Chapter 441 Ge Quan x Fang Jinrong 10

Chapter 441: Ge Quan x Fang Jinrong [Jin Rong] 10

"Where are we running to?" Fang Jinrong panted, out of breath, to Ji Wunian who was pulling him along.

Ji Wunian didn't look back. "We get out and find the baldy. The Shaolin monks are kind-hearted and formidable fighters—protecting us for a short time will be more than enough."

Fang Jinrong asked warily, "Can we really get out just by running like this?"

Ever since Ji Wunian used poison to get him out of there, they'd been wandering around this underground chamber for what felt like ages. The further they ran, the more branching paths they encountered, and the more they realized how vast this place was—it seemed like the whole mountain had been carved out.

"Shh..." Ji Wunian suddenly slowed her pace, motioning for Fang Jinrong to hush.

This was some hidden chamber of the Round Moon Sect, a labyrinth of corridors. They crept forward on tiptoes for a while when they suddenly caught voices reverberating off the stone walls.

"I don't recall anyone like you in the Round Moon Sect, but I do recall a Ninth Prince of the Tibetan Empire who never shows his face in public—called... Sherphan Halik?"

A middle-aged man's voice, with a hint of a smirk in it.

Sherphan's voice was cool and aloof. "Who I am is none of your business. If You City wants the treasure, you'd better show some good faith."

"Indeed. The Luo and Lezheng families have always minded their own business. When you brought so many masters to Jincheng, we only refrained from driving you out out of respect for Luo Qi. But to demand the Tuyuhun treasure outright—don't you think that's a bit presumptuous?" Another, more resonant voice interjected, and judging by his tone, he was definitely from the Lezheng family.

The two across from them weren't exactly polite, but the middle-aged man kept a smile on his face. "I originally thought this trip would be a real hassle, but since I 'happened' to stumble on the prince's secret dealings with the Lezheng family, wouldn't it be a waste not to stick my nose in?"

The other side was quiet for a long moment, until Sherphan finally spoke coldly. "If the Luo family dares to cooperate, the Tibetan Empire would naturally welcome new allies."

Neither the middle-aged man nor the Lezheng family member bought that for a second.

Fang Jinrong's eyes flickered as he eavesdropped, and he met Ji Wunian's eyes in astonishment—the other was equally taken aback.

Prince Sherphan's voice was exactly the same as Fan Xue's—the one they'd escorted to Lü City—except for a slight shift in manner of speaking.

The Lezheng man suddenly laughed as well. "Honestly, we don't really care about the treasure. But the moment you snuck in here to eavesdrop, you sealed your fate—you're not walking out of here alive!"

The sudden clash of weapons rang out from inside. Ji Wunian's expression shifted, and she hastily dragged Fang Jinrong back, but it was already too late. Behind them, a group of Round Moon Sect disciples had silently closed in without them noticing, and the distant corridors echoed with the dense patter of footsteps. Jincheng was the Lezheng family's turf—the Round Moon Sect had already surrounded the place, with no plans to let anyone out.

Fang Jinrong and a loudly protesting Ji Wunian were tossed into a stone chamber. Ji Wunian started ranting passionately. "Let me tell you, I trained under the master of Baohua Island—Master Baohua was already a top-tier martial artist twenty years ago. And my brother Ge Quan—at four, he bit the wolf king's dog; at eight, he was chased by the Blood Soul Hall's protector for half a month and survived; and at sixteen, he took on eighteen masters of Huhe Manor all by himself. He's now a VIP guest of the Round Moon Sect. This guy—" she dragged Fang Jinrong out, "—is his fiancé. If anything happens to this lad, Ge Quan will trample your entire Round Moon Sect flat!"

Fang Jinrong stood innocently in front of her, meeting Sherphan's familiar face.

Sherphan: "..."

The middle-aged man wore a gray cloak, his features refined, with a gray-white brush pinned in his hair as a hairpin. He glanced at Fang Jinrong, then at Sherphan, and said meaningfully, "You two know each other?"

Sherphan said flatly, "I don't know him."

The middle-aged man said, "If you don't know him, then why is this young fellow staring at the prince without letting up?"

Fang Jinrong tilted his head. "I find him exceptionally handsome, and I felt an instant connection, so I looked a little longer. Is that not allowed?"

Sherphan's mouth twitched—so now it wasn't him being jealous, glaring at himself with disdain.

Inside the chamber, three parties faced off. Sherphan and the middle-aged man from You City each had guards by their sides, while the remaining person was Lezheng Tu, the Round Moon Sect's sect leader. He was himself a first-rate martial artist—one man worth a hundred.

"What did you hear?" Lezheng Tu asked in a deep voice.

