Chapter 1 The Moment

The instant Feng Bujue stepped into the inn, many people saw him, but no one recognized him. Therefore, no one took him and the four behind him seriously, assuming they were just disciples from some second or third-rate sect who didn't know the rules and had rashly entered the inn.

At that moment, Shi Yanran's attention was focused on the conversation between Gongsun Qian and Ji Tong. After all, as a thief, she was timid, afraid that there might be some flaw in the matter that would be noticed by outsiders, so she listened to every word with great anxiety.

Shi Yanran was sitting with her side facing the inn's main entrance, so when her eyes caught someone walking in, she glanced over there unconsciously. This glance was all it took to startle her into standing up, knocking over the stool beneath her.

Gongsun Qian sensed that something was wrong, so he stopped talking to Ji Tong. He turned his head and saw his wife staring at the direction of the inn's main entrance with a look of surprise on her face. While following Shi Yanran's gaze, he asked, "Wife, what's wrong?"

"It's them!" Shi Yanran pointed to Feng Bujue and the other four who had just entered, and said, "They are the mysterious people who killed Wang Ao last night!"

At that moment, the atmosphere in the entire inn lobby changed instantly. The martial artists had been indifferent to the appearance of these five people just seconds before, but now it was as if they had seen some extremely important figures. All eyes were focused on Feng Bujue and his companions.

But no matter how much these seniors sized them up, the five still looked ordinary. In terms of appearance, they were a few rather handsome young people. Their clothes were ordinary, and they didn't seem to be carrying any weapons. There wasn't a trace of timidity between their brows, but they also lacked the shrewdness of seasoned veterans. And the most puzzling thing was that their every move didn't seem like those of people with martial arts skills.

"Hmph... so it's you." Upon hearing this, Feng Bujue coldly replied. As he spoke, he led his teammates forward.

The tables in the Cang Ling Inn lobby were not square, but small, round tables, with a maximum of six people able to sit around each table. Feng Bujue came to an empty table and sat down casually. After his teammates had also taken their seats one after another, he looked at a waiter in the distance, snapped his fingers, and then beckoned for him to come over.

The people present had seen everything, but they had never seen anyone snap their fingers. As the saying goes, it takes two hands to clap, but today they saw someone make a strange gesture with one hand, and it made a crisp sound. Although this couldn't be said to be a great skill, everyone felt that this trick was quite novel.

Feng Bujue used such a seemingly casual and very simple method to leave a frivolous and bizarre first impression on these Jianghu (martial world) people.

The waiter was stunned for two seconds before walking forward. He habitually took the rag from his shoulder and wiped the table, while skillfully setting out several teacups with his other hand, and pouring tea for each of the guests. "Uh... what would you like to order, sirs?"

"Rooms," Feng Bujue said.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." As he said this, the waiter had already skillfully finished wiping the table and pouring the water, and replied with a smile, "You see... the inn has been very busy recently, and we're all booked up. How about you..."

"Get out of the way." Suddenly, a low voice sounded behind the waiter. The speaker's breath blew on the back of the waiter's neck, scaring him into quickly stepping aside.

Instantly, Feng Bujue's eyes met those of the speaker. It was a man in his fifties, with graying hair and a slightly angry expression.

It must be said that Gongsun Qian's face was quite distinctive, with narrow eyes, a high nose, and a narrow mouth. Combined, it couldn't be said to be ugly, but it was highly recognizable.

"Does Senior have something to say to me?" Feng Bujue asked without being arrogant or humble.

"Hmph... who's your senior?" Gongsun Qian snorted coldly. At this time, Gongsun Li and Shi Yanran stood on either side of the Wanhua (Myriad Splendor) Tower Master, and behind them were two disciples of Wanhua Tower.

"I see..." Feng Bujue said, slowly standing up.

Apart from Gongsun Qian, the rest of the Wanhua Tower members took a step back when they saw this. Obviously, Shi Yanran had already promoted the players' elusive combat power within Wanhua Tower. If she didn't make the other party sound a little more powerful, her escape wouldn't be explained, and she would lose face.

