Republic of China

Chapter 341 Water and Fire Refining
Qin Jianghe is already very old.

I’m so old that my memories have become yellowed and mottled, and sometimes I can’t even remember my spouse’s name.

After a long time, there will always be some gossip.

In fact, Qin Jianghe was not like this forty years ago. At that time, he took over the position of the head of the Yuanding Sect when he was in his prime.

This sect has many mysteries and it is said that they are very good at controlling objects, but the disciples are few and far between. Not to mention the ridiculously high threshold, even some old guys have never heard of such a sect.

Qin Jianghe originally thought that he still had a lot of time and should be able to achieve great things, expand the Yuanding Sect, and pass on the things left by his ancestors.

No matter what.

A handwritten letter from a friend no matter how much older he was made Qin Jianghe temporarily give up his ambition to expand the sect, and he subsequently became one of the two yin and yang of Da Chongjiu, a position he holds until today.

Although he has a bad memory, he can clearly remember every member's abilities, hobbies, weaknesses, ideals, and even their mumblings in their sleep.

Over the years, he has devoted everything to Da Chongjiu, so much so that now he is the only one left in Yuanding Sect.

When I am alone, I sometimes think that this choice is not for personal gain, but for the sake of my country and my family. It is worth it to give up the development of one family and keep the lights of thousands of families burning.

If we can manage Da Chongjiu well and gain power for the country to deter the villains from all sides, what will it matter if there is one more or one less underworld force in the world?
But in the end, Qin Jianghe's hard work was not destroyed by external forces, but was severely trampled by his own people, as if demonstrating the eternal and unchanging law of nature.

No matter how strong one person is, his power will eventually come to an end.

He looked at the tit-for-tat confrontation in front of the low cliff. Some of the people were subordinates, some were former subordinates, and there were some elusive strong men from other sects, and some were not even Yanhuang people at all.

Yes.

Time changes everything.

Just like the rise and fall, just like the unpredictable human heart.

The price paid is that Da Chongjiu, who was once a master at the peak of his powers, has now almost exhausted all his energy. Even if his former subordinates who "rebelled against his superiors" are counted, only one in ten of them are left.

There was wisdom and regret in Qin Jianghe's eyes.

Little did he know that although Zuo Dengyun looked dull, he was actually very meticulous and had many ambitions to achieve.

He also knew that no matter whether it was at the beginning or after the establishment of Da Chongjiu, there would always be different opinions and disputes in the world, just like the top strong men in front of the cliff, who had different beliefs, different skills, different habits, and even deep hatred before entering.

Therefore, balance is the top priority throughout the ages and never changes. The best talent of those in power is not radicalism, but wise compromise.

Unfortunately, the other person in Liangyi, Zuo Dengyun, took a completely opposite path.

"I admit that you can still launch a desperate counterattack even when you are at a disadvantage, but you are wrong after all. In your opinion, Da Chong Jiu is just a sword of judgment that checks and balances the various sects in the martial arts world and cleanses the evil and the wicked. Is that really the case? Otherwise, you and I both know that the power it contains is far more than that."

Feeling the scorching gaze, Qin Jianghe remained calm, as if he would not change his expression even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him.

"for example?"

"For example, assassinating enemy leaders, tracking down gangsters, borrowing the lives of ordinary people to extend the life of high-ranking officials, and taking the energy of remote and desolate places to increase the fortune of important ports—"

"Fuck you!!!"

Gao Shou really couldn't bear to listen any longer. If his colleagues hadn't pulled him back, he would have probably picked up a white wax stick and gone to stab Zuo Dengyun.

I definitely cannot win by fighting, and I know this very well, but I still have to criticize.

"What do you think Da Chongjiu is? The stick-sticking place of the previous dynasty? Do you mean that we, who have trained hard in winter and summer and shed many layers of skin to acquire the skills, must sell them to the emperor? The fucking emperor is gone! The fucking whips have been cut! And you want to be a bloodthirsty lackey for the higher-ups!?"

"Assassinating enemy leaders? Tracking down the gangsters? Who is the enemy leader and who is the gangster? Now that Ning and Han are in opposition, is Jiang Xipi the enemy leader? Is the Grand Marshal of Beiyang the enemy leader? Or is he the hammer and sickle who you guys just want to kill? We have no right to intervene in the fighting between the Tiger Talisman holders. Old Qin and Mr. Zhang Yinguang have been trying their best to keep Da Chongjiu out of it, but you insisted on being a dog!"

"Borrow my life to extend your life? Take my energy to improve your luck? All right! First I'll borrow your mother's life, then I'll take your hometown's energy. If you dare to do it, I'll obey you immediately!"

Gao Shou jumped up and down and cursed. The sunglasses he had to wear day and night fell off his face. A few strands of hair swung back and forth, showing what it meant to be extremely angry.

The skills I learned so hard back then were not for the purpose of becoming a killer or a spy. The reason I left Wudang Mountain and joined Da Chongjiu was because I was moved by Mr. Qin's noble character.

No matter how high-sounding the words are, it is difficult to change Zuo Dengyun's elitism. He only serves the upper class, and it is easier to manage when the upper class is stable. To be precise, it is not management at all, but deception.

