The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

"There are always some outrageous rumors circulating in the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world), hehe." Li Tiande gave an awkward smile.

Chu Luren's reaction didn't seem like surprise at his collusion with the Japanese pirates; rather, it seemed like he was surprised that he knew about it!

Moreover, since Li Tianhao is still alive, it's likely that the Dragon Guard Manor's investigation into the Giant Whale Gang is still ongoing...

"Your ship is nice. I wonder how the cook is?" Chu Luren asked casually, without any particular purpose.

Although Li Tiande was unwilling, he still said, "Old Zhang on the boat is a master at cooking fish and crabs! It's fate that we met. I'll have someone prepare a feast right away. Drinking on the river here would be quite a unique experience. I wonder if Master Chu would do me the honor?"

"Haha, Elder De, you're too kind. Why prepare a feast? Since Old Zhang has such skills, I, Chu, will simply travel with you from now on!" Chu Luren said heartily, patting Li Tiande on the shoulder.

Li Tiande: ...

Ever since the Giant Whale Gang hijacked an official ship more than a decade ago, then sided with the Divine Marquis and purged internal traitors, they have never trusted outsiders. Now they are practically a "family gang," with the gang leader, deputy gang leader, and most of the elders all being relatives with the surname Li.

Therefore, they are not usually addressed as "Elder Li," otherwise it would be impossible to tell who is who.

After Chu Luren readily accepted Elder De's invitation, he also called Xiaoyuer and the other two up. During this time, the sight of Xiaoyuer and Jiang Yulang locked together aroused Li Tiande's curiosity.

At first, I thought the two young men were kidnapped by Chu Lu people, but later I felt that was unlikely.

Perhaps it was because he had spent so much time with the Japanese that Li Tiande's mind began to wander.

However, Chu Luren interrupted his thoughts and directly introduced, "These two are also outstanding young talents in the martial arts world today. This Xiaoyuer and I uncovered a conspiracy against Emei some time ago, and this Young Master Jiang is even more impressive..."

Not only is he the only son of the great hero of Jiangnan, but like father, like son! At such a young age, he was trapped in Xiao Mimi's underground palace for three years, yet he remained unharmed! A few days ago, Xiaoyuer almost fell victim to it too, and it was only with Young Master Jiang's help that the two escaped!

As Chu Luren spoke, he patted Jiang Yulang beside him with great appreciation, causing Jiang Yulang's legs to tremble and making him look... very weak.

Jiang Yulang's face did indeed turn pale. It wasn't that Chu Luren had used hidden force, but rather that upon hearing Chu Luren's words, Jiang Yulang already wanted to devour him alive!

Jiang Yulang's physique was indeed not healthy. Firstly, he lost his virginity too early and in great numbers. Secondly, in order to dig a tunnel without being discovered while relieving himself, he controlled his food intake for many years to shorten the actual time he relieved himself—you should know that these three years were the time when he was growing up during puberty!

He originally intended to conceal his experiences over the past few years, since most of those who knew were already dead, but unexpectedly...

Upon hearing Chu Luren's introduction, Li Tiande truly felt a sense of awe and admiration, looking at Jiang Yulang with sincere praise.

Look at Jiang Yulang's age now...

Was he imprisoned in Xiao Mimi's underground palace for three years?

Indeed, like father, like son!

If it were Jiang Biehe, he would already be exhausted, right?

For the next few days, all the way to Wuxi, Chu Luren traveled with the Giant Whale Gang, but... only on the first day did he have a banquet with Li Tiande.

During this time, “Nongyue” sat next to Chu Luren, pouring him wine while not touching her own chopsticks, which made Li Tiande somewhat suspicious that this beautiful woman was just Chu Taisui’s maid.

Li Tiande was relieved and truly believed that she was just a maid. When he tried to get closer to Chu Luren and teased Chu Taisui about always being accompanied by beauties, she gave him a cold glance. That feeling... was not just a matter of murderous intent, but a chill that ran from the bottom of his heart to his brain!

"Elder De, that's not right. I, Chu, have always been well-liked, so I often have friends with me. It has nothing to do with whether I'm beautiful or not," Chu Luren corrected seriously.

"Yes, yes, I misspoke. I'll have to drink the penalty cup." Li Tiande tried to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and took the opportunity to make it seem like he was going to have to drink a penalty cup himself.

At this moment, for the first time, Nongyue poured him a glass of wine—Nongyue had always only cared about Chu Luren.