The atmosphere in the inn began to heat up. Many young disciples with little Jianghu experience had already written eager expressions on their faces, hoping that the two sides would fight quickly, so they could witness with their own eyes how powerful Gongsun Qian's Wanhua Divine Skill really was.

"So..." Feng Bujue changed his words, "What do you want from me?"

As soon as these words came out, there was a sudden silence, as if a cold wind had blown through the hall...

Gongsun Qian didn't know how to retort after being cursed at. The other party had indeed called him Senior at first, but he himself had expressed his disagreement with the title.

"Asking the obvious!" Gongsun Qian simply pretended not to have heard those words and said directly, "Why did you kill my disciple on the street last night?"

Feng Bujue didn't react much after hearing these words. His teammates, on the other hand, were drinking tea with relaxed expressions, as if they were watching a play.

"Oh, so he was your disciple." Feng Bujue's eyes moved to Shi Yanran's face, and then he looked at Gongsun Li on the side. He had already recognized this person as the square-faced man from last night.

Shi Yanran and Gongsun Li's eyes flickered, but their expressions were still righteous. Shi Yanran even added, "Hmph... what? In front of my husband... the Wanhua Tower Master, you don't dare to admit it?" Since she was framing someone, she naturally had to seize every opportunity to say similar words to confuse the public. According to the logic of her words, even if Feng Bujue denied it, he would be denying it.

Feng Bujue was silent for two seconds, quickly sorted out the identities and relationships of the people in front of him, and then replied, "Oh? You're coming to me for trouble now?"

Just when the real murderer and the accomplice thought he was about to tell the truth, Feng Bujue unexpectedly shouted at Gongsun Qian, "What don't I dare to admit? That's right! I killed him, so what?"

When Gongsun Li and Shi Yanran heard these words, they didn't react for a while, and their minds were a little muddled. After a few seconds, they were shocked in their hearts: No way... he admitted it? And he admitted it so simply? Are you crazy?

And while Gongsun Qian was sprayed with a face full of spittle, he also said from the bottom of his heart: Okay... you have guts...

"Good! Since you dare to admit it, then there's no need to say more. Wanhua Tower has no grievances with you, yet you killed my disciple for no reason. According to Jianghu rules, I will avenge my disciple here..." Gongsun Qian didn't finish his words.

"Hold on!" Feng Bujue shouted, interrupting, "Who said I killed your disciple for no reason?"

"Oh?" Gongsun Qian's face changed slightly. "Do you have a grudge against Wang Ao?"

"No," Feng Bujue replied.

"Do you have a grudge against my Wanhua Tower?"

"No, I don't."

"Hmph! Then why did you kill him?"

"He harassed my wife." As Feng Bujue spoke, he pointed in the direction of Si Yu.

"Uh..." Gongsun Qian was speechless for a moment.

Not to mention him, Xiao Tan, Bei Ling, and Jibei almost dropped the teacups in their hands on the table. Si Yu herself was relatively calm, still looking at Feng Bujue with that cold look, as if he owed her a lot of money, and now the interest had doubled...

"Last night, we had just walked into town when we saw your disciple Wang Ao walking towards us, drunk." Feng Bujue's ability to make up stories was beyond doubt, and he opened his mouth to say, "He saw that my wife was beautiful, so he stepped forward and spoke frivolously." He spat on the ground, "I guess this guy thought that none of us knew martial arts, so he was fearless. He dared to speak rudely in front of me, pointing and talking lightly about my wife."

Feng Bujue glared at Gongsun Qian without fear, scolding indirectly, "I hate this kind of guy who thinks he's powerful because of his martial arts and sect, and bullies people everywhere. I smashed him with one palm." He sneered, "Besides, I know my wife's temper best. If I hadn't acted immediately, she would have, and this guy would have died anyway." Feng Bujue cursed and said, "What... does the Tower Master want to avenge him?"

These words were undoubtedly a counterattack against the other party. As a case with no evidence, this statement didn't seem to have anything to refute at first glance.

