168: Chapter 48 A Fierce Criticism of Qiu Chuji

"What difficulties do I have?"

Hearing Yang Tiexin's words, Qiu Chuji asked himself in his heart.

He certainly had difficulties, but these difficulties...

Qiu Chuji closed his eyes, let out a long sigh, and then showed a look of shame: "It's a long story."

"Back then, I made a bet for a Martial Arts contest with the Jiangnan Seven Heroes and traveled across the length and breadth of the country looking for the whereabouts of Yang Kang and his mother, but there were no results within the Song Dynasty. Thus, even though I was resistant and had ten thousand reasons not to, I had to turn my target toward the Jin people's territory."

"But I never expected that when I found them, my old friend's wife had become an enemy prince's consort, and my old friend's son had become an enemy's little prince."

"Initially, I thought Bao Xiruo had failed her womanly duties and was greedy for wealth, so I snuck into the Prince's Manor at night, intending to eliminate her."

"But when I arrived, I unexpectedly found Bao Xiruo living in a secluded spot within the manor. The place she lived in was almost identical to the old Yang family home. At the same time, she was reminiscing about Brother Yang while facing an Iron Spearhead. This made me realize that things were not as I had thought, and there must be another hidden story."

"Just as I was planning to leave and investigate further, Wanyan Honglie suddenly sent someone over, asking me to see him."

"All of this was too sudden for me at the time, so much so that I had no time or mind to think carefully. At that moment, I only had one thought in my head, which was to take the opportunity to kill Wanyan Honglie and take Kanger away."

"But Wanyan Honglie had already secretly controlled everything. At that time, he not only gathered many guards around him but also took the opportunity to propose a duel with me."

"If I won, he would let me take Yang Kang and his mother away."

"If he won, I would have to acknowledge Yang Kang as Wanyan Kang, let the secret of Yang Kang's background rot in my stomach, and then teach him Martial Arts."

"I felt my skills were superior, and in a fit of passion, I agreed."

"As a result, Wanyan Honglie used his strengths to attack my weaknesses, choosing spear fighting, which I was weakest at."

"More importantly, during the contest, he used the Yang Family Spear Techniques and also used my guilt toward the Guo and Yang families to disturb my mind."

"In the end, I lost."

Hearing this, Ke Zhene slapped his thigh: "Daoist Master Qiu, you were muddled!"

Hearing this, Qiu Chuji did not refute it, but only lowered his head and sighed: "In the situation at the time, I couldn't think that much."

Beside him, Iron Foot Master heard this and wanted to say something, but seeing the people around, he ultimately did not speak.

Seeing this, Meng Li couldn't help but let out a sneer.

Qiu Chuji was feeling a mix of guilt, regret, and resentment. Hearing this laughter, he immediately looked toward Meng Li: "Young Hero Meng, what are you laughing at?"

Meng Li glanced at him and replied: "Naturally, I am laughing at a laughable person, laughing at a laughable matter."

Qiu Chuji immediately flushed red and said through gritted teeth: "I was certainly wrong in this matter and have failed Brother Yang, but it's hardly laughable, is it?"

Meng Li did not answer but asked instead: "Is the Daoist Master a person of the Song?"

"Naturally."

"Does the Daoist Master know Wanyan Honglie's identity?"

"I know."

"Does the Daoist Master have a friendship with him?"

Qiu Chuji flatly denied: "I am a person of the Song, and he is of the Jin people. The Jin people invade our Song Dynasty's land and harm our Song Dynasty's people, committing all kinds of evil. Wanyan Honglie and I can only be enemies; I wish I could kill him quickly. How could there be any friendship?"

"Does the Daoist Master know Yang Kang's identity?"

Qiu Chuji said: "I know."

"What is his identity?"

"A person of the Song."

"Anything else?"

"The son of Brother Yang."

"Anything else?"

Qiu Chuji's face froze: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Meng Li said: "Besides being a person of the Song and the son of your old friend, Yang Kang is also a descendant of the Yang family!"

"What kind of reputation the Yang family has in the Song Dynasty, surely the Daoist Master must know? Ancestral heroes and loyal descendants, revered by all."

