The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

However, even the people of Bilin Cave did not know that at this moment, Alliance Leader Chu was in the same tavern—a person who was covered in a cloak and wore a bamboo hat, and was indeed not so easy to recognize.

Now, because of the Heroes' Gathering, many martial arts nerds have also come out of seclusion and into the world. Where people from the martial arts world gather, grudges and entanglements are inevitable. There are also many who don't want to be recognized and dress up very carefully.

Of course, they also wore gloves, and if you look closely, you'll see that their faces were also tightly bound behind the black veil of their conical hats... This is quite rare!

He didn't even take it off when eating; instead, he would simply slip it into his cloak, and the food would vanish into thin air.

This unconventional design, even without revealing the suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument), instinctively makes people keep their distance.

At this moment, Chu Luren did not reveal his identity, also in order to "incognito visit" and check his reputation in the martial arts world—indeed, the eyes of the heroes of the martial arts world are discerning!

However, there were some discordant voices. For example, in another corner, a table with two women and one man, three young people, were whispering among themselves...

"Elder sister, this Alliance Leader Chu is truly a remarkable hero! All we've heard about his heroic deeds on our journey north! He cleverly punished Wu Sangui, bravely rescued the Empress Dowager, righteously aided the Fuwei Escort Agency, rushed to the aid of the Four Wonders of the South, cracked the fake treasure at Mount Emei, eliminated Ao Bai, and exposed Jiang Biehe..."

"Hmph! You silly girl, you believe everything people say? Isn't this all just the evil spirits of the Righteous Alliance spreading rumors everywhere? They're nothing but charlatans! You're still young, you can't judge people clearly, don't believe the rumors!"

The younger girls blinked their big eyes, looking very hopeful, while the older girls were full of resentment, talking nonsense, spouting rubbish, and driven mad by jealousy...

Guo Xiang was still somewhat sullen after being scolded by her sister, so she turned her eyes to her somewhat dull-witted younger brother and asked, "Third brother, what do you think? Is the leader of the Chu Alliance a true hero?"

Guo Polu, being watched by his second sister and noticing his eldest sister glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, could only awkwardly say, "Anyway... he's not as good as Father."

If others heard this, they would definitely laugh at him—whether Chu Taisui's reputation is genuinely based on unparalleled chivalry, or on chivalry earned through his fists or boasted by the Righteous Alliance, at least his status in the martial arts world is undeniable, and not just anyone can compare to him.

Of course, if one truly knew who they were, there would be no such ridicule, because these three young men, though not well-known, were the children of Guo Juxia.

After Ao Bai's death, Guo Juxia rose to ninth place on the Heavenly Ranking, moving up one place. As for Jiang Biehe, after his true colors were revealed, sixth place was directly given to Yue Chengzhi.

In terms of ranking, Guo Juxia is indeed inferior to Chu Luren. However, in the martial arts world, when it comes to chivalry, even Chu Luren would not claim to be superior to Guo Juxia.

The Chu Lu people could not do the duty of guarding their territory for at least ten years without fail.

If it were Chu Luren, not only would he not receive any reward, but he would also be tricked by that old monkey Zhao Wushi. He would definitely abandon Xiangyang and deal with the old monkey first!

"Hmph! That goes without saying!" The older woman, Guo Fu, raised her neck even higher when she heard Guo Polu say that.

"By the way, Father also said that Alliance Leader Chu is one of the few truly pure people in the world. He also told us that if we ever encounter difficulties in the future, we can go to him for Father's sake..."

"Pah, pah, pah! What trouble? Don't say such unlucky things... Besides, we don't even know if that person will come to the Heroes' Gathering!" Guo Fu immediately interrupted.

"Oh..." Although Guo Xiang felt a little wronged, she also felt that these words were unlucky, so she did not argue.

However, a shadow fell over Guo Xiang's heart—she always felt that her father had meant something at the time, could there really be some danger?

Chu Luren felt a chill run down his spine...

He had only overheard the conversation at the table, treating it as casual chatter between three young siblings. He listened halfway through, and even when someone criticized him, he didn't take it to heart at all!

However, upon hearing this, Chu Luren couldn't help but glance over there a few more times—if their father wasn't bragging, then it must be someone he knew.

Chu Luren observed for a moment and found that the three were very young. The younger brother and sister looked to be only fifteen or sixteen, and the eldest sister should be no more than twenty.

At that age, they shouldn't be related to Guo Jing's children in the original Condor Heroes...

