I am live-streaming Q&A in comprehensive wuxia world, a large-scale social death scene

Chapter 39 Linghu Chong Makes Friends with a Rogue, Huashan Sect’s Divine Art Stolen

The scene continued. Lu Dazhao was tending to Linghu Chong alone, feeling helpless when suddenly, Yue Lingshan returned. It turned out that Yue Lingshan had stolen the Purple Mist Manual and had Lu Dazhao read it aloud to Linghu Chong in hopes of aiding his recovery.

Upon realizing that the manual had been stolen and was not given by his master, Linghu Chong refused to accept it. After blocking Lu Dazhao’s acupoint, Linghu Chong forced himself to stand and, despite his injuries, began descending the mountain.

Along the way, they encountered Tian Boguang lying in the grass, groaning in pain. After being forced to retreat by Linghu Chong, Tian Boguang had been captured and tortured by the Six Immortals of Peach Valley, leaving him severely wounded.

With only ten days left before the poison took effect, Linghu Chong immediately asked about Yi Lin’s whereabouts.

Tian Boguang, curious, asked, “Are you really going?”

Linghu Chong replied, “You’ve spared my life multiple times. Though you’ve done wrong, I can’t just stand by and watch you die from poison.”

“Back then, I resisted you fiercely, but the situation is different now.”

Tian Boguang was overjoyed, and the two decided to go to Hengshan together. However, both were severely injured, and after struggling for a long time, they found they couldn’t move and could only wait for death. Suddenly, they both burst into laughter.

Tian Boguang said, “I, Tian Boguang, have wandered the martial world with no true friend. Dying here with you, Linghu brother, feels satisfying.”

Linghu Chong chuckled, “When my master finds our corpses, he’ll think we fought each other to the death. Who would have thought that, just before dying, we’d be brothers?”

Tian Boguang extended his hand and said, “Linghu brother, let’s shake hands before we die.”

Linghu Chong hesitated.

Tian Boguang, a notorious bandit, was an infamous rogue. How could a righteous disciple like him befriend such a person? Though he had spared Tian Boguang’s life before, they were now on different paths, and forming a friendship seemed impossible.

But when he saw the sincerity in Tian Boguang’s eyes, Linghu Chong, with a sigh, extended his hand and shook his.

“Brother Tian, with you, dying won’t feel lonely.”

Just then, Songshan Sect’s Di Xiu appeared, claiming he would strip them both and tie them together, intending to showcase them as having committed immoral acts. This was all to tarnish Yue Buqun’s reputation.

Linghu Chong was both shocked and angry but powerless to resist. Fortunately, Yi Lin arrived, accompanied by a large monk. This monk was Yi Lin’s father, named “Bu Jie,” who had previously sent Tian Boguang and the Six Immortals of Peach Valley to summon Linghu Chong.

Bu Jie easily captured Di Xiu and threw him down the slope, then administered the antidote to Tian Boguang. Bu Jie also injected two streams of internal energy into Linghu Chong. These two powerful energies suppressed the six conflicting internal forces in Linghu Chong’s body, temporarily stabilizing his condition.

With the eight streams of energy now in his body, Linghu Chong’s injuries were harder to treat but momentarily under control. He felt the discomfort in his chest subside and strength return to his legs.

The group continued down the mountain and encountered Yue Buqun and Yue Lingshan. Yue Buqun had realized that Yue Lingshan had stolen the Purple Mist Manual and returned to the mountain to retrieve it.

When Yue Buqun saw Linghu Chong walking with Tian Boguang, he immediately ordered Linghu Chong to kill Tian Boguang.

Linghu Chong pleaded, “Master, this brother Tian has promised me to turn over a new leaf and never again harm innocent women. I know he keeps his word, so…”

Yue Buqun sharply rebuked, “How do you know he keeps his word? Why would we show mercy to such a villain? How many innocent lives has he taken? If we don’t kill him, what’s the point of martial arts?”

Linghu Chong was torn. He couldn’t disobey his master, but he also felt it was wrong to kill Tian Boguang, who had become a friend. So, pretending to be gravely injured, he suddenly lost strength in his legs, dropped to one knee, and fell forward, causing his sword to stab into his own leg.

Yue Buqun, seeing this, was about to take action himself, but Bu Jie intervened. Bu Jie had exhausted much of his energy in stabilizing Linghu Chong’s injuries, and though Yue Buqun could have killed Tian Boguang, he didn’t.

A true martial artist can’t strike without a certain level of confidence, and Yue Buqun, too, chose to let it go. After Bu Jie, Yi Lin, and Tian Boguang left, Yue Buqun said, “Chong’er, you’re really loyal to this villain. You would rather stab yourself than kill him.”

Linghu Chong looked ashamed.

“Master, though Tian’s actions were wrong, he has promised to change, and he’s spared me before. I couldn’t bring myself to kill him.”

Yue Buqun scoffed, “You talk of loyalty to this kind of scoundrel? You’ll suffer for this in the future.”

Despite his words, Yue Buqun was still very fond of Linghu Chong and didn’t press the matter further. Afterward, Yue Buqun inquired about the Purple Mist Manual. Linghu Chong told the truth.

The three returned to Huashan, only to discover that Lu Dazhao had died, and the Purple Mist Manual was missing. Linghu Chong thought he had unintentionally killed Lu Dazhao with too much force and was devastated.

Yue Buqun, distressed by the loss of such an important treasure, began to suspect that Linghu Chong had stolen it. Linghu Chong couldn’t prove his innocence and resolved to recover the manual and then take his own life as an apology for the loss of the manual.

…

Meanwhile, the comment section was filled with activity.

【Daming Yunluo Princess: Linghu Chong pointed at him, yet Lu Dazhao could still speak! How did he die?】

【Four Eyebrows Lu Xiaofeng: It’s obvious someone killed Lu Dazhao and took the Purple Mist Manual.】

【Huamanlou: And that person is not Linghu Chong.】

【Flower Butterfly Hu Tiehua: There’s a spy within Huashan Sect!】

【Thief Lord Chu Liuxiang: Di Xiu is from Songshan Sect, yet he appeared in Huashan. That’s highly suspicious. I suspect the traitor is from Songshan Sect.】

【Songshan Sect Lu Bai: Nonsense! Stop slandering us! I’ll ask, what does it say about Huashan to allow their top disciple to form a friendship with a notorious bandit? Does Huashan Sect want to sever ties with the righteous path?】

【Huashan Sect Ning Zhongze: Right and wrong will come to light. Senior Lu, there’s no need to smear Huashan Sect.】