Gao Shou refused to believe it. Why couldn't he go down first and then go up?
Without Da Chongjiu to check and balance, there will definitely be bloody storms in the martial arts world again. There are too many grievances between those factions with a long history, and evil sects such as Yiguandao and Denghuajiao will become even more rampant.

Zuo Dengyun was not angry when he heard this, but ordered his attendants, "Go to my hometown in Xikang and bring my relatives with me."

When saying this, Zuo Dengyun didn't even blink, as if he was only deciding the fate of cats and dogs.

"Wait!"

"Gao Laoyang has any other requests?"

"Yes! I regret it, okay? Zuo Dengyun, oh Zuo Dengyun, I used to think you were just a fool, but now I see you are just a beast. For the so-called ideal, you not only fight against your own family, but you are also willing to sacrifice your closest relatives!"

"When everything is back on track, my life will be at your mercy."

No temper. Gao Shou has no temper at all.

What truth can you explain to an animal?

Zuo Dengyun looked at the silent Qin Jianghe again. He knew that if Qin Jianghe did not nod, Gao Shou and others would fight to the death.

Everyone standing here now has special skills, so we must try to reduce casualties, otherwise it will not be purification but self-destruction. It is extremely difficult to create an organization like Da Chongjiu.

Therefore, after years of forbearance and mobilization, Zuo Dengyun joined forces with external forces to severely damage the Qin Jiang Heyi faction, and then launched this open war after the strength of the two sides declined. Even if he gathered top players such as Gao Shou, Yang Miao, Tong Yi, He Youyuan, Shangguan Baitu and others back to the Da Zhongjiu headquarters in a very short time, in Zuo Dengyun's view, he would definitely win this battle.

"You should surrender now, go home and enjoy your old age, and no longer be burdened by worldly affairs. I guarantee with my life that the Qin family will enjoy peace forever. If you want to join the government, Commissioner Wang has also made a promise."

Until this moment, Zuo Dengyun still hadn't given up trying to persuade Qin Jianghe.

Is it because of years of friendship?
Or is it because of the fear that has never disappeared in my bones?
Or both?
Qin Jianghe, who had lowered his head, finally raised his head again and spoke the last words to Zuo Dengyun in this life.

"You are decisive but lack vision. You look down on the salt dealer in Nanjing. Is the man in Jiangcheng who assassinated Prince Chun better? I remember Mo Wenshan once said to me in Northeast dialect, "You should wear pants that fit your butt." You and I are just ordinary people who know how to take shortcuts. It is even more unrealistic to want to get involved in the supreme power than to want to ascend to heaven. You will only be crushed into dust by the vortex. As an old friend of many years, I really don't want to see you step into the abyss, so I choose to send you off in person."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Jianghe took a small step neither hurried nor slow, like the most ordinary steps of an old man taking a walk, even a little staggering and weak.

Almost at the same time, the space around Zuo Dengyun condensed into ice flakes as thin as cicada wings and leaping hot sparks for no reason.

Before Qin Jianghe took the second step, Zuo Dengyun was already shocked, his expression changed from disbelief to relief, and then back to disbelief.
In short, Zuo Dengyun understood that Qin Jianghe was absolutely invincible at this moment.

Without any hesitation, he immediately made a gesture with his fingers, and a yellow rope as graceful as a dragon flew out from behind his collar, winding straight up into the sky.

Divine rope!
This is Zuo Dengyun's specialty. There are only three people who can do this in the whole of Yanhuang. Zuo Dengyun has already mastered it. Just like Qin Jianghe said before, as long as you are willing, it is not a foolish dream to travel a thousand miles a day and eight hundred miles a night. It is with this method that he has defeated countless strong men in the past sixty years. Even if he is defeated, he can retreat unscathed. Qin Jianghe took the second step slowly. More ice flakes and sparks appeared around Zuo Dengyun who was holding the immortal rope. They jumped lightly and intertwined with each other.

The ice is burning.

Fire is crystallizing.

Time seemed to be rapidly slowing down.

"Kill them."

Zuo Dengyun pronounced the words almost one by one, and each syllable was so difficult.

What he couldn't believe was that Qin Jianghe actually inherited the water and fire refining skills!

Not only save others, but also save yourself.

Zuo Dengyun was knowledgeable and had learned too many mysterious skills. He had seen some masters who could expand their inner scene outward to influence the feng shui of the world, but what Qin Jianghe performed was fundamentally different.

Using one's own powerful inner strength combined with the beautiful mountains and rivers, one can pull the target spirit from the spiritual platform into the absolute realm.

Simply put, this is a method that leads to death and no life.

Either the caster dies or he dies with the target; there is no third possibility.

Zuo Dengyun's body, which was about to continue escaping along the magical rope, suddenly stopped. An irresistible mysterious force gently carried his consciousness away from the spiritual platform and slowly floated towards Qin Jianghe who had just taken the third step.

However, Qin Jianghe's old face with wrinkles all over it began to revive, his wrinkles were smoothed out, his silver hair turned black again, and his hunched body became straighter.

