Chapter 115

The newcomer was indeed Yuan Ying.

It was said that after Shen Qiao fell off the cliff, although Yu Ai used his efforts to suppress rumours, on Xuandushan people were anxious, Yuan Ying out of Qi Fengge's disciples was numbered fourth, whether in temperament or wugong, he was not the most outstanding, so within the sect he had always taken on the silent, nameless role. After Yu Ai moved into Xuandu Purple Pavilion, he felt this shidi had the least daring, wouldn't be able to set any waves into motion, and so didn't pay much attention to Yuan Ying.

Yu Ai working with Tujue, had accepted the position and title of Taiping Yuyang zhujiao-zhengren, this was no secret, right now Tujue was flourishing, the northern nations Zhou and Qi had to lower their heads in deference, Yu Ai could see Tujue's ambition, and wanted to borrow Tujue's influence to restore Xuandushan to its former glory, so both sides were close, even the day of the ambush against Yan Wushi outside Tuyunhun's capital, although there was not much to be gained from Xuandushan's angle, but since it was Duan Wenyang who had brought up the request, Yu Ai had agreed to help.

But Tujue's plans for Xuandushan did not stop there, Xuandushan came from a long tradition, out of the Daoist sects on the jianghu, it carried an unusually profound influence. If they could subdue Xuandushan's zhangjiao into becoming their puppet, wouldn't that be the equivalent of simultaneously controlling a vital force among the Daoist sects of the central plains and getting Xuandushan's hundreds of years worth of wealth and martial teachings?

As Tujue saw it, the Xuandushan that no longer had Qi Fengge sealing itself off from the world had gradually diminished, Shen Qiao was already far away, within the sect people were divided, there would be no emergence of a second Qi Fengge, this was the opportune time to strike.

Duan Wenyang was Hulugu's disciple, but on account of his blood status, his position would never rise above his shidi Kunye, he would need to accomplish a large feat to raise his standing, luckily he had a sponsor who saw things his way, Tujue's Ishbara Qaghan was on board from the beginning, unfortunately things were not progressing as expected, Yu Ai had accepted the position and title "Taiping Yuyang zhujiao-zhengren", but refused to let Tujue interfere with teaching, and refused to let Ishbara Qaghan's delegates enter Xuandushan, the working relationship between two sides was superficial and had no way of developing.

Seeing Xuandushan this piece of succulent fatty meat within reach but unable to bite into it, Tujue was naturally not content.

As to these affairs, Yuan Ying had not understood them clearly, it wasn't until after he had left Xuandushan, halfway up Qingchengshan, meeting Yu Shengyan who had just come from shjiandahui, that he heard about it in bits and pieces from the other.

Before this, Yuan Ying had felt the tense atmosphere in the sect, he had gone to Yu Ai three times, he had asked about the search for Er-shixiong Shen Qiao, when he'd take the reins of the sect again, Yu Ai reassured him several times, the task of teaching the younger disciples was given to Yuan Ying, Yuan Ying felt the weight of Yu Ai's trust in him, and so had let the matter drop temporarily. Who knew a wave could rise from flat ground, Xiao-shimei Gu Hengbo left without saying goodbye, departing on her own terms, Yu Ai had erupted in profound rage, and Yuan Ying on account of the contents of the letter Gu Hengbo had left him was shocked beyond words, he became several parts more cautious around Yu Ai, and waited for an opportunity to look into things further.

At this time, an elder from Xuandushan sought a private audience with Yuan Ying, more or less he expressed his support of Yuan Ying taking over Yu Ai's position, the more Yuan Ying thought about this the more he felt something was wrong, he thought of the letter Gu Hengbo had left him, and snuck away from Xuandushan when the opportunity presented itself.

From a young age Yuan Ying rarely went out, the mountain was boring, but he could tolerate loneliness, he spent his days training or reading, as if having none of the vivacity of youth, even Gu Hengbo who was similar to him in age couldn't stand it, everything considered he was probably closer to Shen Qiao.

