plumnovel Chapter 113 This is Mount Song
Chapter 113 This is Mount Song
Chapter 113 This is Mount Song
"Ungrateful wretch."
Zu Qianqiu snorted coldly, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes.
Stendhal's all-out palm strike reached his back, the resulting gust of wind causing his tattered clothes to flutter loudly.
He seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and without even turning his head, he turned around and delivered a seemingly casual back kick.
This kick was incredibly fast and shockingly ruthless.
With a sickening crack, Stendhal let out a scream as his left knee bent backward at an unnatural angle, broken by the kick!
This sudden turn of events, like a rabbit leaping from a cuckoo's nest, was faster than anyone had anticipated.
So much so that when the excruciating pain spread throughout his body, Stendhal finally collapsed to the ground, curling up in agony, and Shen An's shout had only just begun.
"stop!"
Shen An emerged from the shadows, took a step forward, and stood between the two, his gaze fixed on Zu Qianqiu.
Zu Qianqiu paused, squinted his drunken eyes, and looked at the young man who had suddenly appeared with great interest.
"Junior Brother?!" Shi Dengda collapsed to the ground, and upon seeing Shen An's figure, he was first shocked, then a resolute look appeared on his face: "Quickly! This demonic cultist's martial arts are incredibly high; I can't stop him for long! Go to Wuchang Prefecture to find Second Uncle! Tell him that the demonic cult has a grand scheme and may be about to attack our strongholds throughout Mount Song!"
Shen An was shocked upon hearing this.
He stared at Stendhal's face, contorted with pain, and the genuine anxiety in his eyes, and for a moment he felt a little dazed.
Wasn't Stendhal plotting against me?
Isn't all of this because of him?
Why—why risk your life to protect yourself at this moment?
Is it because the appearance of the Yellow River Ancestor was not in his plan, and in his eyes, opposing the Demonic Sect and protecting the interests of Songshan were more important than harming his so-called threatening junior brother?
But if that's really the case, Zu Qianqiu had clearly stopped earlier, so why didn't he take the opportunity to escape and personally report the situation to his second uncle? Instead, he insisted on launching a counterattack, putting himself in such a deadly situation.
Seeing Shen An standing still, Shi Dengda became even more anxious. He braced himself on the ground with his elbow and shouted at Shen An, "Don't worry about me! Listen to me! I'm the senior brother, this is an order!"
"No, senior brother, you've misunderstood. They're actually—looking for medicinal herbs."
"Junior brother, how can you be so naive!" Shi Dengda was both angry and anxious. He coughed violently, and a trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "The demonic sect members are full of tricks and schemes. How can you trust them so easily! Have you forgotten what happened to Uncle Sun?"
Shen An shook his head, no longer arguing with him, and only gave a wink to the shadowy place they had come from.
The old man, with his short arms carrying a bag of medicinal herbs, emerged from the shadows with a broad smile.
He said awkwardly, "It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Young Master Shen, is this your senior brother? Oh dear, Zu Qianqiu, you went too far. Please forgive me, please forgive me."
Having said that, he rushed forward, grabbed Zu Qianqiu's arm, and whispered, "We got the stuff, let's go! Don't delay our business!"
Zu Qianqiu was taken aback when the old man suddenly appeared and was pulled like that.
"How could you—" Zu Qianqiu began, then, remembering what the old man had just said about "Young Master Shen," he immediately understood. "He is—"
Before he could finish speaking, the old man's short hand stretched out several inches out of thin air, like an old turtle stretching its neck, and covered his mouth, dragging him away without saying a word.
The old man's short, thin hand seemed to be pulled out of his body, which amazed Shen An.
With the two men gone, only Shen An and Stefan remained.
Stendhal struggled to sit up, but the sharp pain in his left leg made him break out in a cold sweat.
He looked in the direction the two had left, then glanced at the unharmed Shen An. His expression was extremely complex, containing shame, anger, resentment, lingering fear, and a hint of something he himself couldn't quite explain.
"They—are they really here for the medicinal herbs?" he asked, panting heavily, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Yes."
Shen An stepped forward, took out a bottle of wound medicine from his robes, and squatted down, saying, "They captured the messenger from our sect and learned about the medicine. I've already reached an agreement with them; giving them some medicine will prevent them from causing trouble here."
