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

In the treacherous palace, Liu Jin realized something, which is why he risked saying those words. He was testing Zhu Houzhao's attitude, and now he had succeeded.

……

Chongxu arrived at a place led by a eunuch.

This was the place where he had stayed when he came to the palace to meet the Hongzhi Emperor, so he was quite familiar with it.

After thanking the eunuch who brought him, Chongxu sat down.

At this moment, he was thinking about his meeting with Zhu Houzhao today.

"The emperor seems to care a lot about the martial arts world, but why would he suddenly mention Jiangning?"

Chongxu's mind raced with rapid thought.

At this moment, Chongxu suddenly remembered the calligraphy that Zhu Houzhao had written in the Imperial Study.

"Only the sky is above, no mountain can compare; looking up, the red sun seems near; looking back, the white clouds seem low..."

Chongxu murmured softly. He had a good memory; even if he had only glanced at it once, he could remember that Zhu Houzhao had written this poem.

Chongxu's expression changed upon thinking of this poem.

This poem is about Mount Hua.

What does the emperor want to do?

Chapter 578: Returning to Mount Hua

The poem "Ode to Mount Hua" was written by Kou Zhun when he was seven years old in the Song Dynasty. Zhu Houzhao has now written it down and specially showed it to Chongxu.

Chongxu absolutely did not believe this was a coincidence.

"What is he going to do? What is the emperor implying to me?"

Chongxu's expression turned serious.

Originally, he came to Zhu Houzhao to gain his support and hoped to obtain some resources, but Chongxu did not expect that this would be the result after arriving in the capital.

Could it be that the Huashan Sect has secretly sided with the imperial court?

……

Luoyang.

After Ren Woxing withdrew from Luoyang, everyone began to clean up the mess, and Luoyang gradually returned to normal. Some people walked on the streets, but they were very few.

Wang Yuanba has already sent people to communicate with the government. It's impossible for the government not to know about such a big incident in Luoyang. As a local force, the Golden Saber Sect cannot completely ignore the government either. It needs to communicate with the government in a timely manner to avoid some trouble.

At this moment, government officials arrived at the gate of the Golden Saber Sect. The leader of the officials was talking to Wang Yuanba.

"Junior brother, let's go in."

Upon seeing the officials, Linghu Chong, not wanting to linger, asked Jiang Ning to join him at the Golden Saber Sect.

"it is good."

Jiang Ning nodded, then went inside and arrived at the main hall, where Shaolin monks such as Fang Zheng and Fang Sheng were sitting.

"Amitabha."

Upon seeing Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong enter, Fang Zheng said, "Young heroes, now that this matter is settled, this old monk must return to the temple first. Later, Junior Brother Fang Sheng and some Shaolin disciples will remain in Luoyang to handle the remaining matters."

The follow-up matters were quite busy, but they were no longer related to Fang Zheng; Fang Sheng could handle them.

"Take care, Master."

Jiang Ning nodded without saying anything more.

Fang Zheng smiled and then left; the two did not exchange many words.

Fang Sheng and other eminent Shaolin monks also went out to see them off.

Jiang Ning's expression remained unchanged as he watched Fang Zheng's departing figure.

He had little to talk about with this high monk. Although it was already clear that Shaolin was Huashan's enemy, it wasn't time to break off relations yet, and they were still maintaining a superficial balance.

But that's all. Jiang Ning won't shout for war, but he won't show too much enthusiasm either.

"oops."

With only Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong remaining in the hall, Linghu Chong sat down and let out a comfortable groan.

"These past two days have been really exciting, now I can finally get some rest."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning turned around and smiled, "Senior Brother is indeed exhausted. You rushed to Shaolin yesterday without rest and then fought a bloody battle with the Demonic Sect. You must be physically and mentally exhausted. Now that everything is alright, Senior Brother should go and rest."

Linghu Chong shook his head and said, "My little bit of tiredness is nothing compared to yours. You're the one who's most tired. You should rest too."

Linghu Chong just learned that Jiang Ning hadn't slept all night. In the morning, he fought off the demonic sect members who came to destroy the Golden Saber Sect, and then fought his way to Luoyang's Heavenly Street to battle the demonic sect experts until they came to his aid. In fact, Jiang Ning was the one who was the most exhausted.

Jiang Ning didn't feel anything about it. At this moment, he didn't feel mentally tired, but he had consumed a lot of internal energy and physical strength, so he did need to rest.

"Alright."

Jiang Ning nodded, then went back to his room and fell asleep immediately. He slept until evening, and by the time he woke up, most of the remaining matters had been taken care of.

"Nephew Jiang, I really have to thank you this time. If it weren't for your righteous help, my Golden Saber Sect would probably have been wiped out today."

Wang Yuanba had already finished communicating with the government officials and came over as soon as he heard that Jiang Ning had woken up.

Wang Yuanba's face was full of gratitude.

He learned from Shaolin that the person he sent had never been to Shaolin. Without a doubt, the person had either escaped or been killed. In the afternoon, Wang Yuanba sent people to search outside the city again, and sure enough, they found a corpse in a wasteland. It was the person he had sent.