He was born into a rich family, but on account of his stammer from a young age, and there being so many children in the family, he was not cherished by his parents, the servants in the family acted accordingly, also neglected the young master, on an outing Yuan Ying got lost due to the oversight of a servant, then he ran into Qi Fengge, Qi Fengge brought him back to the Yuan family to his parents, they saw that Qi Fengge was a Daoist with martial skills, so going with the direction of the tide they asked Qi Fengge to accept Yuan Ying as a disciple. Qi Fengge saw that Yuan Ying's calibre was not bad, and accepted.

In all these years, never mind leaving the mountain for training, Yuan Ying had only returned to the Yuan household once, his reserved, quiet nature allowed him to become one of the people with the least sense of presence on Xuandushan, even when he left Xuandushan, his absence was only noticed several days later.

After leaving the mountain Yuan Ying had no experience, and didn't know what course of action to follow, originally he wanted to look for Shen Qiao, but didn't know where Shen Qiao was, hearing of the shijiandahui on Qingchengshan, he thought there was a chance Shen Qiao might attend, so headed in that direction, but because he hadn't brought enough money with him, he could only eat every other meal.

Unfortunately he was too late, by the time he reached the base of the mountain, he only saw the groups descending the mountain, Yuan Ying overheard the spectacular events that had unfolded during the shijiandahui, then overheard that Yan Wushi had taken Shen Qiao away, he was just fretting over this when he met Yu Shengyan who was also making his way down the mountain.

Yuan Ying's appearance didn't stand out, his clothes fit in with the crowd, people were unlikely to notice him, but Yu Shengyan saw that he would raise his head everytime someone mentioned Shen Qiao, and started to pay attention, when asked, Yuan Ying volunteered his sect, Yu Shengyan realized then that this was Shen Qiao's shidi.

Shen Qiao on hearing Yuan Ying's account, appeared to be in deep thought, after a long time he asked: "The elder that hinted at supporting you to become zhangjiao, who was it?"

Yuan Ying: "It was Zhang Benchu, Zhang-zhanglao."

In Xuandushan's long history, although they had sealed off the mountain from the world for some time now, there was no shortage of inner factions, take Qi Fengge, he could be considered descended from the main branch, so able to receive the zhangjiao position, as for the remaining elders, the lineage of wugong could be traced as far back as the second generation zhangjiao's shixiong and shidi, although everyone belonged to Xuandu Purple Pavillion, they all had one or two wugong that was exclusive, so strictly considered, Xuandushan's elders were mostly in Shen Qiao's generation, but a few were from a generation above them, they could be considered Shen Qiao's shibo and shishu, Zhang Benchu was one of them.

Shen Qiao: "Back when Yu Ai was successfully able to become zhangjiao, of the seven elders that supported him, Zhang Benchu must have been one of them?"

Yuan Ying nodded: "Yes."

Shen Qiao: "What about Dshixiong? You're fourth in line, if he went to find you, he must have also sought out Dshixiong?"

Yuan Ying was a bit at a loss" "This, this I don't know, I spend all, all my days inside reading and, and practicing the sword, and teaching, teaching the disciples, to practice the sword."

Saying this, he appeared embarrassed: "Er-shixiong, so-, sorry…"

This apology, was not merely because he could not answer Shen Qiao's question, it was more for the time before, after Shen Qiao fell from the cliff, when he could not do anything for him, the guilt of this.

Shen Qiao wasn't angry, but just as before clapped him on the shoulder: "No need to say sorry, you avoid conflict with others, and have rarely gone a long distance from the mountain, that this time you were able to notice a discrepancy, descend the mountain to find me, is already very good. Does this mean after you saw Zhang Benchu, you did not go seek an audience with Yu Ai?"

Yuan Ying's face flushed: "N-, no. Before Wu-shimei told me, that he, he had something to do with your fall, so I, I was cautious…"

Shen Qiao gave a small sigh, and said no more.

Yan Wushi's gaze stopped momentarily at the hand that Shen Qiao had rested on the other's shoulder, he said lazily: "Since Yuan-shidi has come, then you can stay here, you look a little thin and malnourished, we'll let the cooks here work on you."

Shen Qiao looked at him and thought, who is your shidi, this sentence did a round in his throat, but Shen-daozhang was too kind, in the end he was not able to say it out loud.

Yu Shengyan gaped, he was not thinking about his looks-warm-but-coldhearted shifu suddenly taking a liking to Yuan Ying, but the fact that he for no reason was now a generation younger than Yuan Ying.

