135: Chapter 15 Martial Arts Tournament for Marriage

"Then what about your six Masters blaming you, and what is the matter with your hand?"

Hearing this question, Guo Jing proceeded to tell what happened next.

After returning to the Inn, he went to fetch water for his six Masters, but unexpectedly caught sight of his father's killer, Duan Tiande. Startled and anxious, he told Han Xiaoying, who happened to come by, and chased after Duan Tiande with her.

Midway, the two separated. Guo Jing successfully tracked him to Duan Tiande's home, but was fooled by a string of lies into mistakenly believing the person before him merely looked like Duan Tiande.

Later, he returned to the Inn and told his six Masters about the matter.

The Jiangnan Six Monsters were no novices. After hearing the story, they immediately saw that Guo Jing had been deceived and quickly returned with him to the Duan residence, but the place was already empty.

The murderer of his father was right before his eyes, yet he let him escape!

The Jiangnan Six Monsters were beyond furious.

Guo Jing was also extremely frustrated, running outside alone to strike a tree to vent.

That was how the injury on his hand came about.

The Jiangnan Six Monsters' reprimands were also born of frustration that he hadn't lived up to his potential.

After finishing the story, Guo Jing said with reddened eyes, "My father's killer was right in front of me, yet I let him go because of a few words."

"Elder Brother Meng, do you think I'm very stupid?"

Meng Li replied, "It's not stupidity, it's youth. Because you are young and have little experience, you were deceived by Duan Tiande's clever words."

"But this is normal; after all, everyone has been young and done some stupid or foolish things."

"This cannot be considered a bad thing."

"Because people often only learn their lessons after suffering a loss, so as to avoid making the same mistake next time. This is what's called Jianghu experience, also known as life experience. After accumulating a certain amount of experience, a person becomes mature and steady, knowing how to respond when encountering things."

Guo Jing seemed to have some realization, then asked in confusion, "Elder Brother Meng, you don't look much older than me, why do you know so much?"

Meng Li smiled, "Because I've seen many people and things during my travels. When you see and experience more, you naturally understand more."

"You don't need to be too frustrated or blame yourself."

"It's certainly a pity that you were deceived and accidentally let that Duan Tiande escape this time. But through this matter, you know he is a cunning person who is good at using words to deceive. Next time you meet him, don't listen to anything he says; just take action directly to seek revenge."

"In this way, you've made progress compared to before."

"Furthermore, he fled immediately after deceiving you."

"What does this show? It shows he is afraid of you. First, he has a grudge against you, and second, he knows he cannot defeat you."

"Otherwise, he could have just eliminated you instead of running away."

"Since that's the case, the next time you encounter him, you will surely be able to take your revenge."

"So, don't deny yourself because of this or feel like you're no good; always think more about the positive side of things."

After finishing his words, Meng Li stood up, walked to Guo Jing's side, and patted his shoulder. "Think about it yourself. I'm going back to the Inn to rest first."

After speaking, he left on his own. Before he had gone far, Guo Jing caught up.

"Elder Brother Meng, thank you!" Guo Jing thanked him with a sincere face, then added, "From childhood until now, you are the first person to teach me this way."

Meng Li waved his hand, "You're welcome. It's getting late, go back to the Inn and rest."

"Okay."

...

The next morning.

Meng Li felt he had rested enough and prepared to buy some Yanjing local specialties to bring home for his family to taste.

Just as he arrived near a specialty shop, he saw a large crowd gathered in a circle. The sound of clashing weapons and cheers rang out one after another. Looking closely, he saw a banner erected in the middle of the crowd with four large characters written on it—Martial Arts Marriage Contest!

Meng Li immediately raised an eyebrow and walked toward the crowd.

When he got inside, he looked intently and saw a young girl dressed in washed-out red martial attire, holding a Red-tasseled Spear. She was fighting one against two, trading blows back and forth with a yellow-robed monk and a shirtless man.

Under the Martial Arts Marriage Contest banner, a middle-aged man with a full beard, wearing coarse blue cloth clothes, sat watching.

Beside him was a weapon rack with some weapons displayed on it.

During a turn, the red-clad girl's face came into Meng Li's view, looking familiar to him. He thought to himself, 'As expected.'

The person in this Martial Arts Marriage Contest was Mu Nianci!

She had the face of Shishi from his first life, but slightly more youthful, with a resolute gaze and a stubborn expression.

At this moment, she was using the Yang Family Spear Techniques with the Red-tasseled Spear in her hand. Her movements were well-coordinated as she dodged and shifted; even in a two-on-one fight, she was more than capable.

Her opponents, the yellow-robed monk and the shirtless man—one holding a staff and the other a saber—were fighting two-against-one but lacked coordination, leaving them at a disadvantage.

After a few rounds, the two also realized this. They exchanged a glance and moved together from left and right. Taking advantage of a gap where Mu Nianci couldn't attend to both, they grabbed the head and tail of her Red-tasseled Spear, holding on tightly to compete with her in strength.

It was true that Mu Nianci's skill surpassed theirs, but a young girl's strength ultimately couldn't match two adult men.

For a moment, the situation reached a stalemate.

Mu Nianci's brows furrowed slightly. She gripped the spear shaft and leaped up, her body flipping through the air several times.

The Red-tasseled Spear was forced to rotate.

To stop Mu Nianci from using her spear techniques, the yellow-robed monk and the shirtless man held the spear extremely tightly, but they weren't wearing hand guards like she was. As the spear rotated, it rubbed against their palms, causing them sharp pain and forcing them to let go.

As soon as they let go, Mu Nianci immediately seized the opportunity and kicked them in the chest.

The yellow-robed monk and the shirtless man were instantly kicked to the ground, unable to get up, clearly incapable of fighting further.

Seeing this, the onlookers clapped and cheered.

At this time, the middle-aged man in coarse blue clothes—Yang Tiexin, using the pseudonym Mu Yi—stood up, walked to the center of the clearing, looked around, and said loudly, "Is there any other hero who would like to try?"

"I'll give it a try."

As the words fell, Meng Li stepped out of the crowd and stood opposite Mu Nianci.

On the other side, Yang Kang also intended to go up. Seeing someone beat him to it, he couldn't help but frown. However, thinking that the other party might not necessarily win, he didn't lose his temper and chose to watch quietly.

Guo Jing was stunned when he saw Meng Li.

Elder Brother Meng?

He is going up for the Martial Arts Marriage Contest? He knows Martial Arts?

Meanwhile, both Yang Tiexin and Mu Nianci sized Meng Li up, both reaching the same conclusion: handsome and of extraordinary bearing!

However, their subsequent thoughts were somewhat different.

Mu Nianci felt very satisfied, her heart beginning to flutter.

Yang Tiexin had some concerns, "Young hero, you are handsome and have an extraordinary bearing. My daughter and I are just commoners of the Jianghu; I fear my daughter is hardly a match for you. So..."

Before he could finish, Meng Li interrupted, "People in the Jianghu value being like-minded and having mutual affection. Your Excellency calls yourself a person of the Jianghu, yet you are constrained by social status and family background; that is somewhat beneath you. Besides, Your Excellency just said publicly that anyone could come up to compete."

Yang Tiexin was speechless.

Seeing this, Meng Li turned to look at Mu Nianci.

"Miss, please."

...