Chapter 125: Seven Immortals of Quanzhen: Young Friend Zhou Emerges from the Water
Ni Mo Xing’s figure swept across the lake surface and landed on Zhou Yan’s fishing boat.
The rage caused by Zhou Yan’s repeated schemes was now burning fiercely within him.
Lime was thrown at the pagoda, and as the other party leaped over, the bamboo pole pushed the boat, causing his own fishing boat to sway more than twenty feet. The two boats were already separated by ten feet, and a distance of over thirty feet was impossible to jump. As a result, he could only watch as the other party killed three people on the boat, including Cui Qingshan.
Ni Mo Xing finally found an oar, rowed closer, suddenly leaped onto the bow, advanced again, and swung his snake whip towards Zhou Yan’s back.
Zhou Yan naturally sensed Ni Mo Xing landing on the bow. He exerted force in his arm, spun with a thud, and threw Cui Qingshan away.
With a “bang,” Cui Qingshan, who still had some residual consciousness, was sent flying by Ni Mo Xing’s snake whip, while Zhou Yan had already fallen towards another fishing boat.
The escort from the Changfeng Escort Agency on the bow roared and slashed at Zhou Yan with his steel knife, stirring up a monstrous sharpness.
A surge of Inner Qi, warm from his Dantian, instantly traveled through Zhou Yan’s two Qiao Meridians. His sacrum, hip, and coccyx relaxed, and he used the Golden Goose Skill to forcefully shift several feet in mid-air.
The blade brushed past Zhou Yan’s right arm. He landed on the bow, stepped forward, lowered his shoulder, and delivered an Iron Mountain Lean onto the opponent.
A colossal force slammed into the escort like a mountain collapsing into the sea. The opponent’s chest felt a dull ache, followed by a sweet taste in his throat, and his body was sent flying backward.
The fishing boat was barely ten feet wide, with no extra room to maneuver. With a “bang,” two escorts were hit and rolled into the lake. Zhou Yan grabbed an oar, and a fierce flurry of oar strokes crossed a distance of about twenty feet, heading towards the last escort from the Changfeng Escort Agency on the fishing boat.
The escort shouted and jumped into the lake.
Zhou Yan’s oar naturally fell into the water. With a few strokes, he increased the distance from Ni Mo Xing’s fishing boat.
Helian Chuncheng and Yin Kexi had also seized fishing boats and were forcing the fishermen to row and pursue them.
Zhou Yan’s oar danced, and as the fishing boat reached deeper water, he leaped into the lake.
Helian Chuncheng held his bamboo pole, ready to throw it as Zhou Yan surfaced. However, there was no ripple in the surrounding lake water, as if Zhou Yan had already vanished into the water.
Helian Chuncheng, unwilling to give up, scanned his surroundings. In the falling night, how could he see far?
He angrily thrust his bamboo pole into the lake.
What was supposed to be a sure-kill situation had resulted in the opponent escaping, and several escorts, including Cui Qingshan, were lost.
Ni Mo Xing landed on the bow and said hatefully, “This brat is cunning.”
Helian Chuncheng slowly composed his expression and said, “Brother Ni Mo, there’s no need to be discouraged. We’ll kill him next time.”
“We certainly will.”
Ni Mo Xing said with an ashen complexion.
…
The waves flowed, the night was cool as water, and the painted boat slowly moved forward, pushing through the lake. The Taoist priest’s long beard was like ink, his spirit was soaring, and he carried a longsword on his back.
The Taoist priest’s body trembled, and he unleashed a series of elbow techniques: upper elbow strike, horizontal elbow strike, sweeping elbow strike, smashing elbow strike, and coiled elbow strike. His wide sleeves created a fierce sound of breaking wind in the air. The power was truly astonishing.
The Taoist priest’s momentum was like a tiger. A Taoist priest with white eyebrows and a white beard seated at a square table a short distance away said, “Junior Brother Qiu is skilled in martial arts. With your fiery temper, this set of elbow techniques, when executed, shows even more power than ours.”
The Taoist priest with long eyebrows and handsome eyes beside him smiled and said, “Indeed.”
A pleasant female voice chimed in at this moment, “Escort Zhou and the Quanzhen Sect truly have a connection. I parted ways with him in Xiangyang, and I never expected Senior Brother to see him in Zhongdu and spar with him.”
The woman speaking was none other than Sun Buer, Qingjing Sanren of the Quanzhen Sect. At the same table were Yuyangzi Wang Chuyi and Danyangzi Ma Yu. The one using the elbow techniques was naturally Changchunzi Qiu Chuji.
