Episode 08 : Descendant of Water Fairy - Chapter 3

Xu Qiao was about to ask again, but at that moment she saw Liuxin had dropped all the freshly picked fruit, her eyes fell on a tree not far away, under the tree trunk there was a human corpse, the condition was extremely horrifying. The body was folded in several parts, like a rag doll with no bones. The face was also unrecognizable as if his skull had also been shattered.

Liuxin immediately covered her face and ran away. Xu Qiao remembered Han Budian's words about a mysterious murder in Wuzhang City, the fake Yumen Mowang who killed men by crushing the bones of their victims in order to train some kind of heretical energy.

She tried to stay strong and came closer, finding the body still fresh, it seemed that the man had only died last night and had not emitted a foul odor. Xu Qiao also found that the clothes worn by the corpse were Jianyin Bang members' uniforms.

Liuxin returned a few moments later with Jinshui, she did not dare to come closer, allowing Jinshui to pull Xu Qiao away from the corpse. Huang Yu also came, immediately examining the condition of the corpse, and also found out that all of the bones were crushed by a force that was similar in character to wuqing xue energy.

"That fake Yumen Mowang," Xu Qiao informed him, then briefly explained about the fugitive that Han Budian and his men had been targeting for several days. "He said this is a way of practicing your Yumen's manual."

"It's not true, we don't train manuals by killing a man like this," said Huang Yu. He covered the corpse with some leaves, and then cleaned his hands with a cloth.

"Is there anyone who wants to ruin our Yumen's name?" asked Liuxin.

"It's possible," said Huang Yu, "only I don't want to make any random guesses."

"The culprit could not be far away," said Jinshui. "Liuxin Meimei, Qiao-er, you two go back to the ship first, tell Lin Jixuan we will try to find the killer."

Liuxin quickly grabbed Xu Qiao's hand and carried her away, leaving Huang Yu with Jinshui. Huang Yu found a pair of human footprints heading in different directions soon after, he followed the trails.

"Inside one of the eight pieces of the wuqing xue manual there are several lines of words that could easily be mistaken for crushing human bones to practice inner energy," Jinshui said to Huang Yu later. "If I remember correctly, these lines are in the piece of the wuqing xue manual that was given to you."

"That's right, I still remember the entire contents of my piece of manual, every single letter of it," said Huang Yu, finding that the footprints continued heading west. "There are lines as you mentioned."

"That piece of the manual hasn't been with you for a while," said Jinshui.

"It was burned to ashed along with our Hailang Biaoju headquarters building three years ago," said Huang Yu. "Or at least, that's what I thought for the last three years."

"What do you mean?" asked Jinshui.

"I've memorized that manual for a long time, there's no reason to bring it everywhere," said Huang Yu. "I had this piece of manual hidden in a secret place in my room, but it's not impossible that someone would find out and then take it."

"Who took it?" asked Jinshui.

"We'll find it," Huang Yu seemed to have guessed who took his piece of manual, but he didn't want to tell Jinshui without any reliable evidence.

--

Xiaoshan and Xiaohu had already returned to the ship when Jinshui and Huang Yu came back without finding the killer of Jianyin Bang member and left the corpse in the forest. Lin Jixuan asked his men to lift the anchor and they continued their voyage, heading to another part of Dongting Lake, through a narrower river pass, and found another denser forest.

"Xiaohu, Xiaoshan, you two said that Bai Tu Shanzhuang is around this place, are you sure?" Lin Jixuan asked Huang Yu's two servants. "There's nothing here but trees, no sign of human habitation anywhere."

"Li Taiyi took his family away from the capital after failing to save an emperor's concubine, it wouldn't be strange if he chose a hidden place," Huang Yu said. He took out his fireworks. It was a signal device used by Yumen members and given by his master Chailang.

"Ershaoye, it's best not to use this fireworks signal," Xiaohu told him. "This belongs to Yumen, if someone sees it, it will provoke the people of Jianyin Bang to come here and find us."

"That's right, we saw some members of Jianyin Bang in the village earlier, it looks like they are looking for someone," continued Xiaoshan.

