Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Lin Ning arrived in Nanchang City with a heavy heart. Thirteen years after Cong Jiang left Nanchang, he set foot on this land once again, filled with mixed emotions. Lin Ning used a disguise technique to transform Cong Jiang into a white-bearded old man. The three of them quickly made their way to the southern part of the city, where the sea of Drunken Peach Blossoms lay. It was winter, and the flowers had withered and fallen. Lin Ning remained concerned that these wilted flowers might be poisonous, so he gave each of them an antidote to take, before taking one himself.
Seeing that Yang Yan had planted these poisonous flowers around Sun Moon Gang, Cong Jiang was filled with anger. After passing through the flower sea, Lin Ning noticed that most of the fruits from the bamboo trees had fallen to the ground, and those that remained did not emit a strong fragrance. He instructed Cong Jiang and Cong Rong to cover their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs as they passed through the bamboo grove and arrived at Sun Moon Gang.
The gatekeeper was shocked to see Lin Ning return after three months and hurriedly reported to Yang Yan. Yang Yan was equally astonished and immediately ordered his disciples to gather their weapons for an emergency meeting in the conference hall. At this moment, Lin Ning, Cong Jiang, and Cong Rong had already burst into the conference hall of Sun Moon Gang. Upon seeing Yang Yan, Lin Ning's anger flared up. Gripping the Sunlight Blade tightly, he shouted, "I am Lin Ning, the leader of Sun Moon Gang! I have come to seek vengeance against the traitor Yang Yan for the deaths of Leader Yuan Qingtian and Heroine Shen Chen!"
At these words, the disciples of Sun Moon Gang felt as if struck by lightning. They looked at Yang Yan with questioning eyes, hoping he would provide a reasonable explanation. Yang Yan's face changed dramatically; he nervously addressed his disciples, "Do not listen to his nonsense! Leader Yuan and his wife are my masters; they treated me with great kindness! How could I harm them? Lin Ning, do you have any evidence that I killed Leader Yuan?"
Lin Ning raised the Sunlight Blade high and declared loudly, "Does anyone recognize this blade?" The disciples of Sun Moon Gang were eager for him to clarify the situation since he claimed to be their leader while holding the Sunlight Blade. Zhao Qing asked, "This blade belongs to Leader Yuan; how could it be in your hands?" Lin Ning replied, "Yang Yan used Leader Yuan's trust in him to get both leaders drunk and cruelly murdered them. It was Deputy Leader Cong Jiang who stole the Sunlight Blade and Moonlight Sword to prevent them from falling into Yang Yan's hands."
One disciple from Sun Moon Gang said, "Cong Jiang did steal Leader Yuan's weapons, but he has long perished in the Southern Mongolia desert! Where did you get the Sunlight Blade and this lady's Moonlight Sword?" At that moment, Cong Jiang, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "Who says I am dead? I have been living incognito in the Southern Mongolia desert for thirteen years just to wait for this moment—to avenge Leader Yuan!"
Cong Jiang tore off the white beard and hairpiece from his face, revealing his true identity. The disciples of Sun Moon Gang exchanged glances in disbelief and whispered among themselves: "So Brother Cong is still alive! What is going on here?"
Yang Yan never expected Cong Jiang to be alive; a sinister expression crossed his face as he said coldly: "Cong Jiang! You killed my master and his wife and stole the Sunlight Blade, Moonlight Sword, and The Art of Sun and Moon. Today you have come right into my hands; do not blame me for being rude!" He waved his hands to signal his disciples to capture Cong Jiang.
At this moment, Zhang Lei interjected: "Wait a minute! We haven't clarified everything yet; we cannot wrongfully accuse anyone." He turned to Cong Jiang and asked: "Brother Cong, you claim Yang Yan killed Leader Yuan and his wife—do you have any evidence?"
Cong Jiang replied: "I personally saw Leader Yuan and his wife's bodies in a secret chamber; how could there be any mistake?" Zhao Qing said: "If that's the case, can Brother Cong take us to see this secret chamber?"
"Of course," Cong Jiang responded. "But after thirteen years, I do not know if their bodies have been moved!"
Lin Ning noticed Zhao Qing exchanging glances with Yang Yan; Yang Yan understood immediately and nodded slightly. Cong Jiang led the disciples of Sun Moon Gang to their secret chamber. The entrance was a narrow corridor over a hundred meters long that led to more than ten secret rooms at its end. Lin Ning recognized that the first room was where he had been imprisoned three months ago.