Of course, the most critical part of this passage was the sentence "thought none of us knew martial arts". This was what Feng Bujue wanted everyone present to hear. This sentence, combined with the part about killing someone, explained some problems...

The people in the inn naturally knew the two ways to enter Cang Ling Town. At this moment, they all suddenly realized: These five people really have some kind of Gongfa (cultivation technique) that can hide their strength! No wonder... I haven't seen these people in the Jianghu before. How could they have entered through the main road? So they must have come up the small road. And since they came into town through the small road, they must all be experts.

"This... this is just your side of the story, how can..." Gongsun Qian's words were interrupted again.

"Ask these two next to you if what I said is true," Feng Bujue said with great confidence.

His confidence was not without reason. He knew very well that the two people next to the Tower Master would definitely lie for him. The reason was very simple: killing someone required a motive.

Unless Shi Yanran and Gongsun Li thought it was more convincing to accuse Feng Bujue of being a madman who killed everyone he saw, they had no reason to overturn this story. After all, the real murderer was Shi Yanran. In fact, the person she framed had no contact with Wang Ao. Now that Feng Bujue had made up a motive himself, it was a great help to her.

"Um... this..." Shi Yanran said hesitantly, "I didn't see the killing process. When I arrived, Wang Ao was already dead..."

Gongsun Li also lowered his voice and said, "Senior Brother... I arrived even later. I really didn't see how Wang Junior Nephew and they had a conflict... However, I don't think he's lying." He lowered his voice even more, "And... I have heard some gossip, saying that Wang Junior Nephew likes to flirt with women and is fond of being romantic..."

Hearing this, Gongsun Qian believed seven or eight parts of Feng Bujue's statement. Because a few hours ago, Shi Yanran and Gongsun Li didn't explain the matter clearly at all. Of course, they couldn't explain it clearly.

And now, Wang Ao's death seemed reasonable.

After listening to Feng Bujue's made-up story, coupled with Gongsun Li's subtle hints, Gongsun Qian recalled... several times, Wang Ao seemed to be flirting with his Shiniang (martial aunt), and thinking about that guy's appearance was indeed handsome... Gongsun Qian felt more and more that things were true, and the idea of avenging this disciple was basically gone.

"How is it? Tower Master, what I said is true?" Feng Bujue raised his voice and said with full spirit, "Today I'll put my words here, I killed him! If you say I killed him wrongly, then let's do it according to Jianghu rules now. Life and death are destined, let's see the truth under our hands."

"Tower Master Gongsun, you should say something," Ji Tong said gleefully after watching for a long time, he understood what was going on.

The other martial artists present also determined that what Feng Bujue said was the truth. They whispered and talked, and the tone was basically: This time, Wanhua Tower is probably not going to end well. It turns out that their own disciple behaved improperly, and his skills were not as good as others and was killed on the spot. Does this still require revenge?

"Wang Ao... really did that frivolous thing in front of you?" Gongsun Qian asked.

Feng Bujue also knew that this lie couldn't stand scrutiny. Even if Wang Ao was drunk, and he was absolutely sure that the five people in front of him didn't know martial arts, as a disciple of a famous sect, he wouldn't do the behavior of a gangster who molested women in the street. Besides, Si Yu's appearance in the game was far from being beautiful, Wang Ao hadn't seen women, did he need to? Logically speaking, the probability of this situation occurring, although not impossible, was indeed very small.

"What? Do you think Wang Ao's actions... weren't worthy of death?" Feng Bujue suddenly showed a violent look, took a step forward, and grabbed Gongsun Qian's collar, "Then now I'll say a few frivolous words to your wife in front of Tower Master Gongsun, and you can tolerate it?"

On the surface, he seemed furious, but Feng Bujue was very calm at the moment. His response was very cunning. He didn't answer the question Gongsun Qian had just raised head-on, but shifted the focus to other places, as if the truth of the molestation didn't need to be discussed anymore, and whatever you Gongsun Qian said was just an excuse.

