Zongwu: Eavesdropping on the inner voices, the female warriors have become strange

Although Guo Jing did not refute Ke Zhen'e's words, he disagreed deep down in his heart. In Guo Jing's value system, promises are as heavy as Mount Tai; once made, they cannot be easily broken. In the original novel, Guo Jing also followed Tuolei and Hua Zheng back to the grasslands. However, Genghis Khan later wanted him to lead the army to attack the Song Dynasty and make him the King of Song. However, Guo Jing was unwilling to attack the Song Dynasty and wanted to secretly take Li Ping back to the Song Dynasty. This happened to be heard by Hua Zheng. Fearing that she would lose Guo Jing, Hua Zheng reported him to Genghis Khan and accidentally killed Li Ping. Thus, the marriage between Guo Jing and Hua Zheng ended. Guo Jing returned to the Song Dynasty, while Hua Zheng fled to the Western Regions.

"Brother Chen, Hua Zheng is a princess of the Yuan Dynasty. I..." Guo Jing hesitated and said, "Is she willing to come back with me?"

"How will you know if you don't ask?" Chen Liu thought for a moment and said, "But it's best not to tell her right away. After returning to the desert, tell her that you'll bring your mother and her back to worship your ancestors. She'll definitely be happy to come back with you. After entering Song territory, tell her the truth. If she's willing to come back with you, bring her back. If not, let her return to the desert."

Hua Zheng loves Guo Jing, but he's a bit naive and foolish. Chen Liu is also worried that Hua Zheng, knowing the truth from the beginning, might be unwilling to let Guo Jing return to the Song Dynasty, and might inform on him again, leading to Li Ping's death. Guo Jing is one of the protagonists of this martial arts world, so he shouldn't die so easily.

Guo Jing was delighted to hear this and quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Brother Chen."

Chen Liu's suggestion relieved Guo Jing. He didn't want to stay in the desert any longer, but he also didn't want to break his promise to Hua Zheng. Chen Liu's suggestion was indeed a good option for him. He could return to the Song Dynasty without breaking his promise to Hua Zheng. If Hua Zheng didn't want to return with him, then it wouldn't be considered a breach of promise.

Yang Tiexin said nothing about Chen Liu asking Guo Jing to bring back the daughter of the Yuan Khan. Actually, Yang Tiexin didn't think much of the Yuan princesses, but his daughter was already with Chen Liu, and he couldn't conjure up another daughter! Even if he had another child with Bao Xiruo now, would Guo Jing have to wait for more than ten years?

After talking about Guo Jing, Yang Tiexin asked, "Liu'er, how long will you and Nian'er stay this time?"

"Let's leave tomorrow." Chen Liu said.

"Leaving tomorrow? Not staying for two more days?" Yang Tiexin was stunned.

"No, we have something else to do." Chen Liu didn't want to tell Yang Tiexin that he and Mu Nianci would go to Daming. Chen Liu was suspected of going to Daming to avoid Murong Bo. If Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo knew about it, they would definitely be worried.

"Is that so?" Yang Tiexin seemed a little disappointed when he heard this. He had finally met Mu Nianci, and he thought Mu Nianci and Chen Liu would stay at home for a few more days, but he didn't expect them to leave after only one day.

"Then I'll go clean up the rooms for Liu'er and Nian'er later." Bao Xiruo said with a smile.

Mu Nianci blushed and did not object, which was considered as her consent.

After lunch, Mu Nianci and Bao Xiruo went to wash the dishes, while Chen Liu went to the courtyard with Yang Tiexin and Guo Jing to drink tea and chat. In ancient rural areas, there wasn't much good tea. Most farmers picked their own tea leaves and made their own tea, or even picked some bitter melon leaves and dried them in the sun, which was just tea. The taste wasn't very good. However, Bao Xiruo had developed a habit of drinking tea at Prince Zhao's mansion, so Yang Tiexin also had some tea at home. After Guo Jing returned, he went to Lin'an City and bought a few cans of tea for Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo. Chen Liu also bought a few cans of good tea when he came.

After Mu Nianci and Bao Xiruo finished washing the dishes, they also came to the yard. However, they did not join Chen Liu and Yang Tiexin. Instead, they sat on the other side and whispered to each other. Mu Nianci's face was a little flushed, and she would occasionally glance at Chen Liu secretly.

