The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 418 Returning to Chanhe Villa, Master Xuanku's Death

Quan Guanqing was beaten to death by Ma Dayuan, and Elder Chen was demoted to an ordinary disciple to redeem himself for his crime. Even though Ma Dayuan was extremely reluctant, he could only watch Qiao Feng leave. The era of Qiao Feng in the Beggars' Sect officially ended.

With both Qiao Feng in the north and Murong in the south gone, Ma Dayuan felt inexplicably panicked. The reputation of the Beggars' Sect as the best gang in the world was too great, so great that they could not bear it. Without Qiao Feng, the entire Beggars' Sect no longer had any top-notch masters, let alone the best in the martial arts world.

As an outsider who has traveled through several worlds, Ma Dayuan (Sun Yuankai) has experienced a vast amount of things and has received a large enough memory. Naturally, he knows that masters and strong men determine the upper limit of a party's power, just like Yue Buqun and Zuo Lengchan in the world of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and Zhang Sanfeng, Zhang Wuji, and Yang Xiao in the world of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

In this world, the Beggars' Sect used to be known as the best gang in the world, with Qiao Feng being the main reason for this. But now, no one in the Beggars' Sect can live up to this title. If they are not careful, they will be used as stepping stones by top-notch masters or super-top-notch masters to become famous.

Not to mention others, just Duan Yanqing, one of the four evil men, is unbeatable in the current Beggar Gang. There are also only a handful of people like Ye Erniang and Yue Lao San who can compete with him, or even less than three people. If the three evil men attack together, I am afraid I will be killed immediately.

Alas, if Boss Qiao were still alive, how could such a crisis be lurking?

It's a pity that things have come to this point, and with his identity exposed, Qiao Feng can no longer stay in the Beggars' Sect. Fortunately, he has a very good relationship with Nan Murong, and is temporarily staying in the Chanhe Villa in Taihu Lake, so he will not be unable to find anyone if he wants to ask for help.

But it is not easy to go there directly. Chanhe Villa is hidden very secretly. Ordinary people may not be able to find it even if they run all over Taihu Lake. It is said that Murong Fu inherited the inheritance of Zhuge Wuhou and set up the Bagua Formation to hide the five major villas on Taihu Lake and Chanhe Villa. Only his own people can find it.

This time, Murong Fu brought Qiao Feng, Duan Yu, Zhong Ling, Master Xuan Bei and others back to Chanhe Villa. Wang Yuyan and the girls in her family personally welcomed them, but she was already pregnant and had some difficulty moving. Little Zhong Ling chattered around her non-stop, and she didn't look like a bride-to-be at all, which made Wang Yuyan feel helpless.

This time, marrying Zhong Ling is as a co-wife, which is more formal than taking a concubine but not as large-scale as marrying a wife. However, Zhong Ling has already been canonized as the Princess of Dali Kingdom, so the scene will not be too awkward.

The auspicious date had been set, and the wedding was still over a month away. Murong Fu couldn't afford to wander off without invitations. He had to arrange various matters, including inviting Zhong Wanchou and his wife. After all, she was their only child, so there was no way he could avoid them. Old Madam Murong also had a fondness for little Zhong Ling, and during this time, she kept her by her side to train and educate her.

However, Qiao Feng and Duan Yu met an old man with white hair and a youthful face. This man turned out to be Wang Yuyan's grandfather. His martial arts skills were unfathomable, and even Qiao Feng and Duan Yu could be suppressed by him.

Wuyazi, eager to see the prey, attempted to recruit the two into the Xiaoyao Sect, but they refused. Qiao Feng, a descendant of the Shaolin Beggars' Sect, possessed martial arts prowess that had already reached the pinnacle of martial arts. He needed only a crucial opportunity to complete his transformation. In the original novel, this opportunity occurred at Juxian Villa, but it was unclear what would happen this time. However, this so-called Jianghu conference would certainly not occur again, as Murong Fu had decided to keep him by his side at all times, determined not to allow him to be misunderstood.

As for Duan Yu, he is a bit pedantic. Born in the Dali Duan family, he once became a disciple of "Dugu Qiubai". In his mind, his own master is the most powerful. Although he respects Wuyazi very much, he has no intention of changing his master. He usually plays chess and chats with him, but never mentions the matter of becoming his disciple.

Master Xuanbei had always harbored suspicions about the Murong family. This time, upon revisiting Chanhe Villa, he carefully inspected every inch of it, both inside and out. He saw a constant stream of people coming and going within the island villa, servants and maids alike, each possessing exquisite martial arts skills. The correspondence was voluminous, and beyond the daily trivia, the contents contained surprisingly extensive intelligence on the Murong Trading Company, encompassing the entire Song Dynasty and even extending its reach to neighboring nations.