Feng Bujue's reaction took everyone by surprise. Tower Master Gongsun was even more caught off guard and couldn't avoid the other party's outstretched hand. Gongsun Qian had been in the Jianghu for so long, he had never encountered this kind of behavior that only petty gangsters would do. Martial artists would fight you if they wanted to, no one would step forward and grab the collar to intimidate the other party. Even the Giant Whale Gang, a group of private salt traffickers, wouldn't do that.

"Young hero, calm down." Gongsun Qian didn't know how to deal with it at this moment. If he took advantage of the situation and slapped the other party, it would be too despicable. So he had no choice but to reply, "I definitely don't mean that."

"Hmph..." Feng Bujue snorted coldly and let go of the other party, but his expression was still unhappy.

His teammates were amazed by his lifelike performance. Bei Ling couldn't help but lean close to Xiao Tan's ear and whispered, "Movie emperor..."

"Who says it isn't..." Xiao Tan also replied.

Even Shi Yanran, who was standing opposite him, was confused, and doubted in her heart: I killed Wang Ao last night, right? It should be me, right? Was it me and Gongsun Li who wanted to frame them? What's going on now? This person not only took the blame for me, but also smoothed out the story, and acted as if it were true. Is this person crazy?

"Uh... I haven't asked for the young hero's name yet." Gongsun Qian straightened his clothes and said with a more polite expression. At this moment, he also understood that it was meaningless to argue about the issue of right and wrong. Obviously, the other party was on the right side. Facing the burning gaze of so many Jianghu people present, if he insisted on holding on to the end, he would only further damage his face.

"Liaozhu (Master) of the Broken Sword Teahouse, Feng Bujue." Feng Bujue clasped his fists and bowed.

This sentence was also not easy to answer. Gongsun Qian had never heard of this sect, and he was not shameless enough to reply with a "I've been admiring you for a long time" as if nothing had happened. He could only change the topic and replied, "Uh... Master Feng, Wang Ao's actions were ignorant of etiquette, justice, integrity, and shame, and violated the rules of my Wanhua Tower. This person deserved to die, it's good to kill him." He called him by his name, and no longer mentioned the titles of "disciple" or "student", "The old man failed to supervise strictly, and was negligent in accepting disciples... Young Hero Feng cleaned up this rat for Wanhua Tower, but I have offended you because I didn't know the reason. Please forgive me, Master..."

"Um... that sounds more like human language." Feng Bujue sat down again, picked up the teacup and took a sip. At this moment, he was not polite to Gongsun Qian at all, looking like "I'm right to kill someone".

This Master Feng didn't give him face so much, and his attitude was extremely arrogant. Tower Master Gongsun's old face couldn't hold on a bit. Seeing Ji Tong's mocking expression on the side, Gongsun Qian felt even more that a burst of anger was rushing from his heels to the top of his head.

He thought to himself... he must not swallow his anger and sit back like this, he had to find a way to get back the scene. Of course, he definitely couldn't do it directly, otherwise he would be said to be "bullying others with power". So, he prepared to use words to provoke, even if they didn't fight, it would be good to humiliate the other party.

Thinking of this, Gongsun Qian opened his mouth and said, "Hehe... Master Feng, this old man has been in the Jianghu for many years..." He smiled pretentiously, "But I have never heard of the Broken Sword Teahouse sect. Young hero, you are young, yet your martial arts are superb, and you are the master of a sect. I wonder who is your master? Where did you establish the sect? And... how many disciples does your sect have?"

Ladies and gentlemen, this is courting death...

If language is a weapon, Gongsun Qian is like a mace (an ancient weapon, to put it simply, it's a wooden stick), and Feng Bujue is like the Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon.

"Oh?" Feng Bujue raised one corner of his mouth, revealing a smile that could be called obscene. His expression immediately gave Gongsun Qian goosebumps and a strong ominous premonition.

Feng Bujue naturally understood the other party's thoughts. He sneered and replied, "It's easy to say, easy to say. I learned everything on my own, and opened my own sect. This sect has no fixed residence, and there are only three Liao Ke (lodgers/guests) besides me and my wife."