“Whether Alliance Leader Chu comes or not, Father’s ‘Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms’ will definitely defeat that Golden Wheel Monk!” the young Guo Polu said with certainty and admiration.

Chu Luren: ...

Aren't these the children of Guo Juxia?

Well, it seems that in the world of martial arts, the ages of Guo Jing's children are somewhat ambiguous.

However, it makes more sense, since it is rare to have a second child after more than ten years.

In other words...

Is this eldest sister Guo Fu?

It's just so utterly annoying!

Even though he was not Yang Guo, had never dumped her, and didn't even know her, she was still slandering him behind his back—Chu Luren felt contempt for Guo Fu.

"Big sister, that strange guy over there seems to be looking at you with ill intent. Should we leave first?" Guo Xiang whispered to Guo Fu.

Chu Luren: ...

"We...we've done nothing wrong, what's the point of leaving?" Guo Fu, though clearly a little timid, still raised her voice and said it.

As a result, the people at the surrounding tables then turned their attention to the three siblings on this side.

“Little sister, is someone bullying us? Tell your brothers, we, the Righteous Alliance, are the most opposed to this kind of thing!” Hanhan from Bilin Cave stepped forward and said, taking full responsibility.

Looking at the "strange person" who was wrapped up tightly next to him, this person lowered his eyelids slightly and avoided his gaze—this person looked like someone not to be trifled with!

However, he still took the wine and poured a cup for Guo Fu, saying, "Sister, drink this cup, and I'll be your brother. If there are any villains, our Righteous Alliance will stand up for you!"

He didn't forget to take advantage of the situation...

But at least it was a roundabout way of "teasing," so it seems the Righteous Alliance has a pretty good atmosphere—Chu Luren nodded in satisfaction.

Perhaps because she lacked two sycophants to accompany her growth, Guo Fu, though keeping a straight face, at least didn't retaliate.

But just then, an unfriendly voice suddenly came from outside, cursing Chu Luren and the Righteous Alliance...

Chapter 895 Mu Wang Mansion

Just as everyone was praising Chu Luren as a pillar of the martial world, a voice suddenly came from outside: "The Righteous Alliance? Hmph! Where are Chu Taisui's disciples and followers, that fame-seeking villain?"

Hearing the shouts outside, Chu Luren frowned deeply—could this martial world possibly be any better? Even a morally upright person like himself was being criticized behind his back…

"Don't give me that!"

“You he￥#……@”

"Who are you? Have you got the nerve to give me that much face?"

"Have the guts to step forward!"

……

A flurry of beautiful Chinese phrases from all over the country flowed from several tables simultaneously, demonstrating the strong presence of the Righteous Alliance here... cough cough, it should be said that it demonstrates the popularity of the Righteous Alliance!

Amidst everyone's enthusiastic greetings, Chu Luren recognized the leader among those who entered.

The man in the lead was tall and thin, with a rather dashing air. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and was trying his best to appear less pampered.

Beside him were two elderly men, both of whom looked strong and energetic. One of them seemed to have some kind of troublesome illness, perhaps due to a ruptured meridian, and kept shaking his head slightly.

Behind them were some young underlings, about twenty or thirty people...

Indeed, Chu Luren had no recollection of the shrimp soldiers and crab generals, but he recognized two of the three leaders—Mu Jiansheng, the young master of the Mu family, whom he had met at the turtle-killing tournament, and Liu Dahong, the Iron-Backed Azure Dragon, whom he had met at Juxian Manor.

People from the Mu Prince's Mansion?

I must write to my third brother later—funding these good-for-nothings is not as good as raising more wolfhounds! At least they'll only bite outsiders…

Despite the presence of over twenty people from the Mu Wang Mansion, there were also quite a few members of the Righteous Alliance present. However, some of them recognized Liu Dahong at this moment.

"So it's the renowned Old Master Liu of Tiannan... Then this must be Young Master Mu? My apologies for my rudeness."

"Oh? So it's the Mu family who drank the farewell wine with the alliance leader? Our Righteous Alliance at least killed Ao Bai. Your Mu family, under the guise of anti-Qing, hasn't done anything of substance, yet you're criticizing our alliance leader?"

"Brother Lu is mistaken. These people were making a lot of noise back then, but they didn't dare to drink the farewell wine with our alliance leader."

"Hehe, otherwise we might run out of food first..."

Iron-Backed Azure Dragon is quite well-known in the martial arts world, and some people paid their respects to him, while others did not.

