The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

However, Chu Luren didn't care.

Upon hearing Chu Luren's words, Chief Shi almost dropped his knife—he had just been saying behind his back, "What serious business could the Red and White Tai Sui and the Wang family girl from Mantuo Manor possibly have while traveling the martial world?" Looking at Chu Luren's expression, he was even more certain that Tai Sui had indeed heard him!

Shi Dangxian broke out in a cold sweat. Just now, he and Chu Luren's boat were probably dozens of feet apart, and they were in the reeds. How could they hear each other like that?

"Don't worry, Master Chu, I will definitely deliver your message." Chief Shi was practically kneeling down to pay his respects.

Seeing that Chu Luren was indeed leaving and showed no interest in their "business" or in settling scores with him, Chief Shi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sent his men to follow him.

At any other time, the boatman would be terrified if a bandit's speedboat followed him. But this time, the boatman realized that the passenger he was carrying was a big shot in the martial arts world, and he was really familiar with the bandits of Taihu Lake... no, it should be said that the bandits of Taihu Lake were eager to be familiar with him. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But just then, a sharp whistling sound came from afar, followed by a burst of fire in the air—clearly a signal arrow and smoke signal used by the various bandit strongholds to communicate.

Shi Dangxian's face turned green immediately. Why did it have to be at this moment?

Although Chu Luren is ranked second on the Heavenly Ranking and has a princess from the Song Dynasty to his side, he shouldn't be the kind of person who would compete with them, the river bandits. But it's still better not to let outsiders know about this, especially since... this "big business" is a bit special!

Chu Luren was also getting impatient. The waters ahead were clearly getting lively, and it seemed that there would be no peace tonight.

"Wait for me on the boat." In order to end the commotion as soon as possible, Chu Luren told Huang Rong and the other two, and then jumped directly onto the Stone Chief's boat.

"Chief Shi, you don't mind if I go and see what's going on, do you?" Chu Luren didn't want to be stuck in the same place, not knowing what was going on.

"Of course, I don't mind! If Chief Chu comes to support us, Chief Lu will be overjoyed." Although Chief Shi was reluctant, he answered without much hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren shook his head and said, "What kind of formation I raided is your own business and has nothing to do with me."

Upon hearing this, Chief Shi's expression softened somewhat—he didn't really want Chu Luren to back him up, but simply wanted to show that everyone understood the rule of "sharing a share upon meeting."

If Chu Luren doesn't think it's good, then that's even better!

At this time, Chief Shi led his twenty-odd assault boats, along with several dozen more that he had called out along the way, and together they surrounded the waters of Xiangjian.

Judging by its scale, Shizhai Village must be one of the largest in Taihu Lake.

During this time, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, Chief Shi first explained the "business" to Chu Luren, which made Chu Luren exclaim in his heart what a coincidence!

Chapter 305 Big Business

Just as Chu Luren was passing by, the business of the Taihu Lake bandits, which was actually discovered by Shi Dangxian's men in the first place.

Originally, this "caravan" was strange, but it shouldn't have attracted attention. The reason was that the powerful Chang Le Gang wanted to suppress the local snake!

Shi Dangxian's men initially noticed something strange about a group of merchants passing through Liangzhe Road. They had no records with any merchants and seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

Water bandits have their own rules; they can't compete with their counterparts on land, but it's always okay to scout ahead first.

They initially thought that such "naive and impulsive" people would never be a target for the river bandits, but later they discovered that the Chang Le Gang was protecting this group on the land route, seemingly heading towards Lin'an.

The bandits of Taihu Lake originally only wanted to accept a bribe from these nameless bandits, but the Chang Le Gang bullied them by taking advantage of their power. In terms of scale and strength, the Chang Le Gang, which was spread throughout Jiangnan and Huainan, was indeed stronger. However, Taihu Lake was the stronghold of the local tyrants. How could they swallow this insult?

Shi Dangxian, in particular, was stubborn. He sent men to keep an eye on them for a long time along the dry roads around Taihu Lake, and he actually managed to find some clues...

This group of people were actually Wu Sangui's secret envoys heading to Lin'an!

When Shi Dangxian found out, he exclaimed, "Good heavens!"—Wu Sangui's envoy? And he's going to Lin'an? Is he even human?