After chatting for half an hour, Chen Liu suggested going out for a walk. He mainly wanted to take a look at the secret room of Qu Lingfeng, who was using the alias Qu San.

Qu Lingfeng, Huang Yaoshi's eldest disciple, lived in seclusion with his daughter in his hometown, Niujia Village, Lin'an Prefecture, after being expelled from Peach Blossom Island by Huang Yaoshi. He changed his name to Qu San and opened a tavern for a living. Although expelled from Peach Blossom Island, Qu Lingfeng always wanted to return to his master's school. Knowing his master's love of calligraphy and painting, Qu Lingfeng, to please his master, repeatedly entered the imperial palace to steal precious paintings, rare treasures, and rare treasures, only to be discovered by the guards. Shi Yanming pursued Qu Lingfeng to Niujia Village, and the two engaged in a battle in the secret room of Qu Lingfeng's tavern. Qu Lingfeng was defeated by Shi Yanming and was eventually killed, two rows of his ribs shattered by Shi Yanming's palm. Believing him dead, Shi Yanming went to collect the stolen treasures, but Qu Lingfeng, still breathing, threw a knife and stabbed him to death, killing both of them.

After Qu Lingfeng's death, he left behind only his daughter Shagu. Shagu was not born mentally retarded, she was originally a normal child, but after witnessing her father being killed by Shi Yanming, she was traumatized and became mentally ill.

Chen Liu did not value the precious calligraphy and paintings and rare treasures stolen by Qu Lingfeng. However, among the calligraphy and paintings stolen by Qu Lingfeng, there was a painting that was placed in the box where the "Wu Mu's Testament" was hidden in the water cave in the imperial palace by Shangguan Jiannan, the 13th leader of the Iron Palm Gang. The collection location of the "Wu Mu's Testament" was written on the painting. Later, the painting was stolen back by Qu Lingfeng.

"Who's that?" Niujiazhuang wasn't big to begin with. How big could a village with just a dozen households really be? They soon arrived at Qu Lingfeng's Qu San Tavern at the east end of the village and saw Silly Girl sitting in the doorway, lost in thought. Chen Liu naturally knew it was Silly Girl, but he feigned ignorance and asked Guo Jing, who had accompanied him on a tour of the village.

"Uncle Yang and Aunt Yang said that was Silly Girl." Guo Jing showed a look of pity on his face and said, "Silly Girl was the daughter of a villager named Qu San. But later Qu San disappeared, and Silly Girl became stupid again. For all these years, Silly Girl grew up eating food from many families."

Chapter 128 Secret Room

"Silly girl, you haven't eaten yet, right? My brother Chen came today and I forgot about you." Guo Jing said to Silly Girl.

"Eat, big brother, haha, eat!" Sha Gu suddenly clapped her hands.

Guo Jing turned to Chen Liu and said, "Brother Chen, I'm going to take Silly Girl back to Uncle Yang's house and get her some food."

"Go!" Chen Liu smiled and nodded. Since Guo Jing was not there, it was a good opportunity for him to go and see Qu San's secret room.

Guo Jing led Sha Gu to the Yang residence, while Chen Liu entered the inn, which was already dilapidated and covered with dust and cobwebs. When they walked into the inner hall and kitchen, they saw that there was also dust and cobwebs everywhere, and there was a torn mat on the bed.

Chen Liu knew that the mechanism of the secret room was in the kitchen cabinet, so he opened the cabinet door, only to smell the pungent smell of dust. On the cabinet board lay seven or eight broken blue and white porcelain bowls, with more than ten dead chicken bugs in and around the bowls.

Chen Liu took the blue and white porcelain bowls from the cupboard one by one. When he got the last one, he felt that the bowl was cold and different from ordinary porcelain bowls. He couldn't lift it, so he knew that this was the mechanism of the secret room.

As Chen Liu turned the bowl to the right, he noticed it was a little loose. He exerted force, and the bowl spun smoothly. Then, with a snap, the cabinet wall parted, revealing a dark hole. A foul odor burst forth from the hole, making him nauseous.