This is a huge business empire. After Murong Fu came back, he had to deal with these matters for at least an hour every day. He actually had a huge think tank around him, most of whom were women, and Wang Yuyan, the legal wife, and several other concubines were the best among them.

Speaking of martial arts, Master Xuanbei discovered that the techniques practiced at Chanhe Villa were all extraordinary. Many of them, he had never even heard of, let alone seen, were nonetheless quite exquisite. Murong Fu's wives and concubines were all top-notch, their martial arts imbued with a strong Taoist influence. Madam Murong was even more unfathomable, her aura more natural than his own, making it difficult for him to discern her depth.

Qiao Feng lived a very carefree life in Chanhe Villa. Murong Fu called Bao Bu Tong and Feng Bo back early and asked them to fight with him every day. He also threw them several first-class and super-first-class martial arts secrets for reference, including "Turning Sky Palm", "Three Flowers Gathering at the Top Palm" and "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms".

It's just that Murong Fu's Dragon Subduing Palm is slightly different from Qiao Feng's. Although they are basically the same, there are still differences in the details. Qiao Feng is also a generous person, so he gave the part of his martial arts that does not belong to Shaolin to Murong Fu as a return gift, and took the initiative to undertake the task of training servants and guards.

There is a huge difference between Chanhe Villa with Murong Fu and Chanhe Villa without Murong Fu. As long as he is here, it is the center of the entire Gusu City. Half a month later, news suddenly came that Master Xuanku of Shaolin passed away in the Shaolin Zen room. Gongye Qian led Master Xuannan to Chanhe Villa to pay a personal visit to Murong Fu and Qiao Feng.

Master Xuanbei was accompanying him, and upon hearing of Master Xuanku's passing, he could not help but be overcome with grief. Qiao Feng leaped to his feet, ready to rush to Shaolin, but was stopped by Murong Fu. "Shaolin has many eminent monks, at least twenty of them, first-rate and above-rate. You're no longer the leader of the Beggars' Sect, so what good would it do to go? My wedding is coming up, are you planning to miss it?"

Murong Fu sighed and said, "I know you have deep feelings for Master Xuan Ku, and you are heartbroken upon hearing this tragic news. However, we need to plan carefully at this time. It would be difficult to find the murderer if we rush around everywhere. I have also dealt with Master Xuan Ku before. His martial arts skills are definitely top-notch. Although not super-first-class, they are not far behind. Since the enemy was able to kill him without alerting others, his martial arts skills must be at least top-notch, or even a top-notch master."

"There aren't many people like this in the martial arts world. Those who hold grudges against a cultivator as dedicated as Master Xuanku are probably few and far between, perhaps even countless. I'm afraid there's something else going on here." Murong Fu paused for a moment before saying, "I'll have Murong Trading Company pay more attention to intelligence surrounding Shaolin. Also, it's time to pay Deputy Gang Leader Ma his salary. I might even have to pay him a few tens of thousands of taels more to ask for his help."

Upon hearing this, Masters Xuan Nan and Xuan Bei exchanged bewildered glances. "Are your transactions with the Beggars' Sect always calculated in tens of thousands of taels? Why are donations to my Shaolin Temple only in the tens or hundreds of taels, with the highest ever being no more than three thousand taels? Is this discrimination?"

Murong Fu: No, the nature is different. The transaction with the Beggars' Sect is a real money transaction, but with you Shaolin it is just alms, without any return.

"My wedding date is set and the ceremony is imminent. The invitations have already been sent out, and there's no room for change. After the wedding, I'll take Ling'er and you to Shaolin to discuss my future affairs with Master Xuanci. Before that, I ask Brother Qiao to be patient. Alas, the Murong family is wealthy and powerful, making a lot of money, but also spending it a lot. Every year, we spend over a million taels to support the Beggars' Sect, the Western Frontier of Yazhou Prefecture, the border troops at Yanmen Pass, and spies from the Liao, Western Xia, and Tubo. It's really hard to be the head of the family."

Masters Xuan Nan and Xuan Bei: Those who allocate one million silver taels every year are not poor. The silver deposits of my Shaolin over the past hundred years combined are not that much, but my Shaolin’s fixed assets are definitely more than that.

Qiao Feng: Now that I'm no longer the leader of the Beggars' Sect, I'm practically broke. I wonder if you still keep your promise of 100,000 taels of silver per year? Suddenly, I feel like being rich isn't bad at all.