Then, he asked again: "Over these years, how many times has the Daoist Master gone to the Zhao Kings Manor to see Yang Kang?"

Qiu Chuji remained silent.

Meng Li answered for himself: "To teach him Martial Arts, going two or three times a year should be necessary."

Subsequently, he went full force: "So..."

"The Daoist Master is a person of the Song!"

"You know the Yang family has a reputation for loyalty and is revered by all!"

"You know that Wanyan Honglie is an enemy of our Song Dynasty and have no friendship with him, only hatred!"

"Yet, while clearly knowing you were being manipulated, for the sake of a so-called promise born from a petty dispute, you could hide the background of a revered loyal descendant of our Song Dynasty—your old friend's son—for eighteen years."

"You could watch him time and time again acknowledge a foe as his father and take the wrong path!"

"You could stand by and let him sink step by step into unrighteousness, bringing shame to his ancestors!"

"You could witness the reputation of the Yang family's loyalty being damaged yet remain indifferent!"

"Daoist Master Qiu..."

"You truly are the most 'trustworthy' person of all time!"

Qiu Chuji's eyes widened, his face turned pale, and his hands clenched into fists, yet he couldn't say a single word in rebuttal.

Iron Foot Master on the side wanted to help, but he too couldn't speak.

Because in this matter, Qiu Chuji had indeed acted muddled!

Although Meng Li's words were mocking and slightly exaggerated, they were also the truth.

Not to mention others, as his Junior Brother, he had just wanted to say Qiu Chuji was muddled and couldn't distinguish between what was important and what was not, but because outsiders were present, it wasn't good to damage his Senior Brother's reputation in public.

The Jiangnan Six Monsters each shook their heads, feeling somewhat dispirited.

They suddenly remembered that when they first met and fought with Qiu Chuji, the other party was also hot-blooded and impulsive.

However, at that time, both sides were young and full of vigor, and they were all people of the Jianghu, so they didn't think much of it.

But regarding the Yang family's matter, Qiu Chuji's handling was truly a long story.

Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo felt helplessness, pain, and conflict in their hearts, yet they also felt a sense of satisfaction.

It was as if the bitterness of so many years had found an outlet.

Huang Rong secretly clapped her hands in delight.

As for Mu Nianci...

At this moment, she looked at Meng Li; in her eyes, there was no one else but her beloved, her eyes shining brightly.

And Meng Li's words continued: "I just wonder if The Real Person of Chongyang knew in the afterlife, would he be proud to have such a disciple?"

"When he meets the Yang family ancestor who died from two liters of arrowheads while resisting the Jin people, will he be able to hold his head high?"

"I am very curious about these two questions."

"If the Daoist Master goes down there one day, you might as well ask your esteemed master."

Hearing this, Qiu Chuji felt as if he had been struck hard; his pale face turned deathly white.

Wang Chongyang's greatest wish in life was to resist the Jin people and recover lost territory. He spent most of his life working toward this, but because his great ambitions were unfulfilled, he turned to founding a sect and taking disciples.

Qiu Chuji had spent many years killing Jin people and eliminating Han traitors everywhere. While there were personal factors, to a large extent, it was also for the sake of the wish Wang Chongyang couldn't fulfill.

Meng Li's words were equivalent to a direct strike on his Dao Heart.

So, coming back to his senses, he hurriedly defended himself: "It's not like that! At that time, besides keeping my promise, I also thought that everything could be resolved after eleven years..."

Before he could finish, Meng Li interrupted: "You thought? Who do you think you are, the Heavens?"

"What makes you think everything would develop according to your thoughts?!"

"You couldn't even foresee that you would involve the Guo and Yang families back then; where do you get the confidence to assert that things eleven years later would develop as you predicted?"

Then, he changed the subject: "The matters of the Guo and Yang families back then did indeed start because of you, but it wasn't because you stayed at their homes."

Qiu Chuji was stunned, then as if grasping at a straw: "Then why was it?"

Meng Li said: "It was because you killed Wang Daoqian back then!"

Hearing this, Qiu Chuji and the others were a bit dazed.

"Could it be that I was also wrong to eliminate a traitor for the country?"

...