The next morning, after Wan Yunting finished his practice, he joined Yang Jingyi and Duan Yingying, mother and daughter, at a leisure table and chairs under a large tree in the courtyard. They were chatting while drinking tea about the events of the past three months.
"Yunting, are you sure it's alright to keep them hanging there without food or water?" Wuleizi asked worriedly as he returned. He had just peeked at the main gate and saw Chen Jing and his son Chen Yuxuan, along with Master Kongwu, still suspended.
Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia were also there with Jia Hongji, all looking dejected and resentful, with their heads hanging low. They were only given water, but no food, and were being held under duress.
Wan Yunting waved his hand. "It's fine. They are not ordinary people. They can go without food for three to four days. Uncle Wuwei, there's no need to worry."
Yang Jingyi added, "According to the journey, those sect leaders should arrive this afternoon."
Wan Yunting poured tea for Wuleizi. "When those sect leaders arrive, there will undoubtedly be some conflict. But don't worry, Madam, they wouldn't dare to act aggressively towards me!"
Yang Jingyi and Wuleizi exchanged a look, knowing that Wan Yunting was backed by the Ouyang family in the capital. The sect leaders would naturally not dare to do anything to him.
"When are you planning to return to the capital?" Duan Yingying asked, peeling fruit for Wan Yunting.
Wan Yunting nodded. "After this matter is settled."
Duan Yingying's pretty face lit up, and she pouted her enticing cherry lips. "Can't you stay a few more days?"
Wan Yunting looked at Duan Yingying with a hint of embarrassment. The reason he was eager to return to the capital was that Fang Yanxi was about to give birth!
"Yingying, the Snow Mountain Sect has a martial art that is very suitable for you. How about we go to the back mountain and I'll teach you?" Wan Yunting glanced at Yang Jingyi and Wuleizi, then pulled Duan Yingying up.
"Okay, let's go..."
Duan Yingying also wanted some private time with him, so she grabbed Wan Yunting and left.
Yang Jingyi and Wuleizi watched them go with smiles, then sighed. "Yunting is good in every way, except he's a bit too much of a playboy."
Yang Jingyi frowned, thinking about her daughter's future, unsure of what to do.
Initially, Yang Jingyi had intended to marry her daughter to Wan Yunting, but later learned that he had girlfriends, and not just one. Yang Jingyi regretted it, but her daughter Duan Yingying had fallen in love with Wan Yunting.
Now, it was impossible for Yang Jingyi to break them up. She had previously told Duan Yingying to leave Wan Yunting, but she refused.
However, if she agreed to their relationship, Yang Jingyi worried that her daughter would not be happy with Wan Yunting. So, she was in a difficult dilemma, regretting deeply that she had asked Duan Yingying to go to Hua City to find Wan Yunting in the first place.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, at the foot of Mount Wuliang, a minibus arrived. The first to alight was Zhong Yulong, the sect leader of the Wudang Sect, accompanied by his disciples Xian Yun and Xu Yuxin.
Following closely behind was Zhang Xuanliang, the sect leader of Longhu Mountain, who alighted with two younger disciples. Then came Shi Yizhen, the sect leader of Huashan Sect, along with Liu Bing, the sect leader of Qingcheng Sect, and Abbot Renxin of the Shaolin Sect.
"Everyone, let's go up."
Zhong Yulong turned to look at the assembled group. Zhang Xuanliang and Abbot Renxin looked up at the stone steps leading up Mount Wuliang and nodded. They ascended together, moving swiftly, and reached the top in half an hour.
At this moment, beneath a large tree next to the gatehouse of the Wuliang Daoist Temple, Chen Jing and his son Chen Yuxuan, along with Master Kongwu, had been hanging for a full day. They could only drink water and had not eaten, and their bodies were injured.
After being suspended for so long, their faces were pale, their lips were dry and cracked, their breathing was weak, and they looked utterly disheveled.
Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia sat on a large rock nearby with Jia Hongji, all looking helpless. They watched Chen Jing and Master Kongwu hanging there, unable to speak. From time to time, they instructed their disciples to give Chen Jing and Master Kongwu more water.
"This will be fatal."
Jia Hongji stood up and said to Qi Wu and Li Zihang, who were guarding them, "Quickly call your sect leader out and have Elder Chen and Master Kongwu brought down. If they continue to hang here without food or water, they will surely die."
Li Zihang and Qi Wu were sitting on the steps at the main gate of the Daoist temple, eating fruit. Li Zihang waved his hand. "My sect leader brother said that if your sect leaders and abbots don't arrive, they will continue to be hung. If they die, just dig a grave in the back mountain and bury them."
"What, you..."
Jia Hongji, trembling with anger, pointed his large hand at Li Zihang and Qi Wu. In the end, he could only shake his sleeve in resignation. "This is too much..."
Just then, footsteps could be heard on the mountain path. Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia turned their heads. Zhong Yulong, Zhang Xuanliang, Abbot Renxin, Shi Yizhen, and Liu Bing, along with their disciples, were ascending. Jia Hongji, seeing this, rushed forward excitedly. "Sect Leader, you've finally arrived..."
Upon seeing Chen Jing and his son Chen Yuxuan, and Master Kongwu hanging from the tree, Abbot Renxin and Shi Yizhen's expressions turned grim. They couldn't believe that Wan Yunting had actually hung the elders and masters of their sects from a tree. This was practically an insult to their Shaolin and Huashan sects.
"Sect Leader..."
Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia stood up and greeted their respective sect leaders and sect masters.
Li Zihang and Qi Wu exchanged a look and stood up to go call Wan Yunting. Just then, they saw him emerge with Yang Jingyi, Wuleizi, Duan Yingying, and Xu Lingwei.
