The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Chapter 871 The Outer Sect Elder Enters Again

As soon as Chu Luren returned to the ancient tomb, he was warmly welcomed. Granny Sun even greeted the outer sect elder with a big smile, which made Chu Luren feel flattered.

Granny Sun ignored Wang Chongyang, but didn't stop him from coming in either...

In the vast world of martial arts, Granny Sun was also Lin Chaoying's maid, not Lin Chaoying's maid's maid. She was still the little girl Lin Chaoying had saved—so naturally she didn't care for Wang Chongyang!

At first, Chu Luren thought that Granny Sun was only showing her some favor because she was mocking Wang Chongyang. However, after entering the tomb, Granny Sun led the way to the resting place of the previous sect leader. When Chu Luren saw the human head placed in front of the coffin, he realized that the gift had arrived.

"So it really is that old monster?" Chu Luren nodded.

"That's right! Back then, he chased the young lady all the way back to the tomb. Although the sect leader used a mechanism to subdue him, he was not afraid of pressure point techniques. As a result, as a result..." Granny Sun still looked sad when she mentioned this.

Chu Luren had suspected this before, since there probably weren't many old madmen with extremely high martial arts skills and little reputation, and now it has finally been confirmed.

Then another mechanical sound rang out, and the stone door on the inside of the passageway rose up, and Lin Chaoying, Xiaolongnu, and Li Mochou walked out.

Wang Chongyang and Lin Chaoying locked eyes instantly, their gazes so intense that the young men and women around them, as well as Granny Sun, felt a little uncomfortable.

Well, although the two are an old married couple, they have been together day and night for more than 20 years. This should be the first time they have been separated in 20 years, and they are separated under the circumstances of not knowing whether their lives or deaths are unknown!

“Yunqing…” Lin Chaoying called out Wang Chongyang’s secular courtesy name.

"Chao Ying..."

The two looked like they had been reunited after a long separation, their eyes filled with affection.

"Cough cough cough!" Chu Luren interrupted their cheesy conversation.

Lin Chaoying blushed and said shyly, "Thank you so much, Brother Chu, for your kindness in helping us. It was through your help that my husband and I were able to reunite."

The ancient tomb only had torches and oil lamps, but Chu Luren could still tell that Lin Chaoying was even more "ageless" than Wang Chongyang—she was clearly in her fifties or sixties, but the woman in front of him looked to be only around thirty, and unlike Wang Chongyang, her crow's feet would betray her if you looked closely.

Even with Chu Luren's keen eyesight, he could only see that Lin Chaoying was not only pretty, but also had radiant skin, a bright complexion, and large, watery eyes that seemed to hold endless tenderness when she looked at Senior Brother Wang.

"Sister-in-law, you are too kind. The two of you did not choose to live as immortals overseas, but resolutely returned to the Central Plains. This is for the sake of the country and its people. Moreover, I am Senior Brother Wang's junior brother. How could I not lend a helping hand?"

After Chu Luren finished speaking, seeing that Li Mochou was staring at him, he added, "Well, even if I'm not Senior Brother's junior brother, aren't I still a good friend of Headmaster Long and Mochou? You are their grandmaster, so you are my... sister-in-law."

"Should I thank you, Grandmaster Uncle?" Li Mochou rolled her eyes.

“Each side has its own perspective.” Chu Luren seemed very easygoing, and even gave an example: “Isn’t Yu Yan still your junior sister, and also my master’s granddaughter? When have I ever made her call me ‘Shishu’ (a term of respect for a senior female disciple)?”

Well, if you don't know the inside story, each sentence is completely unrelated!

Wang Chongyang glanced at Junior Brother Chu silently, without saying much. In any case, their master was only the symbolic "Emperor Donghua," and it wouldn't be a problem to have another master. Besides, this junior brother was originally taken in by the unreliable Junior Brother Zhou!

Wang Chongyang had gotten used to his junior brother's unreliability; at least his junior brother Chu was reliable and had saved him from Zhao Wushi.

Chu Luren looked around and then asked, "Where is my little master?"

Wang Chongyang: !!!

Where did this little master come from?

I just can't get used to it!

"Sister Lingsu went to gather herbs, saying that the poison that our master was afflicted with still needs to be completely cured," Li Mochou said, rolling her eyes.

Suddenly, Li Mochou remembered something, glanced at her silent junior sister Long, and pulled Chu Luren aside, saying, "Let our grandmaster and her man talk alone. We young people shouldn't be so tactless..."

As he spoke, he grabbed Chu Luren's forearm with one hand and pulled his junior sister with the other, leading her inside.

When Li Mochou said something sarcastic like "Grandmaster's man," Lin Chaoying just blushed and didn't refute it.