Ji Wunian's face was tense. She knew that one wrong answer would mean certain death for her and Fang Jinrong.

"The few things you said just now—we heard all of them." Fang Jinrong answered honestly.

Ji Wunian's face crumbled. "What are you doing..."

She saw Lezheng Tu's calm, unreadable gaze and suddenly froze. Lezheng Tu was a first-rate expert with profound internal energy—he had probably detected her and Fang Jinrong's presence from a hundred meters away. The three of them hadn't actually discussed anything specific; it was mostly that man from You City trying to bait them.

So Lezheng Tu's question wasn't really to hear what they'd overheard, but to determine whether Ge Quan and his group had truly come simply to treat a friend's junior sister's illness, or if they had other motives.

A cold sweat dripped down her, hidden in her hair. Seeing Fang Jinrong's fearless ignorance, her heart raced with relief.

Thank goodness.

Lezheng Tu's expression improved somewhat, but he still didn't decide to simply let Ji Wunian and Fang Jinrong go. "You two are Bing'er's friends, so it's only right that we host you properly. The secret passages are full of traps—it would be terrible if you were accidentally harmed. Please follow my disciples to rest nearby, and once Ge Xianzhi arrives, we can return you safe and sound."

Every word polite, every sentence a threat.

Ji Wunian finally realized they were being held to coerce Ge Quan.

"Is there any tea? I'm so thirsty." Fang Jinrong lowered his head and rubbed his legs.

Lezheng Tu was momentarily speechless. Sherphan covered half his face and squeezed out through his teeth, "There is—go get it!"

"Oh." Fang Jinrong muttered quietly, "It's not like I can't hear—why so loud?"

Sherphan glared at him. "You should be grateful you can hear at all, and you're complaining about my volume!"

Ji Wunian felt Sherphan's attitude was ambiguous, as if he were deliberately protecting Fang Jinrong, so she secretly tugged at Fang Jinrong's sleeve. But such a small movement was caught by the sharp-eyed Sherphan.

Sherphan suppressed his surface-level anger. "I heard this woman is a physician with considerable skill. Coincidentally, my snow leopard is ill—take her to the beast cage to have a look."

Snow leopard, beast cage—neither sounded like a place one could come and go freely. Ji Wunian's expression shifted slightly, and she grew highly wary.

Lezheng Tu and the middle-aged man from You City couldn't figure out Sherphan's erratic attitude, but Lezheng Tu was Sherphan's ally, and Ji Wunian wasn't some irreplaceable talent.

The Round Moon Sect disciples were all waiting in the outer passages. Lezheng Tu was about to summon two disciples to take Ji Wunian to the beast cage and escort Fang Jinrong to a side chamber, but before he could call his junior disciples, his senior disciple's urgent voice came from outside.

"Master, has Rong Geer been invited down as a guest? Brother Ge is looking for him—let me bring him up first."

Lezheng Tu's brow furrowed. Hadn't they agreed that Xue Bing would hold Ge Quan off upstairs while they used Fang Jinrong as leverage to make Ge Quan work for them? Why had his senior disciple suddenly changed his tune?

These words didn't seem meant for him—they sounded more like an explanation deliberately given to others.

While he was still pondering, Xue Bing burst in. Seeing the middle-aged man from You City there, flanked by two red-mask people, and recalling how he'd been wounded by You City's masked man on the stage, his expression darkened. But the situation was dire now, and he couldn't even spare attention for the You City matter. Xue Bing stepped forward first and pulled over Fang Jinrong, who was waiting for tea. Seeing no panic or fear on his face, he assumed Fang Jinrong didn't know about the Round Moon Sect's plan, and was overjoyed.

"Bing'er, what's going on? How are you hurt so badly?" Lezheng Tu had expected Xue Bing to be injured, but not this severely—and why had he changed his mind to take Ge Quan's fiancé away?

"Senior brother!"

"Master, someone's broken in!"

"Ah!"

Cries of pain came one after another. Lezheng Tu initially paid them no mind, only mildly surprised that Ge Quan had arrived so quickly.

"Bing'er, call your uncles."

Before he could finish, two familiar faces stumbled in—one clutching his right arm, the other limping on his left leg. They were Lezheng Tu's two junior brothers.

Ge Quan followed behind them, sword in hand. The moment he spotted where Fang Jinrong stood, he hurled his sword, which flew unerringly and embedded itself in the ground before Xue Bing's two uncles.

His second uncle couldn't stop his momentum, and his other leg was pierced as well. Both knees hit the ground, his face twisted in pain.

The Third Martial Uncle stared at the black heavy sword still humming before him, his hair standing on end in an instant. No one knew that when he and the Second Senior Brother had just exchanged moves with Ge Quan, the gap between them was like night and day, making it impossible to entertain any thought of resistance.