Shi Yizhen, with a grim old face, saw Wan Yunting and shouted, "Sect Leader Wan, aren't you going too far with this?"
"Amitabha, please allow us to take them down, Sect Leader Wan," Abbot Renxin said more mildly, with his hands clasped in front of him.
"Heh, going too far?"
Wan Yunting walked down the steps with his hands behind his back, his cold eyes scanning Shi Yizhen, Abbot Renxin, Zhong Yulong, Zhang Xuanliang, Liu Bing, and other sect leaders and abbots of the major first-rate sects in the martial arts world. He said coldly, "Yesterday, they broke down my Daoist temple gate and injured my Madam, Uncle Wuwei, and many senior brothers and sisters. Why didn't you say that was going too far?"
"Hanging them is already giving your various sects face. Otherwise, I would have buried all of them in the back mountain woods long ago."
Zhong Yulong and Zhang Xuanliang frowned upon hearing this, and they also heard that Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia had already recounted the actions of Chen Jing and Master Kongwu over the phone yesterday.
Shi Yizhen said with a grim old face, "Sect Leader Wan, although their actions of hitting people were wrong, you shouldn't humiliate them like this. What's the difference between this and killing someone?"
"Amitabha..."
Abbot Renxin clasped his hands. "Let's take them down first."
Wan Yunting stared coldly at Shi Yizhen and said coldly, "Sect Leader Shi, you say it so lightly. You think hanging them on the tree is humiliating. Then why did they break down my Daoist temple gate yesterday? Is that not also a humiliation?"
Suddenly, Wan Yunting raised his voice and pointed at Shi Yizhen angrily. "Is it that you, Sect Leader Shi, are in the right?"
"You..."
This retort made Shi Yizhen's old face tremble, and his eyes widened. He pointed at Wan Yunting, unable to refute him for a moment, as Chen Jing and Master Kongwu had indeed acted first.
"Amitabha, Sect Leader Wan, let's take them down first..."
"Nonsense."
Wan Yunting turned and cursed directly at Abbot Renxin, who had his hands clasped. Zhong Yulong, Zhang Xuanliang, Liu Bing, and Shi Yizhen were all taken aback. Even Yang Jingyi and Wuleizi, standing on the steps at the main gate, looked stunned.
"Abbot Renxin, you're the Abbot of the Shaolin Sect!"
Wan Yunting, filled with rage, pointed at Abbot Renxin and yelled, "Doesn't your Shaolin Sect advocate for compassion and justice? Look at the master from your sect. How arrogant he was last night. Is this the righteous Master from your Shaolin Sect?"
"Bah, he's nothing."
Facing Wan Yunting's coarse language, Abbot Renxin maintained a peaceful expression and was not provoked. He slowly said, "Sect Leader Wan, it is indeed true that Kongwu acted improperly. I, on his behalf, apologize to you and everyone at the Wuliang Daoist Temple..."
As he spoke, Abbot Renxin clasped his hands and bowed to Wan Yunting, Yang Jingyi, and Wuleizi in apology.
Yang Jingyi and Wuleizi were touched by Abbot Renxin's magnanimity, but they felt disdain for Master Kongwu.
Zhong Yulong stepped forward. "Sect Leader Wan, please allow us to take them down first."
Wan Yunting glanced at them coldly, snorted, and waved his hand. He turned back to the steps at the main gate of the Daoist temple, then, with his hands behind his back, said without looking back, "I will not give you the Snow Mountain Sect martial arts manuals. You can all go down the mountain now!"
Shi Yizhen and Abbot Renxin had already instructed their disciples to quickly bring down Chen Jing and his son Chen Yuxuan, and Master Kongwu, who were hanging from the tree.
Zhong Yulong, Zhang Xuanliang, Liu Bing, and the others frowned upon hearing Wan Yunting's words. They looked at Wan Yunting, who had his hands behind his back and couldn't even be bothered to look at them. Shi Yizhen directly said, "Sect Leader Wan, do you think the Snow Mountain Sect martial arts manuals belong to you?"
Wan Yunting slowly turned around, looked askance at Shi Yizhen, and said, "Sect Leader Shi, do the Snow Mountain Sect martial arts manuals belong to you?"
Shi Yizhen's old face remained grim. "They don't belong to me, but they belong to our Martial Arts Association!"
Wan Yunting turned to face them and said coldly, "On what grounds do you say they belong to your Martial Arts Association?"
"Because the Snow Mountain Sect is a righteous sect!" Liu Bing exclaimed.
Wan Yunting narrowed his eyes at him and smiled, a curl of his lips. "A righteous sect? With your arrogant and violent behavior yesterday, are you considered righteous?"
Upon hearing this, Shi Yizhen and Liu Bing's faces darkened. Zhong Yulong and Zhang Xuanliang also raised their eyebrows and pondered. It seemed they understood that Wan Yunting was holding this as leverage for negotiation.
"Speak up, you righteous individuals?"
Wan Yunting stood on the steps, his gaze sweeping over Zhong Yulong, Abbot Renxin, and the others. He suddenly raised his voice and said with a cold哼, "You all talk about righteousness and benevolence, but your private actions are no different from those of evil cults?"
"Hmph, and now you have the audacity to talk to me about the Snow Mountain Sect martial arts manuals. Do you dare to say that it's not all for your own selfish desires?"
Wan Yunting's sonorous words struck Zhong Yulong and Zhang Xuanliang like thunder. They stood frozen on the spot, unsure how to respond.
Because what Wan Yunting said had hit them where it hurt.