"Our outer sect elder, how long has it been since you returned to the Ancient Tomb? Do you still remember how to navigate the various passageways?" Li Mochou asked sarcastically.

“I don’t remember… Granny Sun never let me look closely. It’s not a matter of remembering or not; it’s that I simply don’t know,” Chu Luren retorted.

"Alas, it's a pity I got entangled in some troublesome matters. Otherwise, I was planning to take my junior sister around, and maybe we could have seen you at the Southern Shaolin Temple," Li Mochou emphasized.

Xiaolongnu, who had been silent, expressionless, and unresponsive, paused slightly upon hearing this and quickly said, "Senior Sister, you've got it wrong! Didn't I say I wouldn't leave the Ancient Tomb?"

“What’s wrong with him not being able to leave? Last time when you and Junior Sister Yu Yan went into a state of demonic possession, he could be considered to have risked his life, right?” Li Mochou retorted.

"No, no, I know what I'm doing," Chu Luren said, shaking his head.

Li Mochou glared at him again, and after passing through several more mechanisms, Chu Luren asked with a subtle expression, "Isn't this the way to the Jade Bed?"

"Oh, didn't you say you didn't remember? But you do remember the way to the bed. Is there something unforgettable about it?" Li Mochou asked with a smile.

Little Dragon Girl couldn't take it anymore and tried to pull her hand away from her senior sister: "I'm not going."

Upon hearing this, Li Mochou's eyes narrowed and she said, "How can you not go? You are the sect leader. Our Ancient Tomb only has a few valuable items. If the Cold Jade Bed is lost, you, as the sect leader, will be held responsible!"

Xiaolongnu appeared somewhat pitiful as Li Mochou constantly berated and rebuked her, but she remained outwardly calm and aloof, showing no signs of being "pitiful."

Chu Luren was stunned—the Jade Bed was gone? Such a large item could be lost?

How could someone carry such a large object out of an ancient tomb without being discovered?

As Chu Luren approached the training room where the Cold Jade Bed was located, he immediately understood something—cold!

As soon as the stone door opened, the surrounding temperature plummeted...

Considering the melting of the millennium-old ice at the Dragon Guard Manor, Chu Luren's previous suspicions were probably correct: the Jade Bed of the Ancient Tomb Sect was essentially also made of ice!

After the Heavenly Gates opened one after another, the Xuanbing (mysterious ice) began to melt. After the third gate was opened, even the millennia-old Xuanbing of the Dragon Guard Manor could not withstand it.

As we all know, it's not cold when it snows, but it's cold when the snow melts. Originally, when this thousand-year-old ice was not melting, it absorbed heat slowly and for a long time, and could be used for cooling. But after it started to melt, it began to absorb heat rapidly. Now, the Cold Jade Bed is no longer suitable for cultivating the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra.

"You always boast about how knowledgeable you are? Come and take a look! It's the Jade Bed that Junior Sister Long and Junior Sister Yu Yan used to cultivate on last time. For some reason, it's been unusually cold lately, and its size seems to have shrunk... You should remember it, right?"

"Senior Sister!" Little Dragon Girl couldn't help but stop her.

"Yeah, it wasn't this cold back then." Chu Luren also felt something was off. Why did Li Mochou keep bringing this up? Was she jealous?

Before he could think it over...

"Huh?" Chu Luren's train of thought was immediately interrupted, or rather, he was attracted by the cold jade bed.

Little Red, who came in with us, made two "cooing" sounds and seemed a little angry as it circled around the bed twice...

Chapter 872 The Responsibility of the Sect Leader

"Isn't your bird cold?" Li Mochou asked, frowning as she looked at Xiao Hong standing on the bed, pecking at the ice.

"Not cold...it shouldn't be cold," Chu Luren said, pursing his lips.

"Although this jade shows signs of melting, it's not something a tiny bird could peck open..."

Just as Li Mochou spoke up to remind her, Xiao Hong's not-too-long beak made a "crackling" sound, like an ice pick breaking through ice, and knocked off mottled pieces of ice from the cold jade bed!

Upon seeing this, Li Mochou couldn't help but show surprise—although there were signs of melting, it should still be as hard as jade when subjected to external force.

Does this bird have that much strength?

Although Little Red does look quite brave now, and is much bigger than when Chu Luren first adopted it, especially with its longer and neater fiery red feathers, and its sharp claws and beak, which are all long and slender in proportion and look very sharp, its size can only be considered that of a "small eagle" at most, and it is hard to tell its strength.

"No, it's not brute force." Chu Luren could feel that Xiao Hong was able to peck open the cold jade mainly because her beak was getting hot.

