The Return of the Condor Heroes: Starting with Conquering Huang Rong

That night, Yang Guo found a secluded mountain forest to test his palm strength.

Although he lacked leaping techniques, the Five Transformations of Qimen excelled in speed and unpredictability. However, since the tree was an inanimate object, its leaves flew everywhere as he relentlessly struck it with his palm techniques.

After completing the entire set, Yang Guo was neither red-faced nor out of breath. This mental cultivation method was surprisingly long-lasting. What a wonderful technique! Yang Guo did it several more times until his breathing became rapid, at which point he stopped and meditated to recover.

"Excellent palm technique."

A figure appeared among the trees at some unknown time.

It hangs high in the night sky like the bright moon.

Yang Guo looked over, his expression strange.

The woman was tall and slender, dressed in a snow-white robe that was neither quite a skirt nor quite a robe. She stood on a treetop, a bright moon hanging high above her head, her black hair cascading down like a waterfall, her long black hair dancing in the wind. At that moment, she resembled a fairy maiden hanging high in the moon.

Yang Guo was completely mesmerized.

The woman was healing her wounds nearby when she suddenly heard a noise. Thinking that her enemies had discovered her, she crept over and saw a young man practicing martial arts in front of a big tree.

She was about to leave, but seeing that although the boy was a beginner, his attacks on the tree were quite methodical and his breathing was long and continuous, she couldn't help but take a few more glances.

The young man kept going on and on, which impressed her, and she praised him.

But the young man, unable to look away from her, was nothing but a frivolous fellow. Seeing his youth and handsome appearance, she felt a growing dislike for him.

He was about to step forward and teach him a lesson.

Unexpectedly, the young man spoke first: "Please forgive me, fairy. I was momentarily stunned by your beauty. Please forgive me."

Yang Guo knew that staring at others like that was impolite.

Seeing that the young man was open and honest, with no trace of lust in his eyes, the woman suppressed her unease and got up to leave.

"Young lady, are you injured?"

Yang Guo noticed that although her figure was high in the moonlight, she seemed a little frail.

"Huh, you could tell?"

"I didn't see it, I was just guessing."

The woman was taken aback, and slightly annoyed: "What's it to you?"

"I have medicine; consider it an apology for my rudeness earlier?"

The woman became curious. "With your small frame, why don't you take the medicine yourself?"

Yang Guo could easily see through her little scheme, but he didn't care. He handed her the medicine, and the woman floated down gracefully, like a fairy descending to the mortal world.

Yang Guo was once again captivated by the sight.

The woman had never been stared at like that before, but seeing the young man's admiring and worshipful expression, she decided against killing him outright.

The woman took the pill from Yang Guo's hand, her expression enigmatic, like snow melting in spring, and Yang Guo dared not look at her.

The woman looked at the boy who had turned his head away and said, "This isn't some kind of strange medicine, is it?"

His words were sarcastic, yet chillingly cold.

"At such close range, how could I possibly escape from your grasp?"

The woman knew he wouldn't be able to escape either.

He swallowed the pill, concealing it with his sleeve.

Just as he was about to drift away.

"My name is Yang Guo. May I ask your name, young lady?"

"Once a student of peach and plum trees, now I am like the bright moon. My name is Li Mingyue."

"Oh, not Chang'e?"

"What Chang'e?"

The two were speechless for a moment.

"Having stolen the elixir to preserve her youthful beauty, she alone embraces the moon's radiance, locking it away in the vast cold."

"The cassia tree's shadow sways in vain, a thousand years of sorrow; her cloud-like hair is not illuminated by the return of a single person."

"The stars are flying across the Milky Way in vain, and the rabbit pestles are empty in the night."

"Do not ask what the ultimate meaning of immortality is, for the cycle of waxing and waning has never existed in the human world."

"This is the story of Chang'e."

Yang Guo seemed to be speaking to her, or perhaps to the moon.

The waxing and waning of the moon is a celestial phenomenon, but humankind has imbued it with meanings of joy and sorrow.

The things that can never be perfect are always those of the human world who look up at the moon palace.

He gazed at the moon and for the first time thought of his hometown.

Looking at him, she finally understood what the human world was like.

Before we knew it, only the bright moon remained hanging on the branches.

Yang Guo shivered and sighed, "It seems my skills are still not up to par."

The woman had long since disappeared.