Cong Jiang led everyone past that first room into the last one but found no trace of Yuan Qingtian and his wife's remains. Just then, Yang Yan suddenly moved a protruding brick on the wall when no one was paying attention. As Lin Ning, Cong Jiang, Cong Rong, and Zhang Lei walked ahead, an iron door quickly slammed down. Zhang Lei was directly beneath it; seeing it about to crush him into a pulp left him frozen in fear.
Without thinking twice, Lin Ning reached out with his left hand and pulled Zhang Lei back just in time as the iron door crashed heavily onto the ground behind him. Zhang Lei broke out in a cold sweat from shock.
With the iron door down, darkness enveloped them inside; they couldn't see anything at all. Lin Ning broke a wooden table in the chamber; pulling out flint from his pocket, he ignited one of its legs as a torch. The flame instantly illuminated the room.
Lin Ning saw it was a square chamber; apart from that table-turned-torch there was nothing else inside. He lightly tapped on the walls with his Sunlight Blade; from the sound it made—thud-thud—it was clear they were built from solid stone. He then tried cutting through the fallen iron door with his black gold dagger but discovered it only had a thin layer of iron on its outside while being made of solid titanium inside—his dagger could slice through iron like mud but couldn't even scratch titanium.
The chamber was airtight; combined with the burning torch consuming oxygen rapidly made breathing increasingly difficult for them all.
Anxious for air, Lin Ning considered extinguishing the torch to ease their breathing troubles when suddenly he glanced up at the ceiling of the chamber. He noticed that one area cast a shadow much lighter than others illuminated by torchlight; around it were faint white circles of light—he knew that section must be made from different materials than elsewhere.
Realizing their breaths were becoming more labored by the second, Lin Ning wasted no time leaping up with his Sunlight Blade aimed at that spot on the ceiling. Where he struck created an opening nearly one meter wide by ten meters long—a white stone door slowly rotated ninety degrees before coming to a stop.
The four rejoiced as Lin Ning jumped through this rectangular opening followed closely by everyone else. Inside was another narrow corridor where they could breathe much easier now; spirits lifted as they quickened their pace.
After about fifteen minutes of walking they entered another secret chamber which was damp and dimly lit by their torchlight revealing what appeared to be two human skeletons lying quietly in one corner.
Upon seeing these remains, Cong Jiang fell to his knees weeping uncontrollably as he choked out: "This is indeed Leader Yuan and his wife's remains."
Lin Ning, Cong Rong, and Zhang Lei were taken aback by this revelation; all three knelt down before them bowing several times in respect. With tears welling up in his eyes Lin Ning said: "Master’s Wife above us! Please accept your disciple Lin Ning’s bow." He then prostrated himself before Yuan Qingtian and Shen Chen sobbing uncontrollably unable to utter another word.
Cong Rong and Zhang Lei supported Lin Ning who was devastated by grief on either side as he stammered: "We must find a way to transport Master’s Wife’s remains out for burial."
Cong Jiang nodded solemnly: "Indeed! Our immediate priority is finding an exit."
They composed themselves amidst their sorrow scanning around this chamber while using their swords to tap against all four walls but found nothing unusual—Lin Ning also struck at the ceiling without discovering any exits there either.
Inwardly pondering this situation Lin Ning reasoned since there was airflow here unlike in their previous sealed chamber there must be an exit somewhere—if it wasn’t on any walls or ceiling then it had to be below them.
He instructed everyone to strike downwards with their swords simultaneously but every inch of ground was tightly packed with stone—there seemed no exit whatsoever.
Then an idea struck him as he gently shifted Yuan Qingtian’s remains aside revealing green moss beneath them. Using his black gold dagger he scraped off that layer exposing a blue stone slab underneath which he pried up revealing a dark passage leading downward.
The four rejoiced greatly upon discovering this! Observant Lin Ning noticed an inscription written in one corner stating: “The one who kills my wife is Yang Yan; any disciple within Sun Moon Gang who sees him shall kill him.” Signed by Yuan Qingtian—the letters were covered in moss yet still clearly legible.
Lin Ning showed this inscription to Cong Jiang and Zhang Lei who became furious upon reading it—Zhang Lei gritted his teeth angrily declaring: “Yang Yan! I swear I will not rest until I kill you for your treachery!”
Holding aloft their torch Lin Ning led ahead while Cong Jiang carried Yuan Qingtian’s remains followed closely by Zhang Lei who bore Shen Chen’s remains with Cong Rong bringing up the rear.
The passageway ran alongside an underground river where water barely reached their ankles as they walked out into daylight emerging beside a clear stream winding off into distance lined by lush greenery on both sides.