Huang Yu and Jinshui knew the men of Jianyin Bang were hunting for the fake Yumen Mowang. The murder victim was already in the vicinity of Dongting Lake, the culprit was probably not far away either. If it wasn't for the urgent need to find Li Qian and the family in order to save Qin Liangjie's wife, Huang Yu would have used all his time to track down the killer.

They didn't release the fireworks sign and decided to go ashore again and spread out to find Bai Tu Shanzhuang. Jinshui was with Xu Qiao, Huang Yu was Lin Jixuan, Xiaohu with Xiaoshan. While Liuxin and Yuanxia were asked to stay waiting on the ship.

Somewhere around the river bank, Jinshui pulled Xu Qiao's hand and took her up the tree. He heard the sound of someone approaching and was alerted.

A young man in black ran in the middle of the forest, past the tree where they were. The young man's energy seemed to be running out, his breath was fast, and the wound on his arm was bleeding, but he kept running. He stumbled a few times, the pain almost making him fall, but he continued running in fear.

Xu Qiao saw the injured man and was about to help, but Jinshui held her back. Jinshui felt familiar with the figure of the young man, he met him somewhere. He led Xu Qiao to jump to another tree, trying to recognize the young man's face.

A puddle of mud blocked the young man's path. He fell to the ground, and the pain in his arm seemed to multiply. For a moment he looked back. That was when there was a commotion sound, the screams of the people chasing him. He quickly stood up, trying to continue his steps towards the small town with the last of his strength. But the pursuers had seen it, they are brandishing weapons in their hands while shouting.

"Catch him!"

"Kill that criminal!"

"Chase him!"

The young man ran away with difficulty. His pursuers were seen a moment later, all wearing similar dark green clothes, the uniforms of the members of the Jianyin Bang. There was a total of twenty of them, carrying weapons of various shapes like blades, swords, spears, sticks, and even arrows. Indeed, members of the Jianyin Bang were well-known for mastering various kinds of weapons commonly used by people in the martial world, according to what their ancestors had also mastered for generations. But of course, the most widely used was sword.

The leader of the Jianyin Bang members was nowhere to be seen. Possibly because they chased people far out of town, they had split up and separated from the other brothers. They also seemed to be pursuing passionately, making too much fuss, and fighting over each other a bit.

"Jinshui Gege, is he the fake Yumen Mowang that Han Dage was talking about?" Xu Qiao pointed at the injured young man. "But we saw the victim. If that man can kill someone so terribly, why is his condition no better?"

"You want to help him escape, or help the Jianyin Bang members catch him?" asked Jinshui.

"The members of Jianyin Bang normally act conscionably," replied Xu Qiao. "Catch first, ask questions later. If that man is not a criminal, he shouldn't be treated like one"

Jinshui nodded once, then left her on the tree, flew down and met the injured young man, easily grabbed one of his arms, and he was about to take the young man away from the approaching Jianyin Bang members.

However, Jinshui suddenly recognized the young man's face as Huang Zhe, Huang Yu's older brother. He had seen him once three years ago when he was with Huang Yu on the way to Hailang Biaoju's headquarters. Huang Zhe's face was also similar to his brother's, he can't be wrong. For a moment he hesitated, handing over Huang Yu's brother to the members of Jianyin Bang could lead to another problem.

He quickly carried Huang Zhe up a tree, asked him to shut up, and let the Jianyin Bang members down there pass without finding him. Huang Zhe didn't know Jinshui because three years ago when he came with Huang Yu, Jinshui just stayed some distance away and Huang Zhe didn't even notice his existence.

"Thank you for helping me," Huang Zhe said after a while, realizing Jinshui was still holding his arm.

"You are the first son of Huang Weiqun, Huang Zongbiaotou from Hailang Biaoju, aren't you?" Jinshui asked him.

"I am," replied Huang Zhe. "And you are…?"

"Why did those Jianyin Bang members hunt you down?" Jinshui asked again, not answering his question.

