Chapter 23: Gathering and Separation
Deep in the dense bamboo forest, there is a pavilion made of bamboo branches. On the pavilion, there is a banner with the words "Jicui Pavilion" and couplets hanging on both sides.

The two lines "The shadows of peach blossoms fall and the magic sword flies, the blue sea rises and the jade flute is played".

There are bamboo chairs in the pavilion. They are all old items that have been used for many years. They are obviously polished with patina and have a faint luster from a distance.

Next to the bamboo pavilion, there are two large pine trees growing side by side, with twisted branches, probably hundreds of years old. The green pines and bamboos are extremely quiet and peaceful.

The atmosphere among the people in the pavilion was very subtle.

First, there are three masters among the Five Great Masters who are familiar with each other, plus a stranger whose strength is not much worse than their own.

They are all in the underworld, and no one really trusts anyone else. People like that would have died long ago and could never reach their level, so the silence now is actually a way of being wary of and scrutinizing each other.

"Seventh brother, who is this person next to you?" asked Huang Yaoshi.

"Oh! Brother Yao, this is someone I met recently. His name is Wang Ming and he is good at martial arts." Hong Qigong introduced to Huang Yaoshi.

Then he turned around and said to Wang Ming: "This is Huang Yaoshi, the East Evil, and also Huang Rong's father."

"That guy is an old poisoner, stay away from him."

Wang Ming took the lead and saluted them. Etiquette is actually worthless. Not using it is a sign of low IQ. Besides, at this time, their martial arts skills are indeed better than his, so they can afford it.

Huang Yaoshi still returned the greeting very gracefully, but Ouyang Feng didn't give Wang Ming much face, mainly because a large part of his nephew's injuries were caused by Wang Ming.

"Master, you are finally here." Huang Rong suddenly jumped out and took Hong Qigong's hand and said coquettishly

Hearing this, Huang Yaoshi was stunned: Why does Rong'er call the old beggar master?
Huang Yaoshi suppressed his doubts and chatted with Hong Qigong for a few words before saying, "Rong'er, why do you call Brother Qishi Master?"

Huang Rong said, "I took the old man Qigong as my master."

Huang Yaoshi was overjoyed upon hearing this, and said to Hong Qigong, "Seventh Brother, you have such a favorable impression on me. I am very grateful for your kindness. But my daughter is naughty and I hope you can discipline her." As he said this, he bowed deeply.

Hong Qigong laughed and said, "Brother Yao's family tradition of martial arts is profound and extensive. This little girl will never be able to learn it in her lifetime, so why should I get involved? To be honest with you, I accepted her as my disciple with the intention of eating for free. I can trick her into cooking delicious meals for me all the time, and you don't have to thank me." As they spoke, the two men laughed at each other.

Wang Ming stood by and watched the two of them exchange greetings. Strictly speaking, Wang Ming had taught Huang Rong martial arts, but he had not formally become her apprentice. Moreover, Wang Ming and the Five Great Masters were only a hair's breadth apart at this time, but this hair's breadth was difficult to surpass, and he didn't want to fail to get slapped in the face.

Be a scoundrel, and when the marriage proposal is over, ask Huang Lao Xie for a boat to leave.

Guo Jing was quite sensible. He consciously stood in the direction of Wang Ming's attack, making Wang Ming feel that he was not a transparent person.

"Oh, Dad, the hidden weapon I used just now was taught to me by Mr. Wang, who is also Brother Jing's teacher." Huang Rong said
Upon hearing this, Huang Yaoshi looked at Wang Ming with a softer look. He had just tested the man and knew that he had good martial arts skills and was qualified to be his daughter's master.

But Wang Ming did not want Huang Rong to speak for him. Just look at the eyes of Ouyang Feng and his son next to him and you will know that Huang Rong had just used Wang Ming's martial arts to injure Ouyang Ke. The look in Ouyang Feng's eyes when he looked at him clearly showed that he wanted to find an opportunity to give him a big surprise.

Being targeted by Ouyang Feng, Wang Ming was still a little scared. Ouyang Feng was the one with the lowest bottom line among the Five Great Masters. Remember he lost a bet with Zhou Botong, and Zhou Botong asked him to fart in public, and he did it without any hesitation.

It is conceivable that he has no moral integrity. His martial arts skills are not as good as his, and he still resorts to sneak attacks, poisoning, and siege.

That would make Wang Ming even more scared.

The following plot was similar to the original novel, and Huang Lao Xie gave them three tests.

During the test, Guo Jing still memorized more parts than what was in the scriptures in Huang Lao Xie's hand. Huang Lao Xie thought that it was his wife who appeared in spirit and made Guo Jing memorize the extra content.

He also began to accept Guo Jing as his son-in-law, and even changed his address from "the boy surnamed Guo" to "Jing'er".

Wang Ming saw that the atmosphere was very harmonious, so he stepped forward and found an opportunity to propose to Huang Lao Xie his intention to exchange the "Seven-String Invisible Sword" for his "Song of the Rising Tide of the Blue Sea".

Huang Yaoshi agreed to the exchange without hesitation. Both of them actually wanted to integrate the characteristics of the other's sonic power into their own martial arts. But Huang Lao Xie was one of the Five Great Masters of the time, so he was too embarrassed to ask. Although "Song of the Rising Sea" was quite famous, it was not Huang Lao Xie's signature skill. If you asked him to exchange it for "Finger of Magic", you would get slapped in the face.