What martial artists fear most isn't facing a master, but being so thoroughly suppressed they can't fight back. Once fear sets in, how can you even lift a sword?

Ge Quan's gaze passed over the two kneeling men and landed directly on Fang Jinrong. His robes were stained with blood, his topknot slightly askew, a lingering killing aura still hung around him—clearly he had slaughtered his way down from above. Two strands of long hair fell loose along his temples, accentuating his clenched jaw and those eyes blazing with murderous intent.

A top-tier first-rate master should indeed have killing intent this refined, enough to chill you to the bone with mere presence.

"Come here." He extended his hand toward Fang Jinrong, his voice lower and rougher than usual.

Fang Jinrong blinked and took half a step forward, but Lezheng Tu clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"Nephew Ge Quan." Lezheng Tu spoke, quietly channeling inner force into his palm, his voice stripped of its earlier condescension. "What is the meaning of this?"

Ge Quan stared at the hand gripping Fang Jinrong's shoulder, his eyes gradually darkening. With a slight push off his toes, he leaped to stand before Xue Bing's two junior uncles, drawing his longsword and pressing it against their throats. "Tell Rong'er to come here."

Lezheng Tu let out a furious laugh. "It's been a long time since anyone dared act this arrogant in front of me. Ge Quan, I won't lie—I did want to recruit you, but do you really think I wouldn't dare lay a hand on you?"

The instant he drew his sword, Ge Quan was already on him. They exchanged only one move before Lezheng Tu's heart shook violently.

How could this be? So young, and even having already broken into the first-rate, his cultivation shouldn't be this deep!

No wonder Bing'er...

First-rate masters were already rare—one man could prop up an entire sect, or tear one down. Ge Quan was so young, a wandering swordsman with nothing to lose. If one truly offended someone like this, after he was dead and gone, wouldn't he slaughter the Round Moon Sect?

Lezheng Tu was deeply alarmed, but he couldn't afford to get lost in thought. Both were first-rate masters, and not some junior first-rate like the one who'd wounded Xue Bing on stage. After just a few exchanges, everyone else had already backed off several meters, and the spacious stone walls were now scored with deep sword marks.

Xue'erfan's guards hustled him into a corner. The middle-aged man from You City, however, watched the fight with keen interest, hands clasped behind his back. The gray-white brush in his hair stayed perfectly still amid the chaos, as if glued to his topknot.

Xue Bing grew increasingly frantic. "Brother Ge, why go this far? My master really just invited Brother Rong for tea, he meant no disrespect. Please, for my sake, let's bury the hatchet and not ruin our friendship!"

"Tch!" Ji Wunian, who'd cowered to the far edge and nearly been thrown to the snow leopard, jumped up and started cursing. "Bullshit! Your master wasn't saying that a minute ago—he wanted to feed me and Brother Rong to the leopards! Ge Quan! Kill that old bastard!"

"Clang—"

After several exchanges of blows, Lezheng Tu's three-foot green blade was actually snapped clean through by Ge Quan's heavy sword. Lezheng Tu stumbled back several steps, the webbing of his hand split open, blood dripping down the shattered hilt. Yet before him, Ge Quan's sword pressed on like an unrelenting tide, bearing down on him. The killing intent radiating from the blade was so sharp it made Lezheng Tu's eyes water with blood.

"Ge Quan, I did use you, that's true! But I never once thought of harming you!" Xue Bing had just caught Lezheng Tu and now stepped in front of him.

The sound of the blade cutting into flesh made everyone's stomach drop. Ge Quan didn't pause for Xue Bing's words—his longsword ran through both master and disciple's shoulders in a single stroke.

"The kindness you showed me as a child is repaid. From here on, we're even." Ge Quan sheathed his sword and went back to take Fang Jinrong's hand. No one dared stop him, and Ji Wunian scurried after them. The expert from You City couldn't even beat Lezheng Tu, so he didn't dare make a move.

Fang Jinrong walked out with Ge Quan. "You're hurt?"

"No." Ge Quan's voice softened.

"Then whose blood is that?"

"Somebody else's."

"Oh, so we're leaving now? Did the Round Moon Sect pay you the five hundred taels?"

"Yeah, they did."

"Good. Buy more hazelnuts and raisins—I want snacks for the road!"

"Okay."

"Oh, and I saw Fan Xue. Turns out he's some prince—why'd he pretend to be a regular guy?"

"Don't worry about their games."

"Alright then..."

The three left the chaos of Jincheng behind. It wasn't until they passed through Lü City that Ge Quan suddenly realized... he'd forgotten something?

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