then cast a meaningful look at Song Yu and Leng Yiyi, jokingly saying: "They each have their own duties, so the last task... can only be handed over to you."

"Master, just give your orders!" Song Yu and Leng Yiyi responded in unison, "We will go through fire and water and die without hesitation."

"It's not a matter of life or death, it's just that you have to go to Xiangxi."

"Xiangxi?" Song Yu was stunned. "The owner of the dock is talking about... the Teng tribe in Xiangxi?"

"That's right!" Jin Fuyu slowly stood up, looked up at the mountains and rivers, and pointed to the northern sky. "The spies reported that Teng Sanshi has been holding a grand banquet recently, inviting important figures from Shaolin, Kunlun, Kongtong, and Tang Sect. His behavior is unusual and unheard of, and his actions are strange and unseen, so it is very suspicious. Therefore, I want you to visit him openly and personally "taste" what kind of wine is in Teng Sanshi's gourd?"

……

(End of this chapter)