"Just a misunderstanding," Huang Zhe replied a little nervously.

"Did you kill one of their own?" asked Jinshui again.

"Misunderstanding," Huang Zhe repeated his words. "It was just a misunderstanding."

Jinshui punched Huang Zhe's acupuncture point so that he was speechless, then carried him flying between the trees, caught up with the Jianyin Bang people who weren't too far away, and threw the fugitive at them before sprinting away again and meeting Xu Qiao.

"Jinshui Gege, what happened?" Xu Qiao asked him.

"It's fine," replied Jinshui. "I handed him over to Jianyin Bang people. They know what to do."

Jinshui and Xu Qiao saw a puff of smoke shortly after passing through the forest and found a small village not far away. Several white rabbits were seen running around the village, informing them that they had arrived at Bai Tu Shanzhuang.

But they had not come any closer when they saw several women dressed in white with wooden brown coats standing in front of the gate of the village, each carrying a thin sword with hilts carved with flower petals on their waist belts. Those were Haitang Jian Pai disciple's signature clothing and weapons.

Two of the women carried a palanquin with their sister lying on it. Two others stood at the back, carrying a large sack that seemed to be moving.

Behind those last two were standing two little girls, they were at most twelve years old, their faces were similar to each other, they seemed to be twins, and they occasionally kicked the sack violently.

Jinshui and Xu Qiao held back their steps. Jinshui had been locked up for months by the head of Haitang Jian Pai, Weian Shuang Jian Yuan Wancui in an underground cave, and he had not forgotten that the head of the female-only sect was the one who had killed his master, Moying, and she was also one of three people who initiated the attack on the Yumen headquarters years ago and caused the deaths of many members and their families. Jinshui's grudge hadn't diminished after he killed nine Haitang Jian Pai elders three years ago.

"I told you Li Taiyi hasn't helped people in a long time, preferring to spend the day taking care of rabbits and other animals," came a voice from inside the sack, a little girl's mocking voice. "You ladies coming all the way here are useless, it's better to bring your ershijie back to Haitang Jian Pai and prepare for her funeral."

Jinshui recognized that the woman at the front was the third disciple of Yuan Wancui, named Yunhe, while the one lying on the stretcher was apparently the second disciple, named Yunxi. Carrying the palanquin were the seventh and eighth disciples, Yunli and Yunxue. The two girls kicking the sack were probably new students, Jinshui had never seen them.

"Shut up," the two little girls kicked the sack violently. Yunhe seemed to be pacing impatiently, letting the twins act out of line with the manners of Haitang Jian Pai's students who were normally polite and didn't like to oppress people. It seemed that the problem of her second junior being injured had made her very uneasy.

Two servants came out from inside the village gate, informing Yunhe that Bai Tu Shanzhuang's master was not willing to receive guests, and asked Yunhe and her juniors to leave.

"Please tell your master one more time, our sister was injured by the poison of the caixue zhu (snow-colored spider) and only Li Taiyi can save her," Yunhe said to the two servants in a very condescending manner. It was unusual for Haitang Jian Pai disciples for they normally didn't respect people of lower status.

"Yeah right, Li Taiyi will not see death without helping," the voice from the sack added.

"You can't say that word," the seventh disciple Yunli reprimanded the sack half-crying.

"Our master really has retired and doesn't see anyone anymore," the two servants spoke at the same time.

"Sanshijie, let's just lunge in." The eighth disciple Yunxue also said with bloodshot eyes.

"Yes," added the sack, "and deal with some rabbits."

Jinshui and Xu Qiao were still at their place, watching with a bit of impatience. They also needed to see Li Taiyi to help save a life, if these Haitang Jian Pai disciples didn't leave soon maybe Jinshui needed to send them away.

"Jinshui Gege, the disciples of Yuan Wancui, Yuan Zhangmen, can be considered as my aunts," Xu Qiao had a different opinion. "Can you help them so that Li Taiyi is also willing to help?"