As soon as Yang Guo opened the door, he saw a woman inside. He was puzzled. Could it be that Guo Fu had run away? He really couldn't understand this woman's heart. It seemed that she dared to think and do this.

Upon closer inspection, it was her mother!

Yang Guo facepalmed, utterly speechless, and couldn't help but blurt out, "Hey, lady, what kind of place is this? What are you doing in my room?"

Huang Rong was already annoyed: "What kind of 'big sister' am I? Am I that old? Why can't I come here? Or who do you want to send? Your Fu'er, or your Yu'er?"

Yang Guo looked at the woman who seemed to have taken some kind of poison, and was so overwhelmed by her retorts that he finally realized who Guo Fu resembled.

For a moment, Yang Guo didn't even know how to address the woman.

Unusual silences occurred between the two when they were together.

Finally, Yang Guo broke the silence: "Why are you here?" She arrived at this hour?

Huang Rong also looked embarrassed. She looked too much like a woman going out for an affair. Although the two of them had an ambiguous relationship, they had been very restrained since they learned Yang Guo's identity. Only when he was feeding her medicine did Yang Guo tease her in a playful manner, but he never even lifted her clothes.

There was absolutely no further contact after that.

Huang Rong naturally understood, but tonight, just as she fell asleep, Guo Jing got up furtively, saying that Lu Guanying was looking for him and might not be back until the middle of the night.

She felt a little suspicious and uneasy.

So he went to find Yang Guo.

Yang Guo also told her about his doubts from the day.

"Was that maid named Bi'er?"

Huang Rong had a plan in mind, and decided to go and ask Cheng Yaojia about it the next day.

"And there's Yiyun Manor."

Huang Rong asked, puzzled, "What happened to Yiyun Manor?"

Yang Guo shook his head. This manor had serious problems. He continued, "The number of people, the weapons, and the sleeping powder—they don't look like a rabble at all. And the methods they used to capture Guo Fu are clearly something they do regularly, yet no one reported it to the authorities?"

"Was Guo Fu the first person they drugged?"

"With these methods and resources, Yiyun Manor has definitely been operating in Taihu for a long time. The Lu Family Manor is a local power; surely they know something about this?"

"What did Guo Jing say?"

When Huang Rong heard him asking this and that, sometimes Guo Fu and sometimes Guo Jing, she was too lazy to argue. This man just didn't follow the rules, and he never acknowledged the relationship in his words or actions.

She had no recollection of Yang Guo ever calling him Uncle Guo or Aunt Guo.

She didn't want to listen either.

"Jing... He asked, and Lu Guanying said he didn't know. He only knew that Yiyun Manor was developing rapidly, but he didn't know who the manor owner was. He had never revealed his true face."

"The government has not reported any missing persons."

Yang Guo was puzzled. Judging from the fact that the bandit leader and the scarred man were not afraid of Guo Jing and Huang Rong at all, they obviously did not seem to have been around Taihu Lake for a long time. Otherwise, how could they not know about the relationship between Lu Family Village and Peach Blossom Island?

Either they're fearless because they have nothing to lose.

Yang Guo did come up with a plan, but it was a bit underhanded. He glanced at Huang Rong.

Huang Rong had been watching him the whole time, and when she saw him staring at her body, she couldn't help but feel annoyed.

But she didn't dare get too close, afraid she wouldn't be able to control herself.

Slightly annoyed: "Why are you staring at me?"

Yang Guo finally said, "How about we lure the snake out of its hole?"

Huang Rong knew what he was up to as soon as she heard it. This scoundrel actually wanted to use her as bait. She had covered herself up completely for him, and he still wanted to use her as bait.

She was initially furious, but then, as if possessed, she blurted out in a seductive tone, "You'd really be willing to?"

The air in the room instantly became hotter because of those words.

Yang Guo saw that the woman was unconsciously becoming seductive again, and he didn't want to resist, so he hugged her tightly.

Huang Rong regretted saying those words as soon as she did. This young man was the kind of person who wouldn't budge unless seduced, but once seduced, he would fall right into her trap.

She herself had always been wavering, wanting to leave yet also wanting to get closer.

This is a classic example of wanting to have one's cake and eat it too.

So she tried to run away after she finished speaking.

But Yang Guo was quick to react, pulling her back in one swift motion.

A nobody like him managed to capture Huang, a top-notch expert.