Chapter 10

It was very quiet in the mountains at night. There weren't many birds and insects chirping. Occasionally, a wolf howl would come from somewhere and cut through the darkness, showing the danger of the wilderness.

It was a cloudy night. The moon had already hidden behind the clouds to sleep. Looking at the dark clouds in the sky, they didn't know when the tender crescent moon would show its head.

Fortunately, Situ Ping and Ma were martial artists and had sharp eyesight. It was only because of this that they were able to walk in the dark night as if they were flying.

When they came to the front of Five Claw Peak, there was a dead silence in front of them. They could only hear the wind blowing.

Five Claw Peak's thumb mountain was a short and fat peak. In the dark night, they couldn't see how high it was. On the east side of the peak was a piece of flat land with a radius of four to five square meters. The terrain was very flat. The ground was full of fallen leaves and withered grass. When they stepped on it, there was a rustling sound.

Ma looked around and said to Situ Ping, "It's here. Let's wait here."

Then, passing through the withered grass on the flat land, he walked to the side of a protruding rock that was as big as a crouching cow. He flew up and sat down cross-legged. He didn't speak anymore, as if he was meditating.

Situ Ping also followed him to the side of the rock. However, she didn't jump on the rock. Instead, she stood leaning on the rock. Her hand held the sword at her waist. Her eyes looked around, observing this familiar place and this strange night.

The wind blew like this. The two of them didn't seem to move. Just like this, the time to drink a cup of tea passed.

Suddenly, Ma opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the forest in the north. Situ Ping felt Ma's movement and also turned to look at the forest. She listened carefully but didn't find anything. Just as she was surprised, she heard someone using Qing Gong to rush over from the forest in the north. Situ Ping couldn't help but sigh in her heart, "As expected of a disciple of a famous sect."

After a while, the people in the night arrived in front of them. It was Wen Wenhai and his junior sister. It seemed that they had abandoned their horses at the foot of the mountain and ran up on foot. Wen Wenhai didn't jump down from the tree in a hurry. He first looked down at the situation in the field. Then, he called his junior sister to jump down from the treetop. He didn't greet the people in the field. Instead, he sat cross-legged under the tree and closed his eyes to meditate like Ma.

His junior sister didn't stand. She took out a cushion from her backpack and placed it on the ground. She sat on the cushion. Looking at her appearance, she seemed to be resting.

Ma also closed his eyes again, as if he didn't see anyone coming. Situ Ping could only stand there silently.

After a while, they opened their eyes at the same time and looked at the path across the mountain. From the end of the path, there was a sound of footsteps. In this quiet wilderness where only the sound of the wind could be heard, these ordinary footsteps seemed a little strange.

The footsteps were neither fast nor slow. They came from afar, but they still couldn't see the figure. The four of them were very expectant. They wanted to see who the person walking on the mountain path was.

When the person came closer and saw clearly, everyone was even more surprised. It was actually two people walking side by side at the same pace. They had the same figure and the same movements. In the night, they couldn't see if they were wearing the same clothes or if they had the same face.

However, looking at the two of them taking half the steps of a normal person, in fact, everyone already knew the answer in their hearts. They all thought at the same time, "So, the other family is them."

The two of them walked to the side of the field and looked at the two groups of people in the field. They didn't make a sound and didn't enter the field again. They just stood there, straight and motionless.

The four people in the field saw that the two of them were standing there motionless. Just like before, they closed their eyes and rested. It seemed that there was still someone who hadn't come.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, just when everyone was a little anxious, a voice suddenly descended from the sky. "The cicadas in winter are mournful. Against the pavilion at night, the shower has just stopped."

A figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the field. The six people present opened their eyes at the same time. They didn't seem to notice how this person came out, but they all called out at the same time. "Yanming Jushi?"

They only saw that the person who had just arrived had a tall stature. The color of his clothes and headscarf couldn't be seen clearly, but his thin face and a few strands of beard below his chin made him look very familiar to the people of Jianghu.

At this time, no one hesitated and stepped forward to say, "Yanming Jushi, this junior greets you."

Yanming Jushi used his right hand to stroke his beard and said with a smile, "This old one has come late and made you all wait. You all aren't familiar with each other yet, right? Let's get to know each other first. In a while, we will need everyone to help each other out."

The embroidered robed Ma cupped his fists to everyone and said, "This one is Wan Jianfeng Ma Xiangyang.

This is the Evil Tiger Gang's Situ Ping. "

Then, afraid that everyone would misunderstand, he continued, "The Evil Tiger Gang is in this area. She is my subordinate and has come to be our guide."

Yanming Jushi said with a smile, "Shaoxia Ma is truly considerate. Then I'll have to trouble Chief Situ."

Situ Ping hurriedly saluted and said, "To be able to serve everyone is my honor."

Then, Wen Wenhai also cupped his fists and saluted, "This one is Misty School's Wen Wenhai. This is my junior apprentice sister Xue Qing."

Xue Qing finally took off the veil on her face, revealing her true face. However, no one could see it clearly in the dark. She didn't say anything and only cupped her fists towards everyone.