Wu Sangui, needless to say, is a notorious traitor despised by everyone in the martial arts world. Even if there's no benefit to him, people are willing to make things difficult for him. But going to Lin'an... Judging from the old guy's current situation and the secret envoy's efforts to hide his tracks, he definitely didn't have any good plans!

Most importantly, if you want to reach some kind of secret agreement with the Song court in Lin'an, you will definitely bring plenty of gold, silver and red goods. Otherwise, if you don't first feed the ministers in the court and pay tribute to the eunuchs, what can you accomplish in the Song court?

Knowing he couldn't handle the money, Shi Dangxian told Lu Guanying, who then gathered his men and contacted various villages, preparing to make a big score...

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren thought to himself: What a coincidence!

In the original Legend of the Condor Heroes, the bandits of Taihu Lake kidnapped the Jin Dynasty's imperial envoy...

However, Wu Sangui's secret envoys are no match for the Jin Dynasty's imperial envoys. After all, the relationship between the Jin and Song Dynasties in the original story was somewhere between "ruler and subject" and "uncle and nephew." Compared to the Northern Song Dynasty, which could be on friendly terms with the Liao Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty considered itself a subordinate country when facing the Jin Dynasty. Jin Dynasty envoys were all called "imperial envoys." For example, Zhao Gou wrote a "memorial" to the Jin emperor and referred to himself as "your subject Gou."

Now, in the world of martial arts, Song, regardless of whether he can win or dares to fight, at least verbally refuses to submit.

Moreover, Wu Sangui's current envoy is "not legitimate in name or in word." Rather than a true "envoy," it is obvious that he is more likely trying to reach some agreement with the Song court behind the back of the Qing court.

Therefore, he dared not let anyone know, and his whereabouts were completely hidden, unlike the Jin envoy in the original work who could directly boss around Song officials.

Moreover, this envoy was clearly not very bright. Knowing that he was doing something shameful, he still cooperated with the arrogant Chang Le Gang. Now, the Taihu Lake bandits are going to find fault with him.

However, precisely because they did not flaunt their status as the Jin envoys in the original work, the bandits of Taihu Lake could not ambush them precisely. They could only estimate the approximate route and time, and lay ambushes in a wide-ranging manner, communicating with each other after encountering the enemy.

When the chief of the stone village arrived, it was neither too early nor too late. He saw countless small boats surrounding the three large ships, and many "water ghosts" had already disembarked and started digging!

On the three large ships, there were also many江湖客 (jianghu people, people of the martial arts world), who were cursing and swearing, but they were no match for the fact that these were all water bandits who had grown up in the Taihu Lake.

Moreover, the bandits on Taihu Lake were extremely fierce, including Shi Dangxian, who led the charge against the enemy ships...

Although the bandits on Taihu Lake couldn't rush up by boarding the boats immediately, as more and more assault boats surrounded them, it was clear that they were outnumbered and could kill an elephant. Not to mention that the three large ships were already starting to sink!

After watching for a while, Chu Luren realized that unless there were some hidden top-tier experts on the Chang Le Gang's ship, they would all be destined to be fish food.

Moreover, the Chang Le Gang is a "gang". Despite its large size, it is a mixed bag of people and relies mainly on its large number of members. It doesn't have many real experts.

This time, the leader was Qiu Shanfeng, the incense master of the Tiger Fierce Hall, who held a pair of iron maces and looked like a fierce general who had dominated the battlefield!

In terms of martial arts skills, it's hard to say whether he's above or below Mi Hengye. Perhaps, if it's a one-on-one fight between martial arts masters of the same level, he would prefer to face Qiu Shanfeng.

However, amidst the chaos of war and the tearing apart of tigers by wolves, Qiu Shanfeng's pair of iron maces truly stood out with their imposing presence...

Of course, if Chu Luren were to make a move with these two skills, even without enlightenment, he wouldn't last ten moves. If he disregarded his status and directly used both Beiming and Guixu, he could capture Chu Luren in three to five moves.

Although Chu Luren showed no intention of making a move, Qiu Shanfeng charged left and right, and seeing that there was still a steady stream of bandits coming towards him on the lake, he didn't care about anything else and jumped off the boat while cursing.