Chen Liu stepped back a few steps, waiting for the foul air to dissipate before entering the secret chamber. Inside was a small room. On the floor lay the skeletons of dead people, lying face-up, their clothes rotted away. In the east corner, another skeleton lay sprawled on a large iron box. A long, sharp knife had been driven through the skeleton's ribs and lodged in the box's lid.

"Brother Chen!" Guo Jing took Sha Gu to the Yang family and handed her over to Bao Xiruo and Mu Nianci, then hurried back to find Chen Liu. When he arrived at the hotel entrance, he didn't see Chen Liu, so Guo Jing shouted.

"Inside." Chen Liu answered when he heard Guo Jing's voice.

"Huh? Brother Chen, what is this?" Guo Jing followed Chen Liu's voice and found the secret room. Seeing Chen Liu rummaging through the boxes in the secret room, he asked.

"We found a secret room." Chen Liu said without turning his head, "Inside this secret room are two skeletons and a box filled with gold, silver and jewelry."

These rare jewels included jade belt rings, rhinoceros hide boxes, agate cups, jadeite plates, and so on. Although Chen Liu didn't know how to appreciate them, he knew they were extremely valuable. After all, Qu Lingfeng had stolen them from the palace, so it was hard not to think they were precious. However, most of these items were somewhat shameful. If the palace knew about them, they would definitely send people to investigate. So he could only keep them and admire them in secret.

Guo Jing had grown up in the desert and had no idea about these colorful treasures. When he heard Chen Liu say they were precious, he thought, "These things are precious? I wonder what they're good for? They're better off with two pounds of beef."

Chen Liu peeled aside the jewels and saw a ring on each side of the inner wall. He hooked his pinkies into the rings and lifted the upper layer. The lower layer contained a series of antiques stained with verdigris. They resembled a dragon-inscribed tripod, a Shang Dynasty bronze vessel, a Zhou Dynasty plate, a Zhou Dynasty dun, a Zhou Dynasty lei, and so on. He wasn't entirely sure what they were, but they were far more valuable than the treasures on the upper layer. If pearls and jade were priceless, then these bronzes were even more priceless. But Chen Liu only took a quick look before peeling back the next layer. Underneath, there were scrolls of calligraphy and painting, perhaps twenty or so.

Chen Liu unrolled the scrolls and examined them one by one. Among them were Wu Daozi's "The King Delivering a Child," Han Gan's "Horse Herding," and Li Houzhu's "Figures Crossing a Forest and Springs," all masterpieces by renowned artists. Several scrolls also contained Huizong's calligraphy and paintings, and still others were contemporary paintings and calligraphy, all of them exquisite.

When Chen Liu opened another scroll, he saw a painting of a steep, towering mountain with five peaks. The center peak was particularly high, reaching up to the sky, soaring into the clouds. Below, a deep ravine overlooked the mountain. A row of pine trees grew on the mountainside, their tops covered in snow, their trunks bent southward, suggesting the fierce north wind. To the west of the peak stood a single old pine, towering and majestic. Beneath the tree, painted in red ink, was a general dancing with a sword against the wind. His face was unclear, but his flowing robes gave him an unworldly figure.

The entire painting is a landscape in ink and wash, but this figure, painted in a fiery crimson, stands out even more. There's no inscription on the painting, only a poem: "After years of battle, dust covers my clothes. I've come to Cuiwei in search of flowers. The beautiful waters and mountains are too beautiful to be seen. My horse's hooves urge me home under the bright moonlight."

Upon seeing the painting, Chen Liu knew it was a clue to Wu Mu's will. Chen Liu had no ambition to dominate the world, nor did he want to enter the imperial court. He originally wanted to give the painting to Guo Jing and have him go to Iron Palm Mountain to retrieve Wu Mu's will. But then he thought, the Iron Palm Gang is now under the control of Qiu Qianren. Although Qiu Qianren also participated in the Beggar Gang's Xingzilin Conference and killed many Xixia people, he had defected to the Jin people in The Legend of the Condor Heroes and was also a highly skilled martial artist. If Guo Jing were to retrieve it on his own, he might not only fail to retrieve it, but also fall into Qiu Qianren's hands.

Chen Liu put the painting away and put the other rare treasures back to their original places. After thinking for a while, he took out a string of pearls, a diamond necklace, two jade bracelets, three gem necklaces (one red, one green, and one blue), and three jade pendants, whose origins could not be determined, and put the rest back to their original places.