Wang Yuanba already knew that if it weren't for Jiang Ning's help, his Golden Saber Sect would have perished, and now he was filled with gratitude towards Jiang Ning.

"I cannot express my gratitude for your great kindness and virtue. Please accept my bow, my dear nephew Jiang."

Wang Yuanba made a gesture to perform a grand salute to Jiang Ning, but was stopped by Jiang Ning just as he was about to kneel down.

"Why must Sect Leader Wang do this?"

Jiang Ning reached out and grabbed the other man's elbow. Jiang Ning didn't use much force, but Wang Yuanba was already unable to kneel down.

Jiang Ning calmly said, "It is the duty of us righteous people to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path. I will definitely intervene if I see it. Besides, you are still Junior Brother Lin's maternal grandfather. Sect Leader Wang, you don't need to be so formal."

Looking at Jiang Ning, Wang Yuanba, with his years of experience, found that everything the other party said was true, without a trace of falsehood, which stirred up a myriad of emotions within him.

"Nephew Jiang's chivalrous spirit must be inseparable from the teachings of Master Yue. Master Yue must be very proud to have a disciple like Nephew Jiang."

Wang Yuanba sighed.

Upon hearing the other party mention Yue Buqun, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile.

"Nephew Jiang, the Demonic Sect has been defeated today, and my Golden Saber Sect is now safe. Nephew Jiang and Nephew Linghu, please stay in Luoyang for a while longer so that I can properly entertain you."

Jiang Ning nodded.

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

Jiang Ning decided to help him to the end. Since Ren Woxing was leaving today and might not return, he planned to stay a few more days to see how things went before returning to Mount Hua once the Golden Saber Sect was completely safe.

In the following days, Luoyang returned to its usual tranquility, and it seemed that Ren Woxing had completely left Luoyang and had no intention of returning.

Time passed day by day, and Jiang Ning stayed for a few more days. It was now late March, and there were still no signs of any members of the Demonic Sect returning to attack the Golden Saber Sect. Jiang Ning knew that the Demonic Sect had given up, and it was time for Jiang Ning to leave Luoyang.

On this day, Linghu Chong from Jiangning found Wang Yuanba to say goodbye.

"Sect Leader Wang, my fellow disciple and I are about to leave."

Wang Yuanba was startled when he heard this: "Aren't you going to stay a little longer?"

Jiang Ning shook his head: "My senior brother and I have been away from the mountain for a long time. There are still many matters to be dealt with within the sect. We cannot delay any longer."

Jiang Ning remembered that this year was the time for the Huashan Sect to expand its recruitment of disciples every three years. It was March when spring began, and now it was almost April, and the earth was warming up. He was afraid that Yue Buqun would be expanding his recruitment of disciples soon. He and Linghu Chong needed to go back and help as soon as possible, and they could not delay any longer.

Moreover, Jiang Ning had something important to tell Yue Buqun.

"Okay, then."

Wang Yuanba nodded regretfully, but then said, "After I finish dealing with the Golden Saber Sect's affairs, I will take my family to Mount Hua to visit your sect and pay my respects to Sect Leader Yue. Please ask my nephew to convey this message to Sect Leader Yue."

Jiang Ning smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, Sect Leader Wang."

Linghu Chong was already impatient and ready to leave.

He hadn't seen Yue Lingshan for almost a year, and he missed her terribly.

Urged on by Linghu Chong's gaze, Jiang Ning mounted his horse and left. Wang Yuanba, Wang Bofen, Wang Jiaju, and other members of the Wang family accompanied the two of them until they reached the city gate before stopping.

……

Luoyang is about 500 li away from Mount Hua, a journey that would take about five days on horseback. However, because Linghu Chong missed Yue Lingshan so much, Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong rested very little after leaving Luoyang, and the journey that should have taken five days was completed in just three days.

"Finally home."

Upon reaching the vicinity of the foot of Mount Hua, Linghu Chong sighed.

Strangely enough, Linghu Chong had always wanted to sneak down the mountain to play before he left, but now that he's been down for so long, he's started to miss home and wants to come back as soon as possible.

Ignoring Linghu Chong's feelings, Jiang Ning didn't linger and prepared to return to the mountain. However, he noticed something unusual when passing through a village and couldn't help but frown.

There were an unusually large number of beggars in this village.

Chapter 579: The Shameless Beggar Clan

"What's wrong, junior brother?"

Linghu Chong saw Jiang Ning stop and couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Ning didn't turn around, still looking at the village not far away, and said, "Senior Brother, have you noticed that something is wrong with this village?"

"Something's not normal?"

Linghu Chong turned his head to look, then shook his head and said, "There's nothing wrong. Let's hurry up the mountain."

Jiang Ning remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the village, and said, "Haven't you noticed there are quite a few beggars in this village?"

After Jiang Ning said that, Linghu Chong glanced at the village not far away and exclaimed in surprise.