Most of the members of the Chang Le Gang were from Jiangnan. Unlike the Taihu Lake bandits who were specialized in their respective fields, they were all familiar with swimming. When the situation turned bad, they would all jump into the water and run away when the wind picked up. It was unknown how many of them managed to escape with their lives.

Other bald men who were clearly not good swimmers were captured alive by the bandits of Taihu Lake, and even some tough guys softened up after entering the water.

It sounds like things went smoothly, but in reality, from the moment the signal flares and arrows were fired, the battle lasted for more than an hour before the lake calmed down again. By the time the Chu Lu people were watching the excitement, they had already devoured six whole crabs. By then, it was already dark, and they were using torches for lighting.

After the battle subsided, Lu Guanying also came by boat to pay his respects to Chu Luren.

Although Lu Guanying was from the Xianxia Sect according to his lineage, and the Xianxia Sect was a branch of Shaolin, the relationship was too distant and could not compare to the friendship between Lu Guanying and Chu Luren.

Bloodstains were still visible on Lu Guanying's white robes, indicating that he had personally fought with someone earlier, but he was in high spirits at the moment.

When Lu Guanying arrived to see Chu Luren, he saw him squatting by the boat washing his hands. Lu Guanying bowed and said, "I heard that Master Chu had come to Taihu Lake. I should have come to pay my respects earlier, but I was delayed by these mundane matters. Please forgive me."

"Young Master Lu, you're too kind. Of course, business is more important," Chu Luren said, shaking the water off his hands.

"Master Chu, we've certainly reaped a considerable harvest this time... Of course, Master Chu wouldn't be interested in gold, silver, or other valuables. However, the person that scoundrel Wu Sangui sent to Lin'an this time has a special identity. When Master Chu was in Luoyang, he tricked Wu Sangui three times, and everyone in the martial arts world respects him. I would like to ask Master Chu to verify whether this person's identity is truly as he claims." Lu Guanying had another request.

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren became somewhat interested—as for the "three times Wu Sangui" story, it was mostly just hearsay circulating in the martial arts world. It was just a "rumor" that spread after Chu Luren was exposed at the Heroes' Gathering at Juxian Manor for his involvement with the unusual movements of the troops in Luoyang over the past few days.

Of course, when Wu Sangui learned of this, he truly hated the Chu Lu people!

Chapter 306 Old Friends

Of the seven or eight people captured alive by the bandits of Taihu Lake, almost all of them were bald; very few had hair...

It wasn't that they copied the technical department of any IT company, but rather that many of the martial arts masters and low-ranking military officers under Wu Sangui were disciples of the Liaodong Golden Peak Sect. When Wu Sangui was guarding Shanhaiguan, the Liaodong Golden Peak Sect joined his ranks. Later, after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, they were transferred to Luoyang, bringing with them the direct descendants of the Golden Peak Sect.

Because of their martial arts skills, the Golden Summit Sect members, when they reached a high level, had oily faces and heads that wouldn't grow a single hair—which made it easy for them to integrate into the Manchu Qing Dynasty!

After all, the shaving edict only considered whether someone had shaved their head, not whether they had kept their hair, and many people shaved their heads.

There were also those with hair, one of whom was Wu Kang, whose hair was mostly still there, but whose hairline was high. Chu Luren recognized him at a glance. When he was in Luoyang, Wu Kang had only slightly shaved his hairline and braided a long braid, making him look like a male actor in a Qing Dynasty drama who was not particular about his hairstyle and did not want to ruin it.

At this point, he put his hair back up and tied it into a Han-style bun, making him look like a young man with a receding hairline, which wasn't too out of place.

It's clear that Wu Sangui had long harbored other intentions...

There was another man whose hair showed no signs of being shaved. He was a big, burly man with a large beard, a scar on his forehead, and a blue mark on his face. He seemed like a simple and honest person. However, he kept begging Lu Guanying for mercy, saying that he was a military officer from Lin'an who had been ordered to escort Wu Kang to the capital. He also emphasized that it was a matter of national importance.

While begging for mercy, he also praised the Taihu Lake bandits for their loyalty to the emperor and their patriotism, and emphasized that he was not colluding with Wu Sangui to betray the country, but was wholeheartedly devoted to serving the Song Dynasty...