Where had this insignificant stutterer gotten so much face, that even our shizun calls you shidi, and yet you haven't been moved to tears in reverence and awe?

Yuan Ying was not struck by reverence and awe, because he still hadn't figured out who Yan Wushi was, hearing that the other let him stay, hurriedly turned his head to look for his shixiong's approval, it could be seen that by day he was a respectful, obedient kid.

Shen Qiao saw him look his way, smiled: "Since Yan-zongzhu has sincerely invited you, you should accept."

Yuan Ying had seen Yu Shengyan greet Yan Wushi when they'd arrived, and should have been able to guess who Yan Wushi was, but it was only now that he realized, he rushed to pay his respects, folding his hands: "Thank you Yan-zongzhu, then, then I'll be troubling you!"

If this was before, never mind a Yuan Ying, even if it was ten Yuan Ying's, Yan Wushi would have disregarded them, but now, Yuan Ying had a sign on his head "Shen Qiao's shidi", so in his eyes it stood out a little.

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It could be seen that Qi Fengge accepting disciples followed no pattern or rule, his five disciples, each had their own character, for example this Yuan Ying's woodenness was quite a rare find.

After Yu Shengyan had sullenly led Yuan Ying to his room to rest, Shen Qiao looked at the weiqi board lost in thought.

Yan Wushi knew in one glance what he was on his mind: "You want to go to Xuandushan?"

Shen Qiao gathered himself: "Yes, I want to go back to take a look."

The thought of returning had been longstanding, but before his wugong was not recovered enough, Shen Qiao didn't want to risk it, now things were different, he was pretty much fully recovered, even if he encountered a figure like Xueting-chanshi, he would be able to meet them fully in battle.

All things considered, Xuandushan was still the sect where he grew up, even if Shen Qiao had no designs on the position of zhangjiao, he would not allow others to drive it off-track, scheme the place in his heart to ruin in one day.

If Zhang Benchu had sought out Yuan Ying, it would mean Yu Ai no longer met his expectations, there must have been a disagreement between them, but that the disagreement would be large enough to make Zhang Benchu want to expel Yu Ai from his zhangjiao position, that and the news he had received on Huanyue Sect's end, if someone were to say there were no external forces involved, Shen Qiao would not believe it.

Yan Wushi: "It could be a good thing, it's almost time, with your wugong now, if you wanted to dismember Yu Ai into eight pieces it might not be enough, but a sword through the heart should be no problem."

Shen Qiao was a bit speechless: "My return doesn't mean I have to kill people!"

Can you not be so quick to say such bloody words?

Yan Wushi, a playful smile: "That may not be up to you, Xuandushan is like a piece of fatty meat in a birdcage, now that there's an opening in the birdcage, the hungry beasts that have been eyeing it for so long have no reason to hold back."

Although Shen Qiao did not like this description, he understood that the other was right, this was indeed the circumstances of Xuandushan, Yu Ai's wugong was strong, but against the inner factions, he would not have his defences up, just like him back then.

Yan Wushi: "I also received news, Hehuan Sect after losing much of their holdings in Chang'an have been very close with Tujue recently."

Shen Qiao frowned: "You mean, Hehuan Sect will also intervene on the matter of Xuandushan?"

Yan Wushi: "It's not clear, this journey you'll undertake alone, why don't I Iend you one of my disciples to assist you, Bian Yanmei or Yu Shengyan, which one do you want?"

Shen Qiao: "This pertains to the internal affairs of Xuandushan, how could I trouble those two?"

Yan Wushi, on purpose: "Does that mean, you want this venerable one to go with you personally?"

Shen Qiao was a honest person, he did not have any such intention, but hearing this he froze.

Without waiting for a response, Yan Wushi smiled: "Unfortunately this time it cannot be as you wish, my last fight with Xueting, I have not recovered from my injuries, even if I went along I won't be able to help."

The extent of his injuries, last time Shen Qiao had examined his meridians personally, he knew it extensively, hearing these words now, for some reason, his heart became uncertain.

"How come it hasn't recovered after so long?" As he said this he reached out a hand.

Yan Wushi didn't move, maintained his reclining posture, letting Shen Qiao hold his wrist.

After concentrating a moment, Shen Qiao's expression changed: "How can it be like this?"