The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

He's been away for quite a while now, so he can't linger any longer. He needs to get back as soon as possible in case something happens at Mount Hua and he's not there in time.

……

Seven days later.

Splash!

The rain poured down.

Raindrops the size of marbles fell densely from the sky, accompanied by occasional thunderclaps.

Jiang Ning was alone on his way to Mount Hua in the pouring rain.

The torrential rain lasted for seven days, turning the ground into a muddy mess, making it difficult for ordinary people to walk.

Jiang Ning, holding an umbrella, leaped continuously, his expression calm.

He hadn't rested much in the past seven days. After arriving in Xi'an, Pingliang and other prefectures, he was basically certain that no other sects would come to his aid. Without stopping in Jiangning, he immediately headed towards Mount Hua.

Three days later, Jiang Ning arrived at a remote mountain not far from Mount Hua, the place where he had arranged to meet the Emei Sect.

The rain had stopped by then, but the ground was still full of puddles and potholes.

Jiang Ning stepped into the puddles, splashing water everywhere.

Winter is approaching, temperatures are dropping, and the cold wind is biting.

After traveling some distance along the muddy mountain road, Jiang Ning finally met the Taoist priests from Qingcheng Mountain and the people from the Emei Sect.

After briefly explaining his identity, Jiang Ning was led by them to meet Zhang Quandao, Abbess Qingwei, and others.

"Master Jiang, you've finally arrived."

Zhang Quandao was also very happy to see Jiang Ning again.

“Benefactor Jiang.”

Abbess Qingwei raised her whisk.

"Master, Abbess, what's the situation now?"

There was no time for reminiscing, Jiang Ning asked.

Master Qingwei said, "We have been here for two days and have encountered several fleeing martial artists. From them, we learned that they are still locked in a stalemate with the Huashan Sect at Qianchizhuang."

After bidding farewell to Jiang Ning, Abbess Qingwei found Zhang Quandao and others and set off with them. Upon arriving here, Zhang Quandao sent several Taoist priests who knew martial arts to disguise themselves and scout out the situation. They discovered that some Jianghu people who were surrounding Mount Hua were sneaking out.

Upon hearing this news, Jiang Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, right."

Zhang Quandao then said, "I heard that there has been an internal change. Some time ago, the person in charge was someone named Sima Da, but he was replaced."

Jiang Ning was not surprised to hear this news.

He happened to be there and witnessed it firsthand, so it was normal for Sima Da to be replaced under those circumstances.

"Later, it seems that a person surnamed Jia took over their command."

Zhang Quandao added another sentence.

"Jia?"

Jiang Ning was taken aback.

"Well, what happened?"

Seeing Jiang Ning's expression, Zhang Quandao was somewhat puzzled.

"nothing."

Jiang Ning shook his head, saying nothing more, but his gaze was somewhat strange.

He remembered that Mr. Mo Da seemed to have the alias Jia.

Could it be that Mr. Mo has infiltrated the enemy command post?

That shouldn't be possible, right?

"What should we do now?"

Zhang Quandao asked, his expression somewhat excited.

Hearing his words, Jiang Ning said, "No rush, I'll go in and find out what's going on."

He planned to go and find out who this guy surnamed Jia really was.

"Ok."

Zhang Quandao nodded, and Abbess Qingwei had no objections either.

Jiang Ning checked the weather; it was noon and the downpour was still in full swing. He decided to wait until nightfall to sneak into the enemy camp.

Finally arriving near Mount Hua, Jiang Ning decided to rest for a while, as he hadn't had a proper rest in the past few days.

Upon hearing that Jiang Ning wanted to rest, Zhang Quandao, Abbess Qingwei, and the others did not disturb him further, and had a Taoist priest take Jiang Ning to a tent.

The tent was very simple, but Jiang Ning didn't mind and went straight to sleep, only waking up at night.

After resting for a few hours, Jiang Ning felt much better than before.

Jiang Ning left the camp and found Zhang Quandao, Abbess Qingwei, and others to tell them that he was preparing to take action.

"Mr. Jiang, please take care on your journey."

Seeing that Jiang Ning was about to take action, Zhang Quandao gave him a word of advice.

"Rest assured, Daoist Master."