Seeing such beautiful surroundings Lin Ning discussed with Cong Jiang and Zhang Lei about burying Master’s Wife’s remains among trees beside this stream where they agreed given its peacefulness close proximity to Sun Moon Gang made it ideal.
They dug a grave beside a Paulownia tree using swords together burying Yuan Qingtian’s couple together while Lin Ning chopped down a poplar tree splitting its trunk into two segments carving on one piece: “Tomb of Hero Yuan Qingtian & Heroine Shen Chen.”
Kneeling before their grave Lin Ning prayed: “Master’s Wife! May you both watch over your disciple Lin Ning as I seek vengeance against that traitor Yang Yan.”
With hearts burning for revenge they returned once more towards Sun Moon Gang where Lin Ning condemned Yang Yan’s despicable actions vehemently calling him shameless.
Yang Yan sneered saying: “Did you find my master’s remains?”
Lin Ning clenched his teeth suppressing rage replied coldly: “We have seen Master’s Wife! She told us it was you—the ungrateful villain who killed her along with Master! She commanded us to eliminate you upon sight!”
Yang Yan laughed mockingly: “Who would believe such nonsense? Without evidence don’t spout lies here!”
Lin Ning glared fiercely at him saying: “You want proof? The evidence lies within that secret chamber—do you dare come see?”
Yang Yan scoffed dismissively: “Haven’t we already checked that place? There were no bodies found!”
Lin Ning shot back furiously: “You think we would perish within there? Your calculations are mistaken—we found Master’s Wife’s remains buried properly! Before dying she revealed your treachery so let us go back now!”
Many disciples within Sun Moon Gang were outraged by Yang Yan's treachery against Lin Ning—they began doubting whether Yuan Qingtian's death truly involved him or not?
Following along behind Lin Ning they entered back into secret chamber where Yang Yan saw nothing but emptiness inside sneering again saying: “Where is your so-called evidence?”
Lin Ning pointed towards where Yuan Qingtian’s inscription lay stating firmly: “Your proof is right here.”
As disciples crowded closer examining under torchlight they read aloud what had been inscribed there confirming beyond doubt Yang Yan's guilt!
Yang Yan's expression shifted drastically turning pale as anxiety gripped him saying frantically: “This must be fake! Someone wants to frame me—those words were added later!”
Lin Ning retorted angrily: “Even now you still deny? Look closely—the moss covering those letters shows they've been here for years! This proves beyond doubt someone carved them long ago.”
At this moment all doubts vanished among disciples—they drew swords pointing towards Yang Yan wishing nothing more than exacting revenge upon him!
Realizing defeat loomed near Yang Yan hastily produced powder from within his robes scattering it towards everyone—Lin Ning shouted urgently: “Cover your mouths quickly! That powder is poisonous!”
But it was too late—Yang Yan acted swiftly dispersing white powder throughout chamber causing many including even skilled fighters like Cong Jiang fell unconscious!
Only Lin Ning remained unharmed standing firm amidst chaos watching as Yang Yan attempted escape through hidden passageway without hesitation swung forth with Sunlight Blade blocking path ahead!
Yang Yan dodged swiftly retreating further back while knowing full well he couldn’t match up against Lin Ning anymore resorted instead using deadly techniques during duel fought desperately trying keep himself alive!
Two masters clashed fiercely within tight confines employing all skills learned seeking victory over each other—Lin Ning mastered various martial arts taught by Mysterious Old Lady alongside knowledge gained from studying The Art Of Sun And Moon far surpassed anything Yang Yan possessed!
After battling through over eighty exchanges finally gaining upper hand close enough reached out fingers pressing against vital point causing Yang Yan collapse helplessly onto ground beneath him!
With blade poised against neck Lin Ning demanded fiercely: “Tell me where antidote is hidden?”
Unable move paralyzed fear coursing through veins yet refusing yield stubbornly replied defiantly: “Kill me if you wish—I won’t reveal location!”
Seeing defiance even now enraged further pressed harder causing intense pain forcing desperate pleas escape lips begging earnestly instead confessing finally revealing antidote lay within cup held close!
Retrieving small gourd from within clothing twisting open pouring forth white pills asking how best use them?
Yang Yan grimaced enduring agony responded hoarsely stating simply each person required only single dose suffice!
Without further delay administering pills promptly restoring consciousness among comrades gradually reviving them after prolonged slumber awakening confused questioning why only they suffered poison while Lin Ning remained safe?
Realizing truth dawned upon them—that earlier encounter involved Sil
Comment 0 Comment Count