White-Robed Chief

Qiao San was momentarily dazed before shaking his head. “The leader said you had been making too many mistakes. As a student of the Crouching Bull Mountain, your punishment should be death. But because you’re the Young Master, he decided to let you live. However, you need to leave the mountain and live by yourself.”

Chu Li replied, “If I hand over the secret manual, will he still send me away?”

“Well…” Qiao San thought about it before shaking his head. “He didn’t mention anything about the manual. He only said he wants you out of here.”

“Alright then, if that’s what he really wants,” Chu Li wasn’t too worried about this and shrugged. “Just as well I guess, I was just planning to go and travel around for a while to learn about the prosperity of other places!”

“Young Master!” Qiao San replied, “Are you going to give up on everything your mother had built?”

“It’s just the Crouching Bull Mountain, it’s not even one of the four major sects,” Chu Li waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t take it too seriously!”

“Young Master!” Qiao San looked displeased. “We, the Crouching Bull Mountain have a thousand years worth of history. If you take over as the leader and work hard to improve, with your talent and skillset, you will no doubt make the mountain proud and improve our reputations. If that were to happen, we will no doubt become one of the four major sects like the Tempest Temple!”

Chu Li laughed. “Qiao San, you are very ambitious!”

“This is your mother’s dream,” replied Qiao San excitedly, “she was no worse than any man here. Unfortunately, God was jealous of her talents and took her away. If not, the mountain would be very different today, and would be at the same level as the four major sects!”

“Stop dreaming!” Chu Li sighed. “Regardless of how strong my mother was, we wouldn’t have reached the level of the four major sects. Their standard was only achieved as a result of thousands and thousands of years of building up their foundation! Since this place refuses to keep me, I will leave – you can stay.”

“Young Master, if I stay who is going to serve you!” Qiao San replied.

“I am not that weak. I won’t die of hunger without a servant,” Chu Li waved his hand. “Help me pack, I will leave as soon as possible. It would hurt my reputation if someone comes and chases me away!”

“Let me go and beg the leader. He shouldn’t treat you this way, at the very least he should think about your mother!” Qiao San said.

Chu Li laughed. “You are so naïve. If he genuinely cares about that, then he wouldn’t have done this. You need to be careful when I am gone. He is after that secret manual!”

“Let me go with you, Young Master!” Qiao San cried.

Chu Li shook his head. “No thanks, stay here and be my insider. I will come back every two weeks.”

Qiao San suddenly smiled. “Young Master, you still care about the mountain!”

Chu Li replied, “He says he wants to send me away, but should I just stay quiet and follow his orders? I am taking the chance to leave and walk around. When he is on the brink of death, I will come back and take back what is mine!”

Qiao San’s heart dropped. “The leader is just angry. He will regret it after a few days. When that happens, I’ll try and convince him.”

“You don’t need to do that. Murong Chun and the rest will handle it,” Chu Li waved his hand. “Just stay here and play it safe to avoid being caught – I can’t have you revealing the secret manual!”

“Yes,” Qiao San turned serious and nodded his head aggressively.

“Start packing!” Chu Li grinned.

Qiao San immediately rushed off to pack his stuff.

—

Zhuge Feng, Murong Chun, Xia Liyan, and three other elders arrived at Chu Li’s house before entering. When they did, they saw Qiao San cleaning the courtyard.

“Leader!” Qiao San quickly rushed over and bowed to him. He was very cautious to avoid getting caught.

Zhuge Feng snarled, “Where is that bastard?”

“He left,” Qiao San replied.

“He left?” Zhuge Feng asked angrily.

“Young Master heard you wanted to exile him, so he decided to leave. He said he doesn’t need you to send him away personally,” Qiao San replied carefully.

“Bang!” Zhuge Feng slammed his palm onto the rock table.

A clear palm-shaped mark was left on the table. It was an inch deep and very legible.

Everyone was shocked. Both father and son were equally hard-headed. Their relationship had become so much worse in less than half a day.

Qiao San was stunned and quickly looked down.

“What else did he said?” Zhuge Feng asked.

Qiao San replied cautiously, “He said that you should give up on the secret manual. It is a devilish power which causes people to lose control and do terrible things. He has already destroyed it and will never teach it to another person!”

Zhuge Feng’s face immediately changed.

The expression on Murong Chun and the others’ faces also changed. They looked down to avoid each other’s gazes.

What Chu Li said was like a slap to their faces. Everyone felt their cheeks hot and in pain. The Young Master was clever to figure out what everyone was thinking.

Qiao San continued, “Young Master also said that he has no interest in becoming the leader of the Crouching Bull Mountain. Even if he is asked to do so, he will never accept the invitation.”

“Good, at least that bastard knows his place,” Zhuge Feng laughed.

Qiao San remained silent.

“Come, let us head back!’ Zhuge Feng suddenly turned and left.

Murong Chun looked at Qiao San.

Qiao San looked at him helplessly, knowing that he had failed to keep the Young Master.

—

The sun was setting. Snow Lunar Pavilion looked like a big piece of red brocade fabric. The pond moved softly as if the brocade was waving gently.

Shen Yinghu was wearing a green gown inside the pavilion on the pond. Her smooth skin was seductive and her face looked like it was from a beautiful painting.

Her left hand was clasping her chin as her eyes were fixed on the pond. She was not focusing and was clearly daydreaming. The whole time, her eyebrows were furrowed with worry.

She suddenly turned and looked to her left. Chu Li was standing there quietly in his white robe.

She looked at him for a while before turning back toward the pond.

Chu Li sat next to her and sniffed at the fragrance emanating from her. “Senior Shen, if the third lady finishes her training and becomes an enlightened master, what will happen?”

“She will ascend to the Outland,” Shen Yinghu replied. “Don’t you know this?”

“She will leave this world?” Chu Li asked.

Shen Yinghu nodded. “Naturally.”

Chu Li frowned. “I never knew about this!”

“And now you do,” Shen Yinghu retracted her left arm, then stood up and looked at him. “What’s wrong, have you changed your mind?”

“Yes, I have!” Chu Li answered.

“You can’t let her go?” Shen Yinghu asked once more.

Chu Li replied, “I originally thought that even if she becomes an enlightened master and bears no feeling towards me, I will accept it as a natural outcome. So long as she lives her life happily, and I can see her from time to time, I will be happy!”

“How about now?” Shen Yinghu laughed softly.

Chu Li’s frown deepened. “I never thought that she was going to leave! What’s the point of becoming an enlightened master then!”

“It is not up to you,” Shen Yinghu shook her head, “Her training has slowly entered the prime stage, and she had once again broken off any feelings she harbored toward the world. This time she has completely killed everything off and will have no feelings toward you for the rest of time. Whatever you say doesn’t matter anymore!”

Chu Li raised his eyebrows.

Shen Yinghu sighed. “You had your chance, but the fact that you didn’t use it well means that you’ve completely lost the opportunity. Little Qi is no longer yours!”

Chu Li scoffed. “I want to bring her with me!”

Shen Yinghu laughed when she heard this. “Fine. If she agrees then I won’t stop you!”

Chu Li stared at her.

Shen Yinghu continued, “The public house has become stronger now, and no longer needs her sacrifice. It’s enough to sacrifice one of the sisters, there’s no point sending another one away!”

“Thank you, Senior Shen!” Chu Li gave her a fist salute.

Shen Yinghu waved her hands and replied calmly, “Don’t get overexcited yet.”