It's not just the temperature, but... it seems to perfectly counteract the cold jade!

At this moment, Xiaolongnu couldn't help but ask, "Senior Sister, didn't you want to protect this Jade Bed?"

Upon hearing this, both Li Mochou and Chu Luren paused in their movements. Li Mochou said awkwardly, "Junior Sister, you can see that there is obviously a problem with this bed. We can't leave the problem to the next generation. It's best to solve it when you become the sect leader!"

Little Dragon Girl did not raise any objections, and it is unclear whether she truly accepted the statement or simply did not care; it is likely the latter.

Chu Luren was also curious about what was inside the cold jade. Just as Chu Luren had moved Little Red aside, it jumped back with red eyes, making "coo coo coo" sounds as if it was looking for something. The last time it reacted like this was when it saw the ginseng whiskers.

Could there be some frozen food rations inside?

Of course, it's also possible that it misjudged the situation and simply wanted to make a plate of shaved ice...

Moreover, although it was rare for them to have pecked open the cold jade bed, it still felt like using a small awl to chisel out a solidly frozen ice bed. After watching for a while, Chu Luren became somewhat bored.

"Little Red, don't overwork yourself... Golden Gallbladder, keep an eye on Little Red. If it tries to push itself to the point of collapsing, stop it!" Chu Luren said to the little monkey, then beckoned Li Mochou to leave.

Previously, Jin Dan could only be bullied by Xiao Hong, but... after practicing the "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill", Jin Dan's progress was rapid, and his cultivation efficiency was probably the envy of the Golden Wheel Dharma King.

Now, as the Heavenly Gate continues to open, Xiao Hong has also begun to generate internal energy, but she is no match for Jin Dan.

After Chu Luren and Li Mochou came out, Granny Sun was looking for Master Lin and Senior Brother Wang—she had made the "Miss's" favorite dish, Imperial Noodles, and was about to call everyone to eat.

Previously, Lin Chaoying had lost her appetite and Grandma Sun was powerless to help, but now that the scoundrel has returned safely, Grandma Sun has finally started to make arrangements.

Chu Luren was shocked—you can actually make royal noodles? Then why do the outer sect elders always bring back such dark recipes as honey-cooked vegetables when they come back?

Chu Luren and Li Mochou wandered around twice but couldn't find their respective grandmasters or senior brothers. In the end, Chu Luren's prediction came true...

"Huh? What are you doing in the spirit chamber? Do you suspect they're in the coffin..." Li Mochou said, her face turning red, and she muttered something under her breath.

"That's right, it should be in the secret passage under the coffin, right?" Chu Luren thought to himself. Sure enough, after arriving at the spirit chamber, he found that the coffin that was originally connected to the Nine Yin Secret Chamber was now open.

Li Mochou's face turned even redder, realizing she had misunderstood.

"How did you know?" Li Mochou looked at Chu Luren in bewilderment.

It was Chu Luren who discovered this place back then. He came out wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, and when he first made a commotion, he scared Yu Yan and Ling Bo half to death!

The connected secret chamber not only has a pool of water leading outside, but also has parts of the "Nine Yin Manual" carved on the stone walls, which Li Mochou, Xiaolongnu, and others have also read.

"You think... why did my senior brother inscribe the Nine Yin Manual?" Chu Luren asked in return.

"Isn't it because they can't afford to lose! So after their ancestor died, they inscribed Huang Shang's martial arts here to compete with the Ancient Tomb Sect's martial arts. Wait... if my grandmaster hadn't died..." Li Mochou suddenly realized something.

“That’s right. If your sister-in-law isn’t dead, then this is where the young couple had their argument. They haven’t been back for over twenty years, so naturally they want to revisit this place!” Chu Luren said his reasoning with great pride.

"Oh? Has Luzhuang been rebuilt yet?" Li Mochou asked, half-jokingly.

But then she immediately regretted it. What if he didn't know she was joking and actually thought she wanted to be with him...?

"Huh? Why are you bringing up the Lu family again?" Chu Luren asked warily, adding, "They've definitely moved away!"

Li Mochou: ...

I have a feeling that Chu Tai Sui has misunderstood something in a very subtle way.

"I've been free lately, and I'll be in the Ancient Tomb until the Heroes' Gathering!" Chu Luren gave off an air of "You're not going anywhere on August 26th this year."

Li Mochou simply pursed her lips.

Chu Luren followed Li Mochou down through the leaky coffin. Sure enough, Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang were there too, and Senior Brother Wang seemed a little embarrassed.

Lin Chaoying added, "Yunqing, the younger generation is laughing at you. You still refuse to admit defeat and try to pass off Senior Huang Shang's martial arts as your own!"