Li Tiande feigned surprise and picked up the glass... only to find that the wine inside had completely frozen solid!

Not only was it icy cold and piercing to the palm, but as soon as I brought it close, I felt a rush of cold air to my mouth and nose.

Li Tiande broke out in a cold sweat and dared not look in Nongyue's direction.

"Didn't Elder De want to drink a cup of wine as a penalty?" Nongyue said coldly.

The increasingly palpable chill made Li Tiande feel that if he didn't drink, it wouldn't just be the alcohol that would freeze into ice in the next moment.

So he forced a smile and brought the glass closer. To his surprise, the extremely cold "ice" flowed instantly as soon as it touched his lips, like a cold knife sliding down his throat and into his stomach...

After that, Li Tiande suffered from a knife-like pain in his stomach every day, lost his appetite, and was covered in cold sweats until he arrived in Wuxi and began to feel better!

Chapter 530 Little Old Friend

"Elder De, there's no need to see me off. We'll meet again in Lin'an!" Chu Luren said with emotion, looking at Li Tiande, who looked reluctant to part and even a little pale.

After arriving in Wuxi, the Giant Whale Gang unloaded their goods and prepared to travel by land. Chu Luren naturally didn't want to linger with them and planned to go to Lin'an first. Li Tiande was very reluctant to part with them... and was also moved.

After parting ways with the Giant Whale Gang, Chu Luren would routinely make a trip to an important place.

"Nongyue, you guys go to the inn and wait for me. I'm going to Qunyu Courtyard," Chu Luren said bluntly.

Xiaoyuer, Tie Xinlan, Jiang Yulang: ...

"What is Qunyu Courtyard? Can't I go there?" Lianxing asked in confusion.

"It's not that it's impossible, but it would be too conspicuous for a woman to go, and it might easily attract unnecessary trouble. I'll be right back," Chu Luren said honestly.

Xiaoyuer looked at Chu Luren strangely, feeling that something was definitely wrong. Tie Xinlan glared at Chu Luren indignantly, preparing to complain to Nongyue later to prevent such a beautiful woman from being deceived by a shady person. As for Jiang Yulang... he lowered his head weakly at this moment, cursing Chu Luren in his heart that he would rather die on a woman's belly!

"Oh." Lianxing nodded and didn't insist.

However, Chu Luren had only been separated from them for a short time when he was targeted in Wuxi City...

Chu Luren circled around a bit, leaving his pursuers somewhat bewildered. After chasing them into a dead end, they were suddenly attacked by a little golden gall that fell from the sky and began scratching their faces!

"Hey! It's me, it's me... Brother Chu, please take the monkey away!" Yang Guo shouted hurriedly.

He could probably handle a monkey, but this monkey was clearly raised by the Chu Lu people.

Chu Luren actually recognized him, but he was just using the little golden gall to scare him.

"Alright, Golden Gallbladder, there's nothing you can learn from him." Chu Luren tried to call Golden Gallbladder back, but unfortunately... he failed.

Fortunately, just when the situation was a bit awkward, Little Red flew over, pecking at Golden Gall's head as it chased it back.

Yang Guo reluctantly tidied his hair. Although he still looked somewhat childish, he was clearly a handsome young man. Dressed in plain clothes and carrying a long sword, his good looks were still evident.

Two years have passed since Yang Guo joined the Quanzhen Sect. He is younger than Xiao Yu'er and Jiang Yulang, and about the same age as Hua Wuque and Xiao Yu'er when they first entered the martial arts world.

Thinking that in another two or three years, he would become another handsome young hero after himself and Hua Wuque, Chu Luren sighed inwardly.

Yang Guo seemed to sense something, and when he looked up and saw Chu Luren's "there is a successor" expression, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"Brother Chu..." Yang Guo began to speak, but Chu Luren interrupted him, "Why don't you call me 'Grandmaster Uncle' anymore?"

"Hehe, isn't that called getting old? It's not like we're in the Quanzhen Sect." Yang Guo said with a grin.

When only other elders were present, he was happy to openly elevate Chu Luren's seniority...

"You've only been a disciple for less than two years, right? You're already out making your own way in the world? Did you run away from the sect?" Chu Luren asked suspiciously.

Last time at Leigu Mountain, Yang Guo was still with Yin Zhiping, so it doesn't count as him venturing out on his own.

"In just over a month, it will be two years. I came out to roam the martial world under the guidance of my master, grandmaster, and sect leader grandmaster... a whole bunch of true masters!" Yang Guo declared the legitimacy of his journey.

