Notes on Longevity

Chapter 227 Envious of my unparalleled kung fu, I have a few close friends to accompany me in the martial world.

Lu Ya strode forward, walking in a certain direction through the now sparse crowd. He held a sword in one hand and tapped a flute with the other, saying to the person who had spoken: "Bo Shu, you've gotten quite the flair, haven't you? Teasing me now."

Walking among the crowd, the handsome young man called Bo Shu pretended to be in pain and said, "This is no joke. Once Li Chengru retires, won't you become the leader of the martial arts world?"

“Hey, I don’t think so.” As Lu Ya and the other man were talking, another young man stepped forward, put his hand on Bo Shu’s shoulder and said, “Zheng Di, you’ve probably forgotten someone, haven’t you?”

Zheng Di, courtesy name Boshu, tilted his head and stared at the young man in front of him, whose expression was serious yet somewhat frivolous, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Have you forgotten Murong Fuyou?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Di suddenly realized what was going on, and clapped his hands, replying, "That's right, I forgot about this guy."

As he spoke, Zheng Di nudged Lu Ya with his elbow: "Lu Ya, Murong is a formidable opponent for you, but he's your biggest enemy. If you lose to him at the martial arts tournament a few years from now, you'll lose face."

Lu Ya rolled his eyes at the two of them: "Zheng Di, Sun Cheng, if you haven't practiced enough, just say so, and I'll continue practicing with you."

Sun Cheng immediately shut up upon hearing this, but Zheng Di continued to chatter on: "Don't say I didn't warn you. You were able to become famous in one battle because Murong was with Li Chengru. If he hadn't followed Li Chengru, you might not have had such a great reputation."

Lu Ya did not refute this, but sighed and slowly said, "Tell me, if I were on the same side as Li Chengru, would you believe me?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Di exclaimed in surprise, "How is that possible? You two are mortal enemies. You've been fighting for so many years. Every time you meet, it's like you've killed each other's fathers. So you two are definitely not on the same side."

Seeing Zheng Di's seriousness, Sun Cheng grabbed him before Lu Ya could speak, saying, "You're really stubborn. Lu Ya has made it clear enough, why don't you believe me?"

Zheng Di frowned and looked at Sun Cheng, giving a confused "hmm." He then turned his gaze to Wu Ke and Wang Huai, who had remained silent behind them. However, the helpless shrugs of the two finally made him realize something. He asked in surprise, "No way, Lu Ya, you and Li Chengru are really on the same side?"

Lu Ya smiled without saying a word, which was taken as tacit agreement.

However, Zheng Di couldn't understand it no matter how hard he thought about it: "Then why do you guys attack without saying a word every time you meet?"

Although Zheng Di didn't understand the reason, he seemed to have learned something incredible: "Wait, so you all knew about his relationship with Li Chengru, and I was the only one kept in the dark?"

Apart from Lu Ya, the other three said in unison, "Who told you to go to those brothels all the time?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter erupted in the street.

"Why!"

"Because he was jealous that I was younger than him, yet my kung fu was unparalleled and no one could defeat me."

"What?" Zheng Di didn't quite hear clearly.

Lu Ya dismissed it with a smile: "He used to be one step ahead of me, now I'm three steps ahead of him."

"What the hell?" Yang Chenghan and Zhao Yunchu, who were following behind Lu Ya and his group of five, were completely bewildered by their rambling. Yang Chenghan frowned and asked Zhao Yunchu beside him, "What are they talking about?"

Zhao Yunchu shook her head helplessly and said, "I don't know."

"Oh, right."

As Zheng Di and the others were laughing and joking, Lu Ya seemed to remember something and suddenly stopped. He turned around, walked past Zheng Di and the others, and came to Yang Chenghan with a smile, saying, "I almost forgot, let me introduce you."

"This guy who's like a monkey and likes to shout is Zheng Di, and he's a friend of mine, Lu Ya."

Zheng Di was about to retort when Lu Ya didn't give him a chance to speak and continued to introduce them: "These are Sun Cheng, the leader of the Jianghu bandits; Wu Ke of the Qingshan Sect's Hidden Weapon Pavilion, who threw the flying blade just now; and lastly, Wang Huai, a Taoist hermit, who is also a good friend of mine and quite famous in the Jianghu."

Upon hearing this, Yang Chenghan looked at each of them. The one in the blue and white robe, handsome and youthful-looking, was Zheng Di; the bandit leader, Sun Cheng, wore loose, coarse linen clothes, tall and imposing, not as burly as the previous strongman, but his aura was no less imposing; the one in white was Wu Ke, but judging from his clean-cut, handsome face and clear, mirror-like eyes, Yang Chenghan didn't think he was someone who specialized in hidden weapons. However, the last one, the slightly hunched-over, unaffiliated Wang Huai, dressed in black and white robes, caught Yang Chenghan's attention.

After seeing the group, Yang Chenghan bowed to them out of courtesy and said, "My name is Yang Chenghan, courtesy name Shouren. I am honored to meet you all. I am very grateful to you for helping me out of that predicament earlier."

"What are you thanking me for?" Sun Cheng stepped forward, stared at Yang Chenghan, and smiled. "Since we're eating Old Master Zhao's food, we should naturally protect this girl, Yun Chu. But speaking of which, I just heard this girl call you brother. Are you perhaps Old Master Zhao's child? But we've never heard of the old master having any children all these years. Could you be an illegitimate child?"

Sun Cheng's words startled Yang Chenghan and Zhao Yunchu. Apart from Lu Ya, the others also gathered around, staring intently at Yang Chenghan. After thinking for a moment, Jiang Huai turned to Sun Cheng and asked, "Then why is his surname Yang?"

"Moreover, I remember that Old Master Zhao only had Madam An as his concubine, and he was only devoted to Madam An. He shouldn't have any illegitimate children."

Yang Chenghan was surrounded by several people. At this moment, Wan Dou, who was standing next to Zhao Yunchu, spoke up: "Young Master Yang is the son of a friend of our master. Because Young Master Yang has recently become obsessed with business, he has come to learn from our master."

"That's it."

The group nodded, realizing that's how it is.

"But you're something else. Yun Chu is a notoriously fierce woman. She's never been so quiet when she's with us; she'd have started messing with us long ago."

Sun Cheng touched his chin thoughtfully, but Zhao Yunchu suddenly grabbed his neck and dragged him backward. She gritted her teeth and said, "Brother Sun, it's rare for me to be this quiet. I'm actually quite nostalgic!"

"What the hell, are you trying to strangle me, you little brat?"

Upon seeing this, Lihua and Wandou thought to themselves, "This is the young lady we usually know!"

Sun Cheng was restrained by Zhao Yunchu, while the others were overjoyed. However, they were more interested in whose child Yang Chenghan was. As far as they knew, no one in Huangzhou City or anywhere else had such a good relationship with Zhao Wuyong.

Lu Ya was aware of the curiosity in their hearts, but he didn't rush to answer. Instead, he suggested going somewhere.

(End of this chapter)