With a sword drawn, he laughs proudly, his martial prowess dominating the heavens!

Chapter 43 Reunion with Qu Yang

The next morning, Li Che ate his meal at the inn as usual. He ate with relish, but Qu Feiyan, who was sitting next to him, could hardly swallow.

Yesterday I was praising the bean porridge on the table, but now, looking at the dark red color of the porridge, I keep recalling the scene of the person who held me hostage last night, with blood gushing from their neck.

The little girl pursed her lips, pushed the bowl aside, grabbed a piece of rice cake, and put it in her mouth.

But after taking just one bite, he remembered that the filling of the rose cake was as red as blood. Upon seeing it, he immediately threw the rice cake in his hand into the plate and couldn't help but gag.

Li Che was overjoyed. This little girl wasn't afraid of dead people, but she couldn't stand the disgusting scene of blood and gore.

"Don't waste food. Haven't you heard the saying that we should cherish every grain of rice and every bowl of porridge we eat?"

Qu Feiyan's eyes flashed with disdain as she sarcastically remarked, "You speak so grandly, as if this silver is yours. So what if it's wasted? Are those dead men going to come looking for me?"

"That's hard to say." Li Che noticed her expression falter, then pretended to argue, "If I don't take the silver, someone else will. If someone else doesn't take it, it will just be buried in the ground."

So, this is called making the best use of resources; the principles are all the same. What do you know, little girl?

"Pah! Nonsense! Hmph, I see it now, you've only learned half of your master Yue Buqun's skills at most."

Li Che didn't care about her sarcastic remarks, and shamelessly said, "That's not entirely wrong. I am worthy of the title 'gentleman'."

Qu Feiyan scoffed, but couldn't bring herself to utter the vulgarity. She spat and said, "More like a hypocrite!"

Breakfast ended amidst their bickering, and the pent-up frustration from last night's fight dissipated considerably.

Li Che, unusually, did not practice his martial arts today. Instead, he moved a rattan chair to the courtyard, slumped on it, and placed a pot of freshly boiled tea on the table beside him.

It has been almost a month since I came down the mountain.

My thoughts raced back to the journey; it had certainly not been peaceful.

He has helped people, killed people, shown kindness, and made enemies.

He subconsciously wondered how much of it was meddling and how much was beyond his control.

Those who have been killed deserve to be killed, but should those who have shown kindness be helped?

Before I knew it, more than half of the tea in the pot had been drunk.

Qu Feiyan sat on the threshold, watching from afar, when she suddenly realized that while she herself showed her emotions on her face, this person's expression remained unchanged, yet his emotions were all hidden in his heart.

Gains and losses are hard to discern in the world, and good and evil are hard to distinguish among people.

Unconsciously, Li Che's brows furrowed and then relaxed, as if he had realized something, or as if he couldn't quite grasp it.

After a while, he let out a long sigh, slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze became much clearer.

"Since you're already here, why don't you come down and sit for a while?"

"Young hero, I admire your keen observation skills."

"grandfather!"

Before the words were even finished, Qu Feiyan had already jumped up, and by the time the gray figure scaled the wall and entered the courtyard, she had already thrown herself into the man's arms.

"The gate was open, yet you insisted on climbing over the wall. What, is that girl surnamed Ren untrustworthy?"

Qu Yang chuckled awkwardly, first patting his granddaughter in his arms, then walking to the stone bench in the courtyard and sitting down. Qu Feiyan's arms were already wrapped around Qu Yang's neck, her eyes red, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Li Che glanced at him; his back was bare, but his shoulders were straighter, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to have loosened a bit.

"The Holy Maiden is a woman of her word; she will never break her promise."

"Senior Qu has probably been in the Demonic Sect for too long. I think she's just being cautious! Now that you're no longer a member of the Demonic Sect, you must have already obtained the antidote for the Three Corpse Brain God Pill. You just need to wait for an opportunity to change your identity."

Qu Yang hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help asking, "Why are you helping me so much, young hero?"

Li Che said quietly, "Don't worry, I have no ulterior motives towards you, senior. If I had to give a reason, it's not that I'm helping you, but rather that I'm helping my Uncle Liu Zhengfeng."