Jiang Ning nodded, bid them farewell for the time being, and then set off.

The night did not affect Jiang Ning's eyesight, and without much delay, Jiang Ning returned to the foot of the Thousand-Foot Cliff.

Looking at the dark tents not far away, Jiang Ning had infiltrated them before and was now quite familiar with the place.

Just like when I came before, the camps were still noisy even at night.

Jiang Ning searched all the way, peering into camps along the way, but after searching most of the enemy camp, he still couldn't find any trace of Master Mo.

It seems that things are not as he thought.

Jiang Ning thought to himself.

However, this is normal. It would be too absurd if Mr. Mo actually managed to become the enemy commander.

With this in mind, Jiang Ning decided to continue his search to see where the Four Immortals of Peach Valley were located.

Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted from a tent not far from Jiangning.

"Old Jia, sing one, sing one!"

A burly man's voice was so loud that it could be heard outside the tent.

Old Jia?

Upon hearing this title, Jiang Ning paused for a moment, then approached the tent, lifted a corner of it, and peered through the crack to see what was inside.

Mr. Mo was sitting in the center of a group of people, holding a huqin (a two-stringed bowed instrument), while the crowd was making a fuss.

"it is good."

Mr. Mo smiled and said, "Since you all want to hear it so much, then this old man will make a fool of himself by performing a song."

"it is good!"

The crowd applauded and cheered.

Mr. Mo made a gesture to quiet them down, and then began to play the erhu.

"The Jia family is not fake; their halls are made of white jade and their horses of gold..."

Chapter 224 When the fake is true, the truth is also false

Seeing the commotion inside, Jiang Ning was taken aback.

It really is Mr. Mo Da.

After parting ways with Master Mo last time, he thought Master Mo had already left, but he didn't expect him to come back.

Jiang Ning looked at the people in the tent; there were about a dozen of them.

The music was melodious, and Liu Qin stared blankly at Mr. Mo Da in the center.

He recalled a sentence that Liu Zhengfeng had said when talking about Mr. Mo Da.

"A good piece of music is poignant but not tragic, but his music is always sad. Unrelenting sorrow only brings tears to people's eyes. How can this be considered a good piece of music?"

Before Liu Zhengfeng retired from his life of crime, Liu Qin had always heard Liu Zhengfeng say that the tunes played by Master Mo Da always carried a strong sense of sorrow, which did not conform to his music theory.

Liu Qin later discovered, after following Mr. Mo Da, that it was indeed as Liu Zhengfeng had said.

After the upheaval in the Liu family, Master Mo took him on a journey through the martial arts world, making a living by performing with his erhu, and enduring hardships along the way.

Because Mr. Mo's music was too sad, few people liked it. Whenever he tried to perform in teahouses, he was either rejected by the owners or couldn't earn any money, leading a very difficult life.

At first, Liu Qin planned to use the money from the Liu family to improve their lives, but Mr. Mo refused and did not allow him to use it. As a result, the two of them lived a life almost like beggars.

This continued until they heard the news that the Huashan Sect was under siege, after which Master Mo took him back to Hengshan, and he changed back into his old clothes and life.

Liu Qin didn't understand why Mr. Mo was doing this.

Liu Zhengfeng didn't understand either.

Previously, Liu Zhengfeng and Mr. Mo had a strained relationship due to their disagreement on music theory. Later, Liu Zhengfeng tried to ease the tension by providing financial assistance to Mr. Mo, but for some reason, he angered Mr. Mo, and Mr. Mo never visited Liu's residence again.

Liu Zhengfeng once told Liu Qin that his senior brother had a strange temper and was very mysterious.

Master Mo Da was the first disciple of that generation to enter the sect. Liu Zhengfeng and his fellow disciples did not know his real name or who his parents were. They only knew that he was called Mo Da. When Master Mo Da first came to Hunan, he had a slight Nanjing accent, but as time went on, that accent became undetectable.

Mr. Mo never had much contact with them and always kept to himself.

Later, I never heard Mr. Mo mention any family or marriage. He has remained single ever since.

Even within the Hengshan School, Master Mo was a mysterious figure, and what left a deep impression on people was his sorrowful and melancholic Xiaoxiang Night Rain.