Wuxia Fantasy: Starting with the Revitalization of the Beggars' Sect

Zhu Changling's smile vanished instantly, and he exchanged a glance with Zhu Jiuzhen.

Then he forced a smile and said, "That's true. Brother Zhang has come here to seek refuge, so I can't just put you under house arrest. Zhen'er, why don't you accompany Brother Zhang out for a walk today?"

Too much of a change would inevitably arouse the boy's suspicion. Zhu Changling knew this well, so he did not dare to obstruct Lin Ye's request. However, he had to send someone to accompany him, and his daughter Zhu Jiuzhen was a good choice.

By sending two or three more guards to protect the two, Liang won't suspect anything.

Zhu Jiuzhen said, "That's great! I can take Brother Wuji hunting with me. I usually go alone, but now that Brother Wuji is here, I won't be bored."

After breakfast, Zhu Jiuzhen ordered his servants to prepare hunting gear, and then, along with two large dogs and several servants, led Lin Ye away from the manor.

Lin Ye first went hunting with Zhu Jiuzhen as a perfunctory gesture.

The group walked for more than ten miles. According to Zhu Jiuzhen, she had scared away all the prey near Hongmei Manor. If they wanted to catch prey, they would have to go further.

Lin Ye looked back. He had also walked in this direction yesterday, but he hadn't gone that far. After all, he had been conducting a large-scale search yesterday, while today he was on his way.

It wasn't a complete waste of time; at least he could keep a closer eye on his surroundings while hunting.

Zhu Jiuzhen suddenly shushed him, drawing Lin Ye's attention back, and then pulled him down to a lower position.

Following the direction Zhu Jiuzhen pointed, he spotted a wild deer about a hundred meters ahead. The deer seemed unaware of them and was intently munching on dry grass.

Zhu Jiuzhen smiled and said in a low voice, "Bring me a bow and arrows."

Then a servant handed him a bow and arrow.

Zhu Jiuzhen drew her bow and nocked an arrow, concentrating intently. The arrowhead was aimed at the neck of the wild deer. However, just as she drew the bowstring taut and was about to release the arrow, she suddenly heard two "squeaks" from ahead.

Hearing the call, the wild deer looked up and seemed to see Lin Ye and the others. Almost instantly, the deer moved and ran backward.

With that one movement, Zhu Jiuzhen's arrow shot out and landed with a thud on the haystack where the wild deer had been grazing, having already missed its target.

"You stinking monkey, how dare you ruin my good time!"

Zhu Jiuzhen stood up angrily, drew the bowstring taut again, and shot an arrow at the mischievous monkey in the tree.

However, the monkey was in a tree near the wild deer, not close to them. By the time the arrow was shot, the monkey had already leaped to another tree and easily dodged it.

Then it hopped and ran between the trees, occasionally squeaking as if mocking them.

Zhu Jiuzhen was even more furious and shouted at the servants:

"Chase him! We have to catch that stinky monkey today!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the servant loosened the leashes of the two dogs, which shot off like arrows, chasing after the direction the monkey had fled.

However, the monkey was extremely agile. Zhu Jiuzhen and his men chased it for a mile when the monkey suddenly ran to the edge of the cliff and nimbly climbed down.

When everyone ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down, they saw only white mist swirling below, and there was no sign of any monkeys.

The vicious dog barked wildly on the cliff, but the monkey did not reappear. Zhu Jiuzhen stomped her feet in anger at the edge of the cliff.

Lin Ye saw this and his eyes gleamed.

Could it be... that the cave entrance is right below here?

Did the monkey climb down from here and then go into the cave?

Lin Ye could not hide his excitement. When he looked down, he felt that the cliff was so high and bottomless, and that there was no place to step down. He was determined that it would be difficult to climb down.

He was troubled and secretly thought of a way to get down there.

Unable to hunt any prey, the group returned disappointed. Fortunately, on the way back, Zhu Jiuzhen spotted a few pheasants. This time, without any monkeys causing trouble, Zhu Jiuzhen fired two arrows, hitting two pheasants, which calmed him down considerably.

They also let Lin Ye test his skills.

For some reason, Lin Ye had a talent for archery. He shot two arrows, and two pheasants flew into the tent, which earned him a lot of praise from Zhu Jiuzhen.

After returning, Zhu Jiuzhen ordered her servants to stew two of the eggs into soup, roast two of them over a fire, and send most of them to Lin Ye's room.

After finishing dinner, Lin Ye closed the door and began to think about how to get down the cliff.

Actually, there's not much to think about. There's probably only one way to get down the cliff: get a long and strong rope. The problem is, we don't know how to get this rope. We'll have to ask Zhu Changling for it directly, and we'll need to come up with a good reason.

After much thought, all the explanations I came up with seemed far-fetched.

He stepped out of the room to get some fresh air, clear his head, and also to relieve himself.

Just then, he saw Uncle Liu's figure in the corridor.

This Uncle Liu was the one who led him up the mountain. Today was the day he delivered goods to the village again. As usual, he would stay overnight with his son and then go down the mountain with his son the next day.

The man was quite friendly to Lin Ye, and Lin Ye was about to go over and exchange pleasantries when someone called him back first.

Qiao Fu appeared at the other end of the corridor and called Liu Bo to his side.

"Manager Qiao," Liu Bo said respectfully.

Qiao Fu nodded and said:

"When you return tomorrow, prepare more meat and silk. The master has distinguished guests at his estate, and we cannot be slow in entertaining them."

Liu Bo said, "Yes, yes, I've got it."

"Go."

Liu Bo accepted the order and left, and Qiao Fu also left the spot. Neither of them saw Lin Ye.

Lin Ye thought to himself that the distinguished guest might be referring to himself. He had to admit that Zhu Changling's hospitality over the past two days had been truly excellent.

They brought him pastries one minute, fine tea the next, and even sent servants to measure his body, saying they wanted to make him some clothes.

Lin Ye always declined, but the servants always said that this was just how the master treated his guests, and that he shouldn't worry about it.

In fact, Lin Ye had no intention of refusing. Zhu Changling treated him well, so he accepted it without any remorse. Any excuses were just for show.

Zhu Changling was rich, extremely rich.

Lin Ye suddenly thought of something. Since Uncle Liu was going down the mountain tomorrow, why not ask him to help get a rope?

I'm sure Uncle Liu wouldn't refuse such a simple item, much less tell anyone else.

I made up my mind right then and there.

The next morning, Lin Ye got up early and, taking advantage of the fact that Uncle Liu and his son had finished getting ready to go down the mountain, he quietly approached Uncle Liu when no one was paying attention.

"Young master."

Upon seeing Lin Ye arrive, the old man greeted him respectfully.

After confirming that Lin Ye was Zhu Changling's distinguished guest, he, as a servant, naturally could no longer call Lin Ye "little kid" as before.

Lin Ye said, "Uncle, you don't need to be so polite. Just call me Xiao Zhang."

Uncle Liu said in a flustered manner, "You are a distinguished guest, sir, how could I dare to address you like that? Young master, is there anything I can do for you?"

Having lived to such an old age, Uncle Liu was worldly-wise and vaguely guessed that Lin Ye wanted to see him about something.

Hearing what Uncle Liu said, Lin Ye no longer hesitated and smiled, "I do have a favor to ask of you, sir. Could you please bring me a bundle of rope back up the mountain this time?"