Yanming Jushi said, "I've long heard of Misty Wen's Shaoxia Ma and Xue Qing's great names. Now that I've met you in person, you are truly worthy of your name. I am greatly comforted."

Finally, the two people standing there silently cupped their fists and said to everyone, "Tan Family's Tan Wen." "Tan Wu." Their rough voices came one after the other. Paired with their tall statures, they were quite imposing.

After Yanming Jushi heard everyone introduce themselves, he put away the smile on his face and said, "Alright, I'll also introduce myself. I am Yanming Villa's Villa Lord Yanming Jushi.

From now on, everyone knows each other and knows who the four powers participating in tonight's matter are. Our operation will begin now. "

"When you arrived, your sect's elders must have already given you orders. Tonight, listen to everything I say. I've also reached an agreement with your sects. We'll talk about the specifics as we go. Now, take out your tokens."

After saying this, Yanming Jushi took out a square foot piece of leather. Ma Xiangyang, Wen Wenhai, and Tan Wen all took out similar items.

Yanming Jushi handed the piece in his hand to Ma Xiangyang and said, "Put them together."

The others also handed the leather to Ma Xiangyang. Yanming Jushi then took out a Luminous Pearl and handed it to Situ Ping, saying, "I'll have to trouble Sect Leader Situ to take a look at this diagram."

Thus, Situ Ping took the Luminous Pearl. Ma Xiangyang quickly put the four pieces of leather together under the light of the Luminous Pearl. Under the faint light of the Luminous Pearl, everyone could see that there was a map drawn on the leather. It was shaped like five fingers, and there was even a circle drawn in the middle of the ring finger.

Situ Ping carefully looked at the map. He exchanged a glance with Ma Xiangyang and said to everyone, "That's right, this map is the Five Clawed Peaks. The five claws are all the same length. Look, this thumb is longer than the index finger, and the ring finger is the longest."

When everyone heard this, they all looked at Yanming Jushi. Yanming Jushi said, "That's good. Everyone, take back your things."

Ma Xiangyang obeyed and returned the four pieces of leather to their rightful owners. Situ Ping also returned the Luminous Pearl to Yanming Jushi. Yanming Jushi took the Luminous Pearl and said, "Sect Leader Situ, do you know where the circle should be?"

Situ Ping said, "That's a forest of jujubes. I've been there before. I once let a wolf dog go in, but it never came out."

Yanming Jushi said, "That's good. Then I'll have to trouble Sect Leader Situ to lead the way."

Situ Ping said, "Alright. Then I'll have to ask everyone to follow me." After he finished speaking, he used his qinggong to move forward.

Yanming Jushi looked at Ma Xiangyang, Wen Wenhai, and Tan Wen. They nodded in understanding and used their qinggong to follow in that order.

Finally, Yanming Jushi looked around carefully. When he didn't find anything out of the ordinary, he got up and followed them like lightning.

The only thing left was the lonely Crouching Ox Rock. The wind blew past, blowing up the fallen leaves and withered grass. Soon, all traces of the rock were covered. It seemed that no one had ever come to such a remote place in the middle of the night.

The group of seven used their qinggong and was led by Situ Ping. Like a gust of wind and lightning, they swept through the dark night. In about the time it took for two incense sticks to burn, they arrived at the previously mentioned jujubes forest.

At this time, the moon had already set in the west. Thick black clouds still covered the sky. It wouldn't be long before the sky brightened.

In the darkness, the jujubes forest couldn't be seen clearly. It was like a huge monster was entrenched in the middle of the mountain. Situ Ping looked at the place he had been to before and felt a trace of unfamiliarity. So there was such a difference between day and night. He didn't know what secret this mysterious jujubes forest was hiding. It actually made the four sects come all night and cooperate like this.

Situ Ping stopped and waited for everyone to arrive. He said to everyone, "Everyone, this is the jujubes forest marked by the circle on the map. According to the height, it should be here."

Yanming Jushi said, "It should be correct."

After he finished speaking, he didn't go forward to look. Instead, he sat down on the ground. Seeing that everyone didn't understand, he smiled and said, "There's still some time before we make our move. Everyone rest for a while. I'll explain it to you. Otherwise, you'll still be confused. I can guarantee that nothing will happen if we go in."

Thus, the other six people sat on the ground in a semicircle in front of Yanming Jushi.

Yanming Jushi organized his thoughts and looked at the juniors sitting around him. He said, "Do you know the One Armed Sword God from three hundred years ago?" Everyone shook their heads.

Yanming Jushi continued, "Before the second of February last year, I didn't know. Your master also didn't know."

"On the second day of February last year, my wife and I went to Yu City's Dragon God Temple to burn incense.

In the Dragon God Temple, we actually met your Wan Jianfeng's Wan Chengjiu and his family. There was also your Misty School's Ou Peng, Ou Peng, and the Tan family's Master Tan Yefeng. The four of us had been close friends for a long time, but we had never met. When we finally met, we all left our families and found a place to compare martial arts and drink. "

"We brought our swords and wine to Wutong Mountain next to Yu City. We were prepared to spend a few days happily, but unexpectedly, just as we reached the top, we encountered a strange thing."