Chapter 76: Chapter 55: Waves Rise Again
Translator: 549690339
As it turned out, Lu Yuan’s happiness did not last long.
Life sometimes does not go as smoothly as one might hope.
After returning from the county town, everything seemed peaceful, just like before, as if the world were to remain peaceful forever.
But this peaceful life only lasted for two months before it was abruptly shattered.
“Business is tough lately.”
“Isn’t it? There are more and more martial artists from the Jianghu everywhere. They’re fighting private duels with people everywhere, and some have even become bandits, cutting off the roads. I fear for my life every time I step out of the city. Who dares to do business under such circumstances?”
“Why are there so many people from the martial arts world all of a sudden? Are there big events happening in the martial arts world?”
“The situation now feels a lot like the Black Wind Gang trouble two years ago.
Our Luling Prefecture isn’t going to be in chaos again, right?”
“Hush… Don’t talk nonsense. Everything is peaceful in our Luling Prefecture, and our days are getting better by the day. Don’t jinx it.”
At noon, as usual, Lu Yuan came to the tavern, and unsurprisingly, several merchants were lamenting the difficulties they’ve been facing lately.
About half a month ago, ripples began to emerge in the Luling Prefecture’s martial arts circle, which had just calmed down for two years.
These people’s origins were unknown, but they were all extremely fierce. They seemed to be hostile to one another, as many of them began fighting to the death upon encountering each other.
Such a large gathering of martial artists, accompanied by frequent private duels, inevitably caused the public safety in Luling Prefecture to deteriorate rapidly.
Even in Yangmei Town, Lu Yuan ran into a passing Jianghu martial artist two days ago while practicing palm techniques in the Plum Forest outside the town.
Fortunately, he discovered the intruder early and was able to conceal himself in time, avoiding detection.
It was then that Lu Yuan truly understood the concept of having more martial artists around, as mentioned by the merchants.
As a result, in the following days, he no longer dared to practice outside and could only stay at home, unable to go out for fresh air.
In fact, if there were just more Jianghu martial artists around, that would be fine.
Having experienced the Black Wind Gang turmoil before, Lu Yuan knew what to expect and believed that things would return to normal after some time.
But the subsequent events in Luling Prefecture were somewhat unsettling.
For some unknown reason, while the large number of visiting Jianghu martial artists were gathering in Luling Prefecture, the local martial arts factions began to mobilize and unite as well.
It was as if they were preparing for a major battle.
The various gang powers in Luling Prefecture were desperate to assemble their forces, mobilize, and prepare for life-and -death struggles.
As far as Lu Yuan knew,
Two peripheral members of the Black Wolf Gang in Yangmei Town, who usually did odd jobs and manual labor, were surprisingly summoned by the gang at this time. They were even instructed to bring their swords and knives, which was outrageous.
Determined to gather strength, they spared no one, not even the menial laborers. Lu Yuan would not believe that nothing had happened in Luling
Prefecture.
“With the gathering storm, I’ve got the feeling something big is about to happen in Luling Prefecture.
But those local gangs and visiting martial artists either don’t know what’s going on or are tight-lipped about it, so there hasn’t been any hint of what’s to come.
It makes it difficult to prepare in advance if one wants to steer clear of trouble.”
Thinking of the current atmosphere, Lu Yuan’s brows were furrowed.
He hated turmoil.
And now, the environment in Luling Prefecture was starting to make Lu Yuan doubt if it was a suitable place to live at all.
It had only been two years since the last bout of chaos, and now it started again.
Luling Prefecture seemed to possess some strange power, attracting all sorts of demons and monsters to stir up trouble, making a mess of everything.
“I’ll wait and see.”
Lu Yuan sighed wearily.
If it weren’t for the fact that this was his hometown and that he had managed to establish a foothold here, he might have been in danger in another unfamiliar environment.
He would have left this broken place long ago.
At least Lu Yuan is a homebody, and no matter how chaotic it was outside, it didn’t affect his practice.
Although Yangmei Town was poor, it wasn’t all bad. It was remote, so even if the outside world was in chaos, it would hardly affect the town.
The Black Wind Gang turmoil last time was quite fierce.
But throughout the entire chaos, not a single bandit made it to Yangmei Town. Their safety had already been proven.
Therefore, staying in the town gave Lu Yuan some confidence.
After staying in the town for a few more days, Lu Yuan focused more of his energy on watching the outside world, in addition to practicing martial arts.
He spent even more time in the tavern than usual.
In doing so, he reaped quite a few benefits.
At that moment, Lu Yuan and the other diners in the tavern were silent, and the usually noisy main hall was dead quiet.
In the center of the hall, at a table, a traveling fortune-teller had just taken a sip of tea and cleared his throat before saying leisurely, “I believe you all have heard of the duel between the Eagle King and the Iron Sword two years ago, right?”
“Of course we know. In that great battle, Master MO showed his great prowess, defeating the Eagle King with a single sword strike and winning the duel.” The town’s landlord, Old Master Sun, chimed in.
“Heh heh… won?” The fortune-teller laughed twice, then said sarcastically, “That’s just a lie used to fool you outsiders.”
After that, seeing the people in the hall looking astonished, he continued,
“That day’s great battle, though nominally a duel between Fang Tianying and MO Baichuan, MO Baichuan actually had help: none other than Shao Desheng, the leader of our Luling Prefecture.
These two were both top-notch martial artists in the Jianghu world, but even when combined, they were barely able to fight Fang Tianying to a draw.
Had it not been for the reinforcements from the Iron Sword Sect and the government, who surrounded and frightened Fang Tianying away, the outcome of that duel might still be uncertain.”
The people in the hall were visibly shocked when they heard this.
Even Lu Yuan was astonished.
Because what the fortune- teller said was vastly different from what they had heard before — it could even be described as two extremes.
One couldn’t help but wonder if what the fortune-teller said was true or false.
And why was he slandering MO Baichuan like this? Did he have a grudge against the Iron Sword Sect?
“How dare he boldly denigrate MO Baichuan, the leader of the Iron Sword Sect, right in their territory? Is he not afraid of the sect’s retribution?”
The entire Luling Prefecture could be considered the territory of the Iron Sword Sect.
In this area, while the Iron Sword Sect may not have tendrils everywhere, their eyes and ears certainly stretched far and wide.
Even in a remote place like Yangmei Town, there were peripheral forces of the Iron Sword Sect, such as the Black Wolf Gang members.
It was evident just how vast the Iron Sword Sect’s power was in Luling Prefecture.
This fortune-teller, daring to speak ill of the Iron Sword Sect leader in their domain, was not just courageous; he was simply courting death..