On a larger scale, helping Hengshan is helping Huashan.

Li Che paused for a moment, then said, "Therefore, this is not a personal grudge, and senior need not feel burdened."

Qu Yang clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, sincerely saying, "Young hero, I admire your magnanimity! With a successor like you in the Huashan Sect, I imagine that Master Yue, the Gentleman Swordsman, must be a humble, open-minded, and magnanimous gentleman."

"My master's magnanimity is far beyond my reach," Li Che said, bowing respectfully from afar.

Then there was another freeze. The old man revealed his identity without saying a word. Sure enough, experience counts.

But his expression remained unchanged, and he didn't say a word about anything else, which seemed to imply a tacit understanding.

Li Che then asked seriously, "What are Senior Qu's plans next?"

Although Miss Ren is currently forced to comply by me, please forgive my bluntness...

Qu Yang laughed nonchalantly and interrupted, saying, "I understand. What joy is there in living, and what sorrow in dying? It's just a pity that the zither is destroyed, the strings are broken, the music is over, and the people are gone."

After saying that, he stood up and bowed solemnly. Li Che quickly stood up and stepped aside, saying, "Senior, please speak frankly. I am afraid I cannot accept this bow."

"Ah~ It is indeed a bit difficult for you, young hero."

Seeing his gaze drift towards Qu Feiyan, Li Che understood immediately and quickly said, "Senior, you seem to be making a hasty decision. Before things even begin, who can predict how things will unfold?"

The two seemed to be speaking in riddles, but Qu Feiyan easily saw through their charade. "Grandpa, don't be fooled by him. This man is very cunning. I don't want to be separated from you."

"That brat eats my food, drinks my drinks, and lives in my house, and in the end she doesn't even say anything good about me!" Li Che cursed inwardly, glaring at her angrily.

The little girl wasn't afraid at all, and glared back triumphantly.

After pondering for a moment, Qu Yang smiled nonchalantly, "Very well, Young Hero Li, I'll take my leave now. Feifei, let's go."

Qu Feiyan responded with a smile, and made a face at Li Che, but when she turned around, there was a hint of reluctance in her expression.

Li Che did not see them off. When the two reached the door, he said, "Senior Qu, the broken zither fades the past, new strings play new sounds. Who knows if a loss is a blessing in disguise?"

Qu Yang's body stiffened, then he turned around and smiled, "I've learned a lot! Farewell!"

"No need to see me out!"

Qu Yang never revealed his destination, but Li Che was already considering where to go after leaving Luoyang.

Luoyang is calm for the time being. It seems that Master Zuo has not yet received the news of his beloved disciple's "death to protect the Dao." It will probably take another two or three days for the matter to develop further.

Luoyang is the territory of the Songshan Sect, so it's inevitable that the Songshan Sect will keep an eye on it. Firstly, it's troublesome, and secondly, I don't want to see their arrogant attitude.

It is unknown whether the eldest brother will still have a grudge against the "Four Beasts of Qingcheng".

I still remember last night when we were having a banquet at the Golden Knife King's house, I subtly mentioned the Fuwei Escort Agency.

During the conversation, Old Master Wang praised his son-in-law's business acumen, but somewhat underestimated his martial arts skills.

The Lin family should have been doomed from the brink of death. Even without Yu Canghai, there was Zuo Lengchan, or someone else.

Li Che wouldn't risk getting himself caught up in the whirlpool of the martial world just to save them.

However, he was considering whether he could use this incident to give the Lin family a chance to survive.

Just as he was struggling with his own thoughts, Chief Escort Zhou knocked on the door and entered the courtyard.

"Young Master Li, the brothers were just discussing setting off back to Guanzhong today. We forgot to tell you before we left, but Master Huo repeatedly instructed us to bring you back with us."

"What do you think...?"

As he spoke, Zhou Ang's dark face turned red. The manor lord had originally instructed him to take care of Li Che along the way, but it turned out that Li Che had saved his life, and now he had to escort them all the way back.

Without a doubt, it must be Old Yue's idea.

So be it.

"Alright, let's set off together."

......