Chapter 309: First Meeting with Duan Yu

Xiang Yan, Qu Feiyan, and Zhong Ling walked towards the stone steps. There was a stone staircase in the cave leading to the outside of the valley. Zhong Ling, Wu Yazi, and Su Xinghe had all exited the valley through these stone steps. Xiang Yan had never left the valley before, and this was his first time setting foot on the stone staircase.
After walking down more than a hundred steps and turning three corners, they could faintly hear the rumbling sound of water. They continued for another two hundred steps, and the sound of water became deafening, with light penetrating from ahead. At the end of the stone steps, there was a cave just big enough for a person to pass through. The three of them exited the cave and saw a large river outside. The cave was about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) above the river surface, so even if the river flooded, it would not inundate the cave entrance.
Zhongling led Xiangyan and Qu Feiyan to a nearby market, where they bought three horses and rode towards Suzhou.
After more than a day, the three arrived outside Suzhou city. Xiangyan bought incense, candles, and paper money, and asked, "Where does the Murong family live in Suzhou?" Qu Feiyan and Zhongling looked at each other blankly, and all three were speechless. Left with no choice, Xiangyan had to ask passersby about the whereabouts of the Murong family, but after asking seven or eight people, not a single person had heard of any prominent figure surnamed Murong living in Suzhou.
"Could it be that the Murong family is no longer in Suzhou?" Qu Feiyan guessed. Xiang Yan said, "Wuyazi said that the Murong family is in Suzhou!" Qu Feiyan replied, "Wuyazi was talking about the Murong family being in Suzhou thirty years ago. However, since he was ambushed, he has been in Dali trying to concoct medicine to heal his injuries. It has been thirty years since he last visited Suzhou. Perhaps the Murong family has moved away during these thirty years." Xiang Yan asked, "What should we do then? Where do we go to find the Murong family?"
Just as the three of them were paying no attention, they suddenly heard Zhongling's excited voice calling out, "Brother Duan! Brother Duan!" She galloped her horse forward. Xiang Yan and Qu Feiyan looked ahead in the direction of Zhongling's horse and saw a monk riding on a horse, his left hand pulling the reins of a horse ridden by a young gentleman. The gentleman's hands were stiff and hanging at his sides, clearly having been struck on his acupuncture points by someone.
The young man, dressed as a scholar, had a clean and handsome appearance, and was extremely good-looking. Xiang Yan nodded slightly, thinking to himself: "This person must be Duan Yu. He indeed has a great appearance, no wonder Zhong Ling can't forget him." Qu Feiyan whispered in Xiang Yan's ear: "Brother Yan, that Duan Yu is more handsome than you."
Xiang Yan nodded without saying a word and looked at the monk again. The monk, wearing a yellow cassock, was not yet fifty years old. He was dressed in plain clothes and straw sandals, with a radiant expression on his face, seeming to emanate a faint glow, like a shining pearl or precious jade, naturally luminous. Xiang Yan silently praised in his heart, "This person must be Jiumo Zhi. He truly lives up to his reputation as the national preceptor of Tibet. Just looking at his appearance, he is undoubtedly an enlightened monk of high attainment."
Duan Yu's face changed, and he hurriedly said, "Zhongling, you should leave quickly." Zhongling replied, "Leave? There's no need to be afraid!" She then turned to Jiumozhi and said, "You big monk, did you capture my big brother Duan?" She pointed at Yan He and Qu Feiyan and continued, "My big brother and big sister are very powerful. You'd better release my big brother Duan, or else my big brother and big sister will beat you up."
Jiumozhi glanced at Xiang Yan and Qu Feiyan, chanted "Amitabha" without responding to Zhongling's words. Duan Yu shouted, "Quick, leave! This monk's martial arts are very advanced; you can't defeat him." Xiang Yan thought to himself, "This Duan Yu has a good heart. Even though he's in a dangerous situation himself, he's not trying to drive a wedge between us and Jiumozhi to save himself. Instead, he's telling us to leave quickly."
Then, they heard another person say, "Young Prince, it's you! Hey, big monk, why are you giving this young master a hard time? Do you know who he is?" The newcomers were a sleazy-looking old man and a young man in his twenties. The old man scratched his scalp and said to Duan Yu, "Young Prince, let me unlock your acupoints first." With that, he walked a few steps forward and reached out to release Duan Yu's acupoints.
Duan Yu hastily added, "Wait a moment! This master, all by himself, defeated my uncle and the five top experts of Dali, and captured me. He is a close friend of Mr. Murong and wants to burn me as a sacrifice in front of Mr. Murong's tomb. You two have nothing to do with the Murongs of Suzhou, so quickly leave now! Miss Zhongling, and the two who came with Miss Zhongling, you should also leave quickly! Don't needlessly throw away your lives."
Here is the translation with the original HTML tag preserved:Yan Ting told Duan Yu that Jiumo Zhi was Mr. Murong's close friend, and that he himself had also come to pay respects to Murong Yong. For a moment, he was unable to decide whether to step in and rescue Duan Yu, so he looked to Qu Feiyan for her opinion. Qu Feiyan thought for a moment and said, "Brother Yan, you have always wanted to see the original copy of the 'Sunflower Manual,' and it was the Duan family of Dali who obtained it for you. Now that the descendants of the Duan family of Dali are in danger, we cannot ignore them."
Xiang Yan thought it made sense. Although the "Sunflower Scripture" was "created" by Li Xian and Tong Guan based on the "Demon-Slaying Sword Technique", without the involvement of the Dali Duan clan pulling the strings behind the scenes, Xiang Yan could not have handed over the "Demon-Slaying Sword Technique" to Li Xian and Tong Guan on his own, nor could he have obtained the original version of the "Sunflower Scripture" from Li Xian and Tong Guan. He nodded and said, "Hmm, you're right."
The old man reached into his bosom, pulled out a dazzling gold abacus, and raised it high, shaking it with a clinking sound. He said, "Great monk, Mr. Murong is your good friend, but this young prince is my good friend. I advise you to let him go!" The young man also flicked his hand and took off the soft whip coiled around his waist. The two of them rushed towards Jiumozhi's horse at the same time.
Duan Yu shouted again, "You two, leave quickly. You're no match for him." Kumu Zhi smiled faintly and said, "Do you really want to fight?" The old man said, "This fight is like swatting flies on a tiger's head. I know I can't beat you, but I have to try. Life and death... Ouch, ouch!"
"Life and death" had not yet been uttered. Jiumozhi had already reached out to evade the soft whip in the young man's hand. With a "snap," he flipped over the soft whip, wrapping it around the golden abacus in the old man's hand. With a flick of the whip, the two weapons simultaneously left their hands and flew towards the lake on the right. Just as the two weapons were about to sink to the bottom of the lake, Jiumozhi applied just the right amount of force with his hand. The tip of the soft whip flipped over and perfectly coiled around a willow branch hanging over the lake's surface. The willow branch was soft and kept swaying, causing the golden abacus to gently tap the water's surface, creating ripples one after another. The old man and the young man looked at each other, momentarily unsure of what to do.