The painted boat was grand. Light poured from the rooms on the second floor, outlining the figures of the other three, whose appearances varied. The Seven Immortals of Quanzhen gathered at West Lake.
A handsome Taoist priest brought out wine and respectfully retreated to the side.
Ma Yu said, “Junior Brother Qiu, how is this elbow technique?”
Qiu Chuji’s hands moved like a monkey playing with fruit, alternating the Mandarin Duck Elbow left and right, smashing white air masses in the air. Suddenly, he reined in his movements, took a large stride forward, and said, “It suits me perfectly.”
Qiu Chuji possessed natural divine strength and outstanding martial arts talent. He learned the elbow technique from Ma Yu and, after practicing it, personally experienced the destructive power and lethality of this cultivation technique from the Yue Family Boxing manual.
He raised his wine cup and drank it down in one gulp, saying, “It’s a pity I haven’t met Young Friend Zhou.”
“When Senior Brother returns to Zhongnan Mountain, he can visit Zhongdu. Young Friend Zhou’s Eight Treasure Rice is unforgettable,” said Wang Chuyi.
Qiu Chuji laughed heartily.
He constantly heard various stories about Zhou Yan from Ma Yu, Wang Chuyi, and Sun Buer, and naturally felt a desire to know him. However, coming to Zhongdu specifically would go against the principle of “following fate.”
Like a fish swimming through waves, the lake surface not far from the painted boat suddenly parted. The lamplight from the painted boat illuminated Zhou Yan’s face with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. Just as he was about to inhale and swim out, his body suddenly stopped, and he looked at the seven people seated at a nearby boat.
Wang Chuyi, Ma Yu, Sun Buer? And four others, the Seven Immortals of Quanzhen.
As this thought crossed Zhou Yan’s mind, he called out, “Taoist Wang, Taoist Ma.”
The Seven Immortals of Quanzhen were toasting and drinking merrily when they suddenly heard a call. Wang Chuyi looked around. There was no one in sight, not even a small boat. He was truly startled.
“Senior Brother, did you hear the call?”
“Yes.”
“But there’s no one around.”
“Taoist Priest, over here.”
This time, the voice was much clearer. Wang Chuyi stood up and looked towards the lake, following the sound. He saw the water churning, and a gray figure was rapidly swimming towards them.
As they approached the painted boat, the person looked up.
Wang Chuyi was greatly surprised. “Young Friend Zhou, you… how are you in the lake?”
Sun Buer and Ma Yu also hurried over, their expressions no less surprised than Wang Chuyi’s.
“Young Friend Zhou.”
“Escort Zhou.”
Both spoke at the same time. Qiu Chuji also guessed Zhou Yan’s identity. He let out a “ha.” Just a moment ago, he was thinking about “following fate,” and in an instant, the Young Friend Zhou that his senior brothers and sister praised so highly appeared from the lake.
It was truly marvelous.
Wang Chuyi asked Zhou Yan why he was in the lake.
Zhou Yan said, “Taoist Priest, please come aboard for a chat.”
Wang Chuyi, Ma Yu, and the others snapped back to reality.
“Please come aboard, Young Friend.” Wang Chuyi found a rope and threw it down. Zhou Yan held the rope, and with the pull from the other side, he rose into the air and landed lightly on the boat.
Yin Zhiping, a young Taoist priest watching from a distance, exclaimed and said to the older Taoist priest beside him, “Senior Brother Zhao, we’ve met him before, at Songhe Tower in Zhongdu.”
Zhao Zhijing also remembered. They had even exchanged a few words at Songhe Tower. At that time, he had disliked Zhou Yan’s attempt to curry favor with the Quanzhen Sect and had left in a hurry with his junior brother.
He never expected that the Young Friend Zhou, whom his Master and Junior Uncle spoke so highly of, was the escort he had looked down upon that day.
Zhou Yan landed on the boat, and Wang Chuyi asked, “Young Friend, what is this about?”
“I went to visit the pagoda at Nanping Mountain, but I was pursued and escaped by fleeing into the water.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhijing thought that he had also fought with companions at Songhe Tower that day. Escorts were indeed crude. He didn’t understand why his Master and Junior Uncle regarded such people with importance.
Qingjing Sanren said, “Who were the fierce bandits? We will help you repel them.”
Zhou Yan quickly replied, “Thank you, Daoist Priest, for your righteousness. However, those scoundrels were masked, and I didn’t see their faces. I also believe they have long since departed.”
Sun Buer expressed regret and cursed them as scoundrels.
Although Zhou Yan said he didn’t recognize them, he already had an answer.
Cui Qingshan’s Iron Abacus and cultivation technique routines were all too familiar. The ones who attacked him were from the Changfeng Escort Agency.