The only ones affected by all these things were the two people of Yi and Yin in Da Chongjiu.

As Zuo Dengyun gave the order, a sinister cold light, like a sarcastic smile, came with a whistling wind and hit the head of a Qinglong Shaoyang, instantly splashing white and red all over the ground.

Almost at the same time, a gorgeous red silk flew up and instantly entangled with the fierce cold light, making an extremely harsh metallic collision sound, accompanied by a roar of hatred deep in the bones.

"Jiang Shihu! You!"

Jiang Shihu, who always looked carefree, turned his bone flower with a nonchalant expression on his face. "My grandfather doesn't understand me, and you understand me even less. It's true that I have a lot of opinions about many of the rules of Da Chongjiu. I really have opinions, especially the one that does not allow lynching. But that doesn't mean I have an opinion about Old Qin. And if I remember correctly, you told Tong Yi about the incident of me pulling my trouser pockets when I was fighting with someone two years ago, right? Who in Da Chongjiu doesn't know that I want to marry her? Why are you gossiping about her behind her back?"

Although the other person was wearing a mask, one could clearly hear from his tone what it meant to be furious, and one could even guess the expression behind the mask.

"How could you be so petty! Isn't that just a cliché? And have you lost your mind? No one else knew about this originally, but now that you've mentioned it, isn't it all revealed? Moreover, you've already killed the people from Qin Jiang's Heyi School, but now you want to turn against them!?"

The masked man was forced to engage in the most thrilling fight with Jiang Shihu.

The red silk would reveal completely different spell patterns every time it was unfolded. Whenever the masked man offered up a small talisman the size of a palm with strange interest, the red silk would change into unimaginable forms. If it was scratched, even the skin and bones would be cut off. Even if it was not scratched, the metal and iron energy would cut Jiang Shihu's skin and cause stinging pain.

Ding-ding-ding-ding——

When the red silk was about to wrap Jiang Shihu with overwhelming force, it failed and the red silk made a fatal flip.

Four sets of reverse games!

"Oh, my grandfather failed to break out of the encirclement at Baima Mountain, thanks to that damn peach blossom barrier. Many things about Mr. Qin have not been found out, but I am very free. I should take this opportunity to settle the old scores. My brother said that revenge requires not only slicing the buttocks, but also slapping the face."

The masked man didn't know who the new White Tiger Lao Yang learned his Northeastern witticisms from, and he didn't have the time to guess.

An even bloodier melee broke out in front of the low cliff. Regardless of whether they were injured or not, as long as they were still breathing, everyone joined the battle. They all knew that the fate of Da Chongjiu and themselves depended on this victory or defeat.

At the tail end of the magical rope, Zuo Dengyun's body became increasingly stiff, but his fingers were unusually agile. He kept making finger gestures at a speed that was dazzling.

It was not that he had epilepsy and started to twitch. At this moment, where his consciousness was, the heaven and earth were turning upside down and water and fire were stirring. Qin Jianghe was approaching step by step like an immortal ascending to heaven in broad daylight.

Following Zuo Dengyun's finger gestures, his consciousness tried his best to escape from Qin Jianghe's inner scene, or at least keep a distance from Qin Jianghe, but the effect was minimal.

Qin Jianghe's hands, as white as jade, created streaks of light, shining brightly.

When he got closer, Qin Jianghe lightly raised his hand and covered Zuo Dengyun's head, with an expression as if he was sighing for a moment.

The immortal touches the head!

Zuo Dengyun's finger gestures also froze in an instant, and his consciousness, or what could be called his soul, was mostly pulled out of his mind, leaving him without the power to resist.

It's not that the gap is too big, but I really didn't expect that someone like Qin Jianghe would exchange his life for another's.

"Mr. Qin, you are really cruel. You are willing to sacrifice your life before you even have a great-grandson?"

The voice is three parts teasing and seven parts playfulness.

After hearing this voice, Qin Jianghe's last step seemed to step into the abyss, and his body aged at a very fast speed, just like a dead tree that had been weathered for countless years.

Everything returns to the starting point.

Qin Jianghe turned his head with difficulty and looked at the inconspicuous man in the melee. A few strands of dry white hair appeared from under his pocket, and his true face gradually revealed.

At the last moment of his life, Qin Jianghe had no reluctance or attachment, only relief and helplessness.

"Mo Wenshan, Mo Wenshan, how could you have created such an evil thing back then?"

Qin Jianghe died.

The Yuanding faction died.

One of the two pillars of Da Chongjiu, he ended up in internal strife.

After Gao Shou and others found Qin Jianghe falling to the side with a smile on his face, they rushed over like crazy. However, except Qin Jianghe, no one knew the identity of the man with dry hair.

Maybe it was destined.

Far away in the Central Plains, Mo Wenshan, who was riding on a donkey, suddenly sneezed several times.

"Who the hell is nagging me?"

Zhao Sanyuan, who was leading the donkey, looked back and said unhappily, "Who can nag you? I guess the old guys who still know you have already died."

Mo Wenshan thought about it and smiled with relief.

"Too."

(End of this chapter)