"In the past when I was an errand boy in Haitang Jian Pai, those two Yunhe and Yunxi were the most famous for making trouble for subordinates," Jinshui said disapprovingly. "Those Yunli and Yunxue were worse, they're the ones who made me drink the zhaobai poison. You can see the effects of that poison are still there."

"Revenge is endless," Xu Qiao said. "You're almost completely healed, after all, can you just forget about it?"

"I'll go see Huang Yu and the others, tell them that we've found Bai Tu Shanzhuang," Jinshui said slightly annoyed, then turned around and left.

Xu Qiao stepped closer to Yunhe who was still arguing with the two servants. Haitang Jian Pai's disciples had never seen her, and they didn't know her.

"My name is Xu Qiao, the fifth daughter of Huofeng Lou's master in Anhui Province," Xu Qiao introduced herself to Yunhe. "Your first senior is my stepmother, and she can be considered as my master. Xu Qiao pay respects to Aunties."

"You are dashijie's daughter?" asked Yunhe, it seemed that she still considers Bao Xinfei as her senior, and Bao Xinfei's decision to become someone's young wife didn't change the relationship between them. Indeed, Xu Qiao knew from her young mother that the sense of sisterhood between Yuan Wancui's disciples was very strong, and sometimes exceeded that of biological siblings.

"Yes," replied Xu Qiao. "Kewei Shishu, please wait for a moment, I will convey something to these two friends."

Yunhe nodded her head in despair, and let Xu Qiao talk to the two servants.

"Can you tell Li Qian, Li Dage, that Liuxin Junzhu is on her way here to see him," Xu Qiao said to the two servants. "Also, these aunties are my relatives. If Li Taiyi is not willing to welcome them, at least Li Dage can let them in and have some rest here for the night."

The two servants asked her to wait a moment, then they went inside, relaying Xu Qiao's message to their master. Xu Qiao deliberately did not mention the names of Jinshui or Huang Yu because she did not want her friendship with the Yumen descendants known to Bao Xinfei or even Yuan Wancui. Saying Liuxin's name is the most suitable term because Li Qian will definitely be willing to meet the little princess.

"Sanshishu, how did ershishu get her injuries?" Xu Qiao asked Yunhe. "Who did such a thing to her?"

"She did," one of the twins carrying a sack answered. "Our Ershijie was kind enough to take her to meet her older sister, unexpectedly this girl is the most poisonous girl of Wansui Gu, she has various kinds of strange animals crawling around her body, and she was viciously using caixue zhu to poison our ershijie."

"Wansui Gu?" asked Xu Qiao. "What's her relationship with Jiuwei Bian Zhou Xiangnu?"

"You know my sister?" the sack asked Xu Qiao. "What do you think of her nine-tailed whip? Is it good?"

"Good, really good," replied Xu Qiao, "it's just that now it's useless junk because I've already cut it into nine pieces. It's good that Zhou Xiangnu ran away, otherwise I'll also cut her into nine pieces too."

The sack laughed, her childish voice sounded very happy to hear Zhou Xiangnu's favorite whip had been tampered with in such a way. Xu Qiao didn't know the girl in the sack, she didn't understand why she was laughing so happily.

The two village servants had returned to the gate, they were inviting the guests to come inside and have some rest before meeting their masters. Yunhe thanked Xu Qiao, then led the others inside. The twins intentionally dragged the sack so violently that the girl inside could only scream and curse.

Xu Qiao had a problem with the Wansui Gu people for poisoning her with zixie du, but she didn't have the heart to see a little girl from Wansui Gu being treated like that, she quickly confronted the twins.

"Dear little sister, can you please let her go?" she asked. "After all, she's just a child."

"How can she be said to be just a child?" asked the twins in unison, then again dragged the sack and left her.

Xu Qiao didn't like the twins, they were really rude for some children. Alright, she said to herself, this is not the time to fuss with Haitang Jian Pai disciple. Helping a child can be done later.

Jinshui and the others arrived a few moments later, Xu Qiao immediately asked the two servants to escort them to Li Qian and avoid the Haitang Jian Pai women as far as possible so as not to cause a commotion.