The one who spoke first was Wu Lishen, the Lion Shaker. Seeing someone mocking him, he couldn't help but retort angrily, "Hmph! Although our Muwang Mansion relies on Dali, it's for the purpose of resisting the Qing Dynasty and cooperating with them... Does that Chu Luren think he's afraid of being criticized by us for doing such a thing?"

Chu Luren really wanted to ask—what did I do? Look at you, so full of bitterness and resentment…

"Uncle-Master Wu!" Mu Jiansheng stopped Wu Lishen from continuing, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to everyone and said, "Our Mu Royal Mansion is not entirely certain about this matter either. We have already made an appointment with the leader of your alliance tonight to clarify things! If we have misunderstood, we will apologize. If it is true... Under heaven, all land belongs to the Han people, and our Mu Royal Mansion will never be subservient to others!"

Chu Luren: ? ? ?

Who did you invite?

Chu Luren became more and more confused as he listened.

The tension among the Righteous Alliance members subsided slightly after hearing Mu Jiansheng's words—after all, although there were many of them present, none of them were "experts" comparable to Iron-Backed Azure Dragon and Shaking Lion.

Since Young Master Mu had given them a way out, they backed down, causing Chu Luren to secretly curl his lip, thinking to himself: These cowards!

"Young Master Mu has made an appointment with our Alliance Leader? Is the Alliance Leader also nearby?" A member of the Righteous Alliance from Bilin Cave exclaimed in surprise.

He hadn't seen the Alliance Leader much before. He originally went there to take advantage of the situation, but he was blocked by the two envoys of reward and punishment at the foot of Bright Peak, so... cough cough, coincidentally, he witnessed the divine power of Alliance Leader Chu at the foot of Bright Peak, and was amazed by his extraordinary abilities, which is why he joined the Righteous Alliance.

“Not bad, let’s see if he dares to admit it since he dared to do it!” Wu Lishen shook his head even more as he got angry.

Chu Luren hesitated for a moment, not showing himself immediately—the bastards from the Mu Prince's Mansion were definitely framing him, and the person they had arranged to meet was clearly a fake; they had been completely fooled…

However, Chu Luren wanted to see who was so bold as to impersonate him. As for being wrongly accused, it was likely related to the imposter. Before catching the person, Chu Luren didn't want to alert them. Secondly, Chu Luren's image was indeed poor and his skills hadn't recovered, so he didn't want to appear in public.

"The Alliance Leader is coming? Then let's go too!" Naturally, some people started to jeer.

Mu Jiansheng frowned and said, "My Mu Royal Mansion will confront Alliance Leader Chu face to face regarding this matter, so I won't trouble you any further."

Upon seeing this, Chu Luren began to suspect—could this slick-haired young man be deliberately framing me?

Otherwise, shouldn't you have wanted to send more people so that you could expose me to my face? Why are you making excuses and not sending others?

At the same time, Guo Xiang's eyes lit up, and she whispered to her sister and brother, "Let's leave while they're arguing."

Guo Fu nodded, not wanting to get involved in the matter, and quietly placed some silver on the table before leaving with her younger siblings.

However, what Guo Fu didn't know was that after she and her brother returned to the inn and checked into their rooms to rest, Guo Xiang also put on a cloak and then quietly returned to the tavern they had just left. She inquired along the way and followed the group from the Mu family!

It was already evening, and the people from the Mu family had just left Fengling Ferry. It seemed they really had arranged to meet Chu Taisui that evening...

Guo Xiang was also curious. Her father said that although Chu Tai Sui's actions were controversial, he was a trustworthy person. Her sister, however, said that his reputation in the martial arts world was all boasted by his subordinates and that he was actually a fame-seeker.

Yes, judging from the situation just now, Guo Xiang could see that her elder sister was right—indeed, those who initially praised Chu Tai Sui were the ones who later clashed with the Mu family.

However, judging by her discernment, Guo Xiang felt that it was good enough that her eldest sister didn't set a bad example, and that her father's judgment was definitely no match for hers!

So Guo Xiang became curious. More importantly, she also had a rebellious streak and didn't really trust her father's and sister's judgments. She wanted to see for herself.

Let my sister know that she's not a child, and that she's not blind to people...

However, although the Mu family is not a very reliable group, if they couldn't even find out that a young girl like her was following them, it would be too shameful, and they wouldn't have survived until now.

Halfway there, Guo Xiang noticed that the other side suddenly accelerated and ran into the woods. She quickly used her lightness skill to catch up, and then... she was ambushed by them!

"Who goes there?" Wu Lishen shouted, taking the lead.