Chu Luren looked at him and felt that most likely, the Quanzhen Sect had already had enough of him staying on the mountain—especially since Senior Brother Zhou occasionally went back. If the old man and the young man got together, they might just tear the house apart!

"So, Master Ma and the others think highly of you?" Chu Luren deliberately teased.

"Of course! I'll tell you a secret, even Grandmaster Zhou wanted to become my disciple..." Yang Guo said with a sly smile.

Chu Luren: ...

Yes, that makes sense. They were definitely kicked out!

"Oh right! This isn't the time to talk about that. Brother Chu, you were with the Giant Whale Gang on the waterway earlier, weren't you?" Yang Guo asked, sounding a little nervous as he brought up the important matter.

"That's right, what's wrong?" Chu Luren guessed from his expression that Yang Guo was following him for the Giant Whale Gang.

"I originally intended to go to Xiangyang to see if I could help Uncle Guo, but I got stuck on the way..."

Yang Guo recounted a chance encounter he had not long ago.

On his way to Xiangyang, Yang Guo encountered members of the Giant Whale Gang who had just left the city. By chance, Yang Guo overheard a high-ranking member of the Giant Whale Gang and a man with a thick accent talking about things like "everything is ready," "once the goods arrive, the imperial court will naturally summon Guo Juxia to punish him," and "if there is any resistance, someone will deal with it."

Moreover, the opponent's martial arts skills were extremely high. Yang Guo was discovered as soon as he started breathing heavily, and was eventually forced to jump into the water to escape.

After drifting for an unknown period of time, Yang was rescued by a fishing boat. He went to Xiangyang to inform Uncle Guo and persuade him to leave. However, Guo Juxia was unwilling to leave Xiangyang because of some unfounded rumor. In Guo Juxia's words, he had faced scheming and framing "from behind" more than once.

Firstly, Guo Juxia himself was upright and had not been caught doing anything wrong; secondly, the "Xiangyang Knights" were not an official government organization, so they were subject to fewer constraints.

In Guo Juxia's view, it was nothing more than someone in the court disliking him and possibly trying to slander him.

If he were to leave now, he would have already left Xiangyang long ago.

However, Yang Guo was still worried, so he continued to investigate the Giant Whale Gang's trail on his own, but he did not find anything that the Giant Whale Gang had obtained that could be used as "handle"...

Therefore, Yang Guo suspected that the problem lay with the thin cotton-padded clothes themselves, and judging from this, there might also be someone in the court pulling the strings to frame Uncle Guo!

After listening to Yang Guo's words, Chu Luren frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "I don't see anything wrong... Are you referring to Li Tiande, the high-ranking member of the Giant Whale Gang?"

"It shouldn't be. I secretly tested Li Tiande, and he doesn't seem to know anything about it," Yang Guo said, somewhat troubled.

Chu Luren nodded. This did align with his assessment, but... why would the Giant Whale Gang target Guo Juxia?

Or rather, why would Shenhou, the mastermind behind the Giant Whale Gang, target Guo Juxia?

Given Guo Juxia's temperament, if it were just a disturbance in the capital, he certainly wouldn't care and would simply continue to guard Xiangyang day after day for ten years. No matter who becomes emperor, there's no need to complain about having too many people like him, right?

If the heroes of Xiangyang were to break up, the Mongol Yuan dynasty would be the only ones to benefit.

Chu Luren was starting to not understand Shenhou's actions...

"Don't worry, I'll go to Lin'an and think of a solution." Chu Luren prepared to discuss it with Huang Rong.

Of course, before that, we should first go to Qunyu Academy to inquire.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 531 Youthful Impetuosity

In the Qunyu Courtyard, Chu Luren obtained a lot of information about the martial arts world, but unfortunately, he didn't find a single piece of information about the Giant Whale Gang's conspiracy!

After all, such confidential matters are obviously not just "rumors".

Before leaving, Chu Luren specifically asked for another copy of the Giant Whale Gang's basic information, so he could get to know it more carefully again...

When Chu Luren arrived at the inn, it was already evening. Lianxing had already booked a room for him, but when Chu Luren entered the room, he found that Lianxing had also followed him in without saying a word.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Chu Luren noticed that Lianxing seemed to have something to say.

"Chu Lang, you... just went to Qunyu Courtyard?" Lianxing asked, blushing slightly.

"That's right, would I lie to you?" Chu Luren was also puzzled. Did he really need to use "going to Qunyu Courtyard" to cover up his purpose?