Chen Liu has not given gifts to Wang Yuyan, Mu Nianci and other girls yet. After taking these gifts back, you can give them to them, one for each person.

"Brother Guo, would you like to take two back to give to your mother and Hua Zheng?"

"No, no." Guo Jing waved his hands repeatedly and said hesitantly, "Brother Chen, these things were found in Silly Girl's house, so they belong to Silly Girl. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for us to take her things like this?"

"These things were stolen from the palace." Chen Liu said.

"Ah?" Guo Jing couldn't help but exclaimed, "Silly, silly girl stole it?"

"How could she have such a talent? It must have been her father who stole it." Chen Liu pointed at the Imperial Guard who had been stabbed to death and said, "That man had an iron plate on his body. He was a martial arts doctor of the Song Dynasty and an Imperial Guard. I guess he was tracking down thieves and found them here. He killed Sha Gu's father, and then was stabbed to death by Sha Gu's father, who was still breathing."

"I see." Guo Jing was a little surprised and said, "But since it was stolen by her father, it should also belong to her family."

"Now I've discovered that these things are mine." Chen Liu said with a smile.

Guo Jing: ...

Chen Liu smiled and said, "Brother Guo, go back to the Yang family and call my father-in-law over. Have him come over and see what to do with these things. Although many of the items here have provenances and cannot be used or seen in public, there are quite a few jewelry items whose provenances are unknown. If you take one or two and sell them, you'll have enough money to support your lives. At worst, you can just take care of Silly Girl."

"Okay! I'll go call Uncle Yang." Although Guo Jing did not agree with Chen Liu's decision, since this thing was discovered by Chen Liu, he couldn't object and turned around to find Yang Tiexin.

Chapter 129 Tavern

"I didn't expect that Qu San was a martial arts master, and he eventually died here." After Yang Tiexin came to the tavern, he looked at the corpses of Qu San and Shi Yanming, and then looked at the treasures that Qu San had stolen, and couldn't help but sigh.

Yang Tiexin naturally knew Qu San, a very taciturn lame man. Before the incident between the Guo and Yang families, he and Guo Xiaotian often went to Qu San's tavern to buy wine and drink.

Yang Tiexin had no idea about the things Qu San had stolen. Although these things were extremely valuable, they were also not meant to be seen in public. If the palace discovered them and discovered their origins, they would be dead.

"Father-in-law, have you ever thought about how you and mother-in-law will live in the future?" Chen Liu asked.

"How else can we live? Can't we just live like before?" Yang Tiexin was stunned.

Chen Liu smiled and said, "Actually, you could reopen Qu San's tavern. Niujiazhuang has a great location. Traveling east or north requires passing through Niujiazhuang, so it has a lot of customers coming and going. Opening a tavern here should be a good business."

Chen Liu picked up a gem and said, "Some of these jewels have no markings on their origins, and they're very valuable. If you just take one and sell it, you'll get at least hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver, and that'll be enough to cover your capital. Don't touch the rest; keep them hidden. If you need them in the future, you can just sell one or two more."

"But these belong to Qu San. Now that Qu San is dead, they belong to his daughter Sha Gu." Yang Tiexin quickly shook his head.

"Father-in-law, do you think Silly Girl can take care of herself?" Chen Liu said, "She's such a fool, what good are these things to her? It would be better to give her a bowl of food and a room to sleep in. That way, you'll have a livelihood and Silly Girl will have someone to take care of her. It will benefit both of you."

"Let me think about it." Yang Tiexin hesitated. He still felt that it was not a good idea to use the money stolen by Qu San.

Chen Liu nodded and said, "Okay, then you should think about it first, father-in-law."

"These things." Chen Liu looked back at the box and said, "Father-in-law, are you going to take them home first? Or are you going to keep them here?"

"Let's stay here first. This secret room is nice and quite secretive." Yang Tiexin said.

"Then you should run the tavern even better. Otherwise, this secret room will definitely be discovered after a long time. After you reopen the Qu San Tavern, you can use the current Qu San Tavern as your backyard, and build two or three more rooms in the front to serve as a tavern."

"let me think again."

After returning to the Yang family, Yang Tiexin told Bao Xiruo about Chen Liu's discovery and suggestions and asked for her opinion.