In addition, he had seen the value of his daughter's hidden weapon skills, which were definitely not inferior to his own "Finger Magic", but his daughter's skills were still shallow and she could not fully exert the true power of that martial arts. He was so generous, so he couldn't appear too stingy.

This Wang Ming is just too young. In a few years, he will eventually reach his own height.

Wang Ming was also very interested in Ouyang Feng's martial arts, but when Wang Ming looked at his sinister eyes, he knew that this idea was unreliable, so he decisively gave up the unrealistic idea.

…………The two people who had just changed their martial arts turned around and saw Ouyang Feng trying to interrogate Guo Jing about the Nine Yin Manual.

This silly boy exposed his underwear in just two or three sentences.

So, everyone followed Huang Yaoshi to the place where Zhou Botong was imprisoned.

Wang Mingbai had already taken advantage of Zhou Botong's value, so he just watched the show from a distance the whole time.

It’s okay, Wang Ming wasn’t interested and stayed away.

Watching Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng being teased by Zhou Botong, their clothes were stained with feces and urine.

Mm, the smell is quite sour.

This was also the first time that Wang Ming actually saw Zhou Botong. He had never seen him before when he was eavesdropping outside the cave. His personality was indeed very eccentric, like a naughty boy. It turned out that there was only a wrong name, not a wrong nickname.

It was also at this time that Zhou Botong, reminded by Guo Jing, realized the value of his "Double-Handed Fighting Technique" and became one of the Five Great Masters. He was no longer afraid of Huang Yaoshi.

At this time, Zhou Botong was afraid that only Lin Chaoying's maid in the Tomb of the Living Dead behind Mount Zhongnan could defeat him.

Zhou Botong was only one step behind Huang Yaoshi and the others. Now he has learned the "Nine Yin Scriptures" and created his own "Kongming Fist" and "Double-Handed Fighting Technique", overtaking them in a curve.

However, when Zhou Botong taught Guo Jing the Nine Yin Manual, he accidentally learned it. He broke his oath to Wang Chongyang and refused to fight with his bare hands even if he was beaten to death by Huang Yaoshi, so he was defeated by Huang Yaoshi.

Zhou Botong slowly stood up and said, "Old Naughty Boy fell for his own trick and accidentally learned the Nine Yin Miraculous Skills, which went against my elder brother's instructions. If you use both hands, Huang Lao Xie, you will not be able to defeat me."

Huang Yaoshi knew that what he said was true. He thought that he was the one who had wronged Zhou Botong in the past by locking him up for fifteen years, and now he had injured him again. This was really unacceptable, so he took out his secret medicine "Nine Flowers Jade Dew Pills" to heal Zhou Botong.

Zhou Botong said, "Huang Lao Xie, I am leaving. Do you want to keep me or not?"

Huang Yaoshi said, "I dare not. You can go as you please. If you are interested in visiting me again, I will welcome you. I will send a boat to take you off the island right away."

Guo Jing supported Zhou Botong and headed to the place where the boats were docked at the seaside.

Ouyang Feng invited everyone to take his boat, but Zhou Botong was afraid of snakes and refused to do so. Just like in the original novel, he wanted to take the big boat that Huang Yaoshi prepared for him to commit suicide.

"We are guests, so we'll just follow whatever Island Master Huang says! This boat is not bad." Wang Ming also came out to persuade.

Wang Ming knew there was a trap but didn't want to take the risk. He couldn't say openly that there was a problem with the ship. If he did, Huang Yaoshi might suspect him. So he could only persuade Zhou Botong tactfully.

Zhou Botong was also a stubborn person and insisted on boarding the new ship no matter how Wang Ming and Huang Yaoshi persuaded him.

Seeing that Huang Yaoshi had dissuaded him many times, Hong Qigong knew that the boat might not be simple. He was unable to stop Zhou Botong, and seeing that he was injured, he was afraid that he could not handle it alone, so he decided to accompany him.

Wang Ming admired Hong Qi's behavior very much, but he did not dare to take the risk with them.

If they were going to kill the Jin emperor, Wang Ming would dare to go with them, but he really didn't dare to get on that ship.

Guo Jing and his friends were considered the protagonists and were very lucky. They were able to escape danger without incident, but if he had gone in, he would have been dead for sure.

When he first came to this world, Wang Ming witnessed the horror of nature and almost died in the desert.

Falling into the boundless ocean, with no islands in sight, he would die no matter how high his martial arts skills were. He was practicing martial arts, not cultivating immortality.

Seeing that he could not persuade Huang Yaoshi, Wang Ming gave up and boarded the boat prepared by Huang Yaoshi alone.

Standing at the bow, he turned around and saw Zhou Botong and his crew sailing away on a large ship, and could only sigh helplessly.

In fact, it might not be a good thing for Wang Ming to stop them.

Without this shipwreck, Hong Qigong would not have taught Huang Rong how to use the dog-beating stick, Guo Jing would not have learned the complete "Eighteen Palms of the Dragon Subduing", and Hong Qigong would not have been embarrassed to ask for the "Nine Yin Scriptures".

(End of this chapter)