It wasn't until Lu Guanying couldn't stand it anymore and knocked out a few of his teeth with the hilt of his knife that he finally quieted down.

"So it really is you. Wu Sangui was willing to let you secretly enter the Song Dynasty? It seems he really has high expectations." Chu Luren recognized Wu Kang at a glance.

Lu Guanying had heard him claim to be the heir of the Prince of Pingxi, but he wasn't sure, so he came to Chu Luren to verify.

Upon seeing Chu Luren, Wu Kang, who had been being held captive, began to struggle and roared, "You villain! You are truly hateful... You kidnapped my mother, and now you even sent people to ambush me? Where is my mother?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Guanying's face immediately showed surprise—had the great hero Chu abducted the princess? This was far more sensational than any other version of the rumor circulating in the martial arts world!

It wasn't until Chu Luren glanced at him that Lu Guanying quickly composed himself.

However, when Chu Luren heard Wu Kang mention his mother, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty...

"Your mother... has passed away." Chu Luren looked away, but still answered truthfully.

Wu Kang was stunned when he heard this. He originally thought that his mother had left with "that person". He was just angry that Chu Luren had messed up his life and even tried to change his father. He never thought that his mother was actually dead!

"My mother...you...you're the ones who killed my mother!" Wu Kang exclaimed, startling the Song court's military officer.

The military officer recognized Chu Luren at this moment. Fearing that he would be implicated because of the Prince of Pingxi's rudeness, he opened his still bleeding mouth and said, "Hero Chu! Is this Hero Chu? I admire your righteous deeds in Lin'an very much. Unfortunately, I am just a lowly captain in Lin'an. I wish I could fight alongside Hero Chu and eliminate the assassins together!"

"I, I saw you once in Lin'an, Master Chu. You and Princess Yunluo were walking together then, a perfect match, a match made in heaven. I couldn't help but kneel down in the crowd when I saw you, so you probably didn't see me..."

Chu Luren gave the man a disdainful look—it was rare to see a military general so shameless.

Seeing Chu Luren's expression, Lu Guanying quickly dragged him to the lower cabin to avoid offending his ears.

"What did Wu Sangui send you to Lin'an for?" Chu Luren first felt a little guilty.

"Hmph! Don't even think about making me betray my father!" Wu Kang turned his head, flaring his nostrils as if to show his indomitable spirit.

Seeing this, Chu Luren didn't say much to him, but looked at Lu Guanying and said, "This man is indeed the heir of the Prince of Pingxi, but it would be best to find out his purpose in coming to Lin'an." After saying that, he left the cabin first.

Upon seeing this, Lu Guanying instructed his men to "keep a close eye on him" before following Chu Luren out.

"Does Master Chu... know this young master?" Lu Guanying asked what seemed like a pointless question, but judging from his hints, he really wanted to know if Chu Luren and Wu Kang had any other relationship and if they needed any "help".

“We’re not close… Last time we met, I poked five holes in his leg. But I also bear some responsibility for his mother’s death. When you interrogate him, don’t kill him.” Chu Luren spoke the truth while also drawing some lines to avoid rumors circulating in the martial arts world that he was related to Wu Sangui.

The reason why Chu Luren spoke out only after coming out was that he didn't want Wu Kang to become complacent.

Upon hearing this, Lu Guanying immediately suggested, "How about Hero Chu comes to our manor for a few days? My father would be delighted to know."

Chu Luren thought about it and also felt that the matter was of great importance. Compared to that, going to Mantuo Manor was not urgent. So he nodded and said, "After that, send someone to help me send the two people traveling with me to Mantuo Manor."

Hearing "Mantuo Manor," Lu Guanying felt a pang of toothache. Even the bandits of Taihu Lake dared not approach the waters nearby. Not to mention that a few old women were not to be trifled with, more importantly, they had Murong Manor protecting them...

However, considering the relationship between Chu Luren and Mantuo Manor, Lu Guanying did not refuse. Instead, he agreed repeatedly with admiration in his eyes.

Chu Luren estimated that this was a sign of respect for the second-ranked person on the Heavenly Ranking.