"This is something you men should worry about. Why are you asking me, a woman? But I think Liu'er's suggestion is good."

Bao Xiruo said, "Niujiazhuang has a great location. Although running a tavern may not necessarily make you rich, you should still have enough food and clothing. As for the treasures that Qu San stole, try not to use them if you can. We still have some savings, which is enough to open a tavern. Although Shagu's words are a bit silly, she is not completely ignorant. She can even cook for herself. It will be no problem for us to take care of her in the future."

Bao Xiruo paused slightly and said, "It just so happens that we don't have any children around us right now, so let's just treat Shagu as our daughter. This way I'll have someone to accompany me, and I won't be too bored when you're busy."

"Okay, that's it." Yang Tiexin nodded.

Yang Tiexin was unwilling to use the property stolen by Qu San, but instead used his own savings to open a tavern and also took over the responsibility of taking care of Sha Gu.

"Is that so?" Seeing this, Chen Liu had nothing to say, so he took out all the more than 100 taels of silver he had with him. This morning when he and Mu Nianci set out, Chen Liu took more than 100 taels of silver with him. 100 taels was originally intended to be left for Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo, and the extra was intended to buy some gifts.

Yang Tiexin quickly refused, but Chen Liu said, "This little money is nothing to me. Even if you don't need it, do you want your mother-in-law to suffer with you?"

Yang Tiexin was silent for a while, then sighed and accepted Chen Liu's silver. He said, "Then consider this as your betrothal gift to Nian'er."

Chen Liu was at a loss for words when he heard this. Never mind what Yang Tiexin thought, as long as he accepted it. One hundred taels of silver was already a large sum of money. With this, even if the tavern had no income for a few years, they wouldn't starve to death.

"Come on, Brother Guo, let me try to see if your kung fu has improved?" Chen Liu saw that although Yang Tiexin accepted the money, he seemed a little uncomfortable, so he found an excuse and pulled Guo Jing to test his kung fu.

Guo Jing was delighted and said yes repeatedly. He then went to the open space in the courtyard with Chen Liu, took up his stance, made a starting gesture, and said, "Brother Chen, I am going to attack."

"Come on." Chen Liu also saluted and said with a smile.

Guo Jing used the "Waves Crashing the Shore" move and rushed towards Chenliu.

Chen Liu tilted his body slightly and used his hand to deflect Guo Jing's force. Guo Jing immediately turned around and attacked Chen Liu with a surging force.

Chen Liu glanced at Guo Jing and said nothing. He just stepped on the Lingbo Weibu and watched Guo Jing perform the Jingtao Palm from beginning to end, one move at a time, before he called a stop.

"Brother Guo, you've mastered Shocking Waves Palm quite well, but you don't know how to adapt." Chen Liu said, "Shocking Waves Palm doesn't need to be used from beginning to end. You can use it interchangeably depending on the situation. For example, after you use Shocking Waves, and I'm on your left, if you want to use Turbulent Surge, you'll have to turn around, wasting time and missing the opportunity. If you use Wind Sweeping Clouds, you don't need to turn around and can attack me directly. For example, after you use Riding the Wind and Breaking the Waves, and I'm right behind you, you can switch to the twelfth move, Dragon River Tiger Wave..."

Guo Jing suddenly understood what was going on and nodded repeatedly.

"We'll come again."

"Okay, thank you Brother Chen for your guidance." Guo Jing was excited and eager to try.

Even with Chen Liu's guidance, Guo Jing's second use of Shocking Waves Palm didn't improve; instead, it became worse. After all, Guo Jing wasn't used to staggering the moves the first time around, so when he was halfway through using the original sequence, he remembered Chen Liu's advice and hastily changed his moves, only to fluster himself and even make a mistake, tripping himself. Silly Girl, who was watching with Mu Nianci, laughed heartily, "Fighting is fun! I'll join in, haha!"

Sha Gu jumped out and raised her palm to hit Chen Liu.

"Huh? Sha Gu knows martial arts?" Seeing that Sha Gu's moves looked like martial arts, Mu Nianci couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise.

"It's the Green Wave Palm." Chen Liu deliberately guided Sha Gu and asked her to use the Green Wave Palm she knew, but Sha Gu only knew a few moves.

"Bibo Palm?"