When he said the words "master's sect," Shen An deliberately emphasized his pronunciation.
Stendhal was silent for a moment before asking with difficulty, "Why are they treating you with such courtesy and caution?"
"I gave them the medicinal herbs on credit, and they haven't paid. They should be careful treating me, their creditor, as they are."
Stendhal was taken aback and didn't know how to respond.
Shen An handed him the wound medicine.
Stendhal looked at the medicine bottle offered to him but didn't take it: "Shen An, do you know what a heinous crime this is, colluding with the Demonic Sect!"
"What else can I do? Die first, and then wait for you, my senior brother, to come and punish me underground?"
Shen An placed the medicine bottle beside him, stood up, and looked down at him.
After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "Just as news of Liu Zhengfeng's retirement spread and I had to return to Hengyang to oversee things; Li Donglai was conveniently transferred at that moment; and several small gangs happened to learn that a large quantity of precious medicinal herbs had arrived in Xiangtan, and my Songyang Gang had no capable figures to oversee things. Isn't all of this exactly what you, Senior Brother, arranged and hoped for?"
"Senior brother, you meticulously planned this scheme, didn't you? You wanted to see me utterly defeated and overwhelmed here, so that you could easily clean up the mess, erase all my achievements, and solidify your position as the eldest senior brother by stepping on my failure?"
"But I really don't understand—why did you cling so tightly to Zu Qianqiu just now, and even risk your life to save me?"
Upon hearing this, Stendhal's body trembled violently.
His face, pale from blood loss, flushed crimson instantly. He gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain of his broken leg, and struggled to prop himself up against the wall with his single arm.
He was breathing heavily, his eyes fixed on Shen An.
"Excellent!" He practically spat out the words through clenched teeth. "I just can't stand you! I can't stand how you've made such a splash in Hunan, even Master praises your methods to Second Uncle. I'm going to make you, Ruthless Wolf, stumble and fall, crawl back to Mount Song in disgrace, and never be able to threaten my position again!"
"But I didn't want you to die!" he suddenly raised his voice. "I just wanted you to fail, not to die!"
"That day, my Uncle Ding Mian and I were in Wuchang Prefecture when we first received the news that Liu Zhengfeng was retiring from the criminal life. At that moment, I realized that my opportunity had come."
"I asked my second master to issue a transfer order for Li Donglai. It is only right that he be accompanied by a local expert when he comes to Hengyang by water. It is simply a matter of making preparations in advance. My second master will not refuse."
"I've also sent messengers to Xiangtan to inform those gangs, luring them to sabotage your soon-to-arrive medicinal herbs. Then, I'll step in to 'quell the rebellion,' and all your plans will have served my purpose."
"Unexpectedly, the junior brother I sent to deliver the message returned saying that he had been captured by two demonic cult members!"
"His martial arts skills were weak, so he was looked down upon and was released after being mocked. However, the contents of the message he sent were already known to those two! I realized that things were not good, so I immediately sent an urgent letter to Hengyang, ordering you not to come to Xiangtan. Now it seems that it is too late."
"I then went to Xiangtan. Junior brother, you really realized something was wrong and returned to Xiangtan so decisively. Master's praise for you is indeed well-deserved."
"I saw you display your prowess at the docks. It's been three years since I last saw you, and your martial arts have improved so much. Although I'm sure I could handle those thugs, I certainly wouldn't be able to do it as easily as you did."
"After that, I stood guard on the only road leading to the warehouse, and sure enough, I saw one of the demonic cultists that my junior brother had described. I stopped him, thinking that if I held one off, at least it would be easier for him to face the other."
He laughed self-deprecatingly, a smile full of bitterness.
"Although I wish you would leave immediately, you are still a disciple of my Songshan sect, my junior brother, Shi Dengda! I cannot let you lose your life because of me!"
Under the moonlight, the pride, stubbornness, and contradictions that belonged to the eldest disciple of Mount Song were clearly visible on Shi Dengda's pale face.
"No matter what," he stared at Shen An, each word spoken with immense difficulty yet with unparalleled clarity, "I am your senior brother."
The night wind howled, and the river surged on.
Shen An stood still, meeting the complex gaze, and remained silent.
My heart was filled with mixed feelings, like a turbulent sea.
He now understood why Mount Song was considered the foremost of the Five Sacred Mountains.
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