It is a little-known fact that the Gusu Murong family are descendants of the Yan State. However, it is widely known throughout the Central Plains martial arts world that Gusu Murong is a prestigious and righteous sect, and their family motto, "Return the other's reed to the other's own basket," is renowned far and wide.
Murong Fu was quite fond of this family motto, much like Confucius once said: "Repay kindness with kindness, and repay resentment with uprightness."
Before leaving Gusu, Murong Fu had already made up his mind. His rise to fame would follow two principles: first, pick the low-hanging fruit; second, hone his ancestral martial arts—"Moving Stars Across Dipper."
In his previous life, Murong Fu had not possessed the advantages he had now. After all, the nearly thirty years of Internal Energy passed down by Murong Bo was no fabrication, and when added to his own ten-plus years of training, a total of over forty years of ancestral Internal Energy made him a top-tier martial artist in the world of the rivers and lakes.
In his previous life, Murong Fu had also begun his journey in his late teens. Because his "Moving Stars Across Dipper" was not mastered to a sufficient level, he had naturally been forced to study the martial arts of various different sects, making him a jack-of-all-trades but master of none.
In this life, Murong Fu, coming from the 21st century, could not afford to make that mistake again. The world of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* was so spectacular; if he spent it all just practicing martial arts, wouldn't his life have been lived in vain?
Therefore, Murong Fu chose his first battle: to kill the Quancheng lecher, Daoist Zhangxu.
Daoist Zhangxu had originally been a young novice monk in a temple. Later, he corrupted the virtue of a female pilgrim who had come to offer incense. Once exposed, he turned against the temple and massacred the pilgrim's entire family.
When he killed, he would always sever his enemy's four limbs, forcing them to wail for half a day before they finally perished.
Many martial artists had attempted to eliminate this threat, only to be killed by him themselves. Over the past dozen years or so, his Internal Energy had grown deeper, and he frequently assaulted wives and daughters for his own amusement.
Murong Fu had chosen Daoist Zhangxu for a reason. First, this man had a weakness, and women were that weakness. More importantly, it was this very lecher who had gone about spreading the phrase "Return the other's reed to the other's own basket" in the bustling markets.
Murong Fu had researched Daoist Zhangxu carefully. The man was an orphan, currently less than thirty years old. He had never had a name in the martial arts world before turning against his temple, and the people he had killed since were mostly second-tier martial artists.
In other words, this Daoist Zhangxu had, at most, twenty years of Internal Energy. With forty years of Internal Energy against twenty, the advantage was his!
To this end, Murong Fu had formulated a detailed and meticulous plan: he would invite heroines from the Hundred Flowers Valley to assist in setting an ambush for Daoist Zhangxu.
Quancheng, Jinan—where every home has springs and every household has weeping willows—that is what this place is.
Springs gush from the flat ground, three pits surging upwards like pillars of snow, their sound like rumbling thunder, winter or summer alike. Murong Fu had arrived at Quancheng early, found a spring, and built a small courtyard. He brewed tea with the spring water, waiting for the heroines dispatched by the Hundred Flowers Valley to arrive.
Servants led two women wearing veils to the spot.
That was right! He was just that wealthy. Upon arriving in Jinan, without saying a word, he bought land and hired servants. Even Murong Fu himself had been shocked; after hundreds of years of accumulation, Gusu Murong could already be called wealthier than an entire nation.
Otherwise, they would not have had the capacity to marry the daughter of the Wang family, a prominent clan in Jiangnan. Upon realizing just how wealthy his family was, Murong Fu had been somewhat puzzled: with Gusu Murong being so rich, why be so obsessed with restoring the country? Wouldn't being a local landlord be just fine? One could only say that when ambition sprouts, even the greatest wealth is not enough to fill the abyss of greed in one's heart.
The two women were also stunned as they looked at the person in the pavilion: a young man in a white robe with a white crown on his head, possessing sword-like eyebrows and star-bright eyes. A gentle breeze lifted the locks of hair by his temples; though he appeared somewhat callow, anyone would have to exclaim: "Like a jade tree in the wind."
The young man sat there calmly. An incense burner rested on the table, and he was lifting a tea stove in a leisurely manner. A greenish-jade tea liquid flowed from the spout of a purple clay teapot into the cup. Two men stood on either side behind him, swords strapped to their waists, looking quite heroic.
The young man poured the liquid from the cup onto the tea tray, sending greenish droplets splashing about.
He lifted the stove again to fill the cup; the jade liquid swirled inside the white tea cup, with the occasional tea leaf sailing through the green like a boat.
Only after the tea was poured did the young man stand up, cupping his hands in a salute. "I am grateful for the trust of the Hundred Flowers Valley. For you two heroines to come to my aid, I, Murong Fu, am deeply indebted."
The two women also returned the salute; they were truly people of the martial world, unencumbered by petty formalities.
After returning the salute, one of the women sat down without a word.
The other woman, however, smiled lightly and said, "Greetings, Young Master Murong. I am Gan Baobao from the Hundred Flowers Valley, and this is my senior sister, Qin Hongmian."