292: Chapter 72 Internal Strife within the Beggars' Sect

As for Abbot Xuan Ci and the others going to Lingjiu Palace to look for someone? Putting aside the fact that they are unaware of the truth, even if they actually showed up at the doorstep, they would only return in defeat.

Two of the three Elders of the Xiaoyao Sect, plus one of the Four Masters!

With this lineup, Meng Li felt that, aside from himself who was cheating with his abilities, only the Sweeping Monk in the world of Tian Long could possibly win.

And the probability of the Sweeping Monk following them to Lingjiu Palace to start a fight is basically zero.

Because in the original story, the Sweeping Monk stayed in the Shaolin Monastery Scripture Pavilion for forty-two or forty-three years. While he is called a divine monk outside the world, Meng Li felt he was more like a guardian of the Shaolin Monastery's foundation, similar to the hidden Old Ancestors in many Xuanhuan novels who would absolutely not make a move unless the Sect was in danger of destruction.

For an existence like this, he would never step forward for something like going to someone's door to demand people.

The reason Meng Li thought this way was that the timing of the Sweeping Monk's appearance in the original story and his subsequent actions fit this setting very well.

In the original story, when Abbot Xuan Ci, the abbot, was punished in public and beaten to death, the Sweeping Monk did not appear.

But when Xiao Yuanshan and his son, along with Murong Bo and his son, had a falling out in the Scripture Pavilion and were about to start a major fight, he took the initiative to speak up and reveal himself.

It is hard not to suspect that the Sweeping Monk was afraid that if the few of them fought, they would tear down the Scripture Pavilion and cause the Shaolin Monastery to lose its foundation.

If those few hadn't run to the Scripture Pavilion, even if they had fought to the death, he might not have bothered with them.

Furthermore, after the Sweeping Monk appeared, he pointed out that Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo had internal injuries that needed to be resolved with Dharma, which was clearly an attempt to make the two of them become monks.

In the end, he took action to convert the two of them and let them stay in the Shaolin Monastery, which verified this point.

The Shaolin Monastery thus gained two top-tier experts, and their high-end combat power was not only not lost after Abbot Xuan Ci passed away, but actually increased.

Murong Bo and Xiao Yuanshan were about sixty years old at the time. After their internal injuries were healed, with their Martial Arts, it would be no problem for them to live another twenty or thirty years under normal circumstances.

Being able to protect the Shaolin Monastery for twenty or thirty years can undoubtedly be called a foundation.

It is very reasonable for an Old Ancestor responsible for guarding the Sect's foundation to add to that foundation.

However, that was the original story. Now, if the Sweeping Monk wants to forcibly convert Murong Bo, barring any accidents, he will definitely have to face the two Elders and one Master.

If Wu Ya Zi is capable, and when Li Qiu Shui goes up to Lingjiu Palace, they work with Murong Bo to keep her there, then the lineup would be three Elders and one Master.

Li Qiu Shui's arrival is also one of the reasons why Meng Li arranged for Murong Bo to go to Lingjiu Palace.

Without any accidents, Li Qiu Shui will still go to Lingjiu Palace during the period when the Old Woman of Tian Shan is weak from her rejuvenation.

Meng Li is currently the Young Master of Lingjiu Palace. If he wants to continue being a hands-off manager, the best way is to let the Old Woman of Tian Shan, as the Master, continue in her position.

To prevent the Old Woman of Tian Shan from having an accident due to the butterfly effect, or ending up like the original story, he had to add some safeguards.

Wu Ya Zi counts as one safeguard, and Murong Bo is the second.

Just in case, Meng Li also plans to return to Lingjiu Palace himself when the time comes.

Thinking about various things in his mind, he floated back to Canhe Village.

"Young Master." "Master." "Li Lang."

As soon as Meng Li landed, A Bi, A Zi, Mu Wanqing, and the others greeted him.

Before they could ask, Meng Li spoke first: "I am fine. That person has already been dealt with by me; you need not worry. Are there any other unusual situations in the village?"

The women all shook their heads in unison.

Meng Li immediately waved his hand and said: "Then go back and rest."

"Yes."

The next morning.

Wang Yuyan came to Canhe Village and, upon learning about last night's events, immediately asked Meng Li with concern.

Meng Li had already prepared his excuses and successfully handled the situation.

Just after finishing this conversation, Mei Jian and Zhu Jian arrived.

"Young Master, something has happened to the Beggars Sect."

"What happened?" Meng Li asked with slight curiosity as he opened his mouth to eat a slice of orange that Wang Yuyan had brought to his lips.

In fact, he had some guesses in his mind. It was highly likely that the trap Kang Min and Quan Guanqing set for Qiao Feng was starting to take effect, leading Qiao Feng to resign and leave to pursue the leader of the group.

Without a leader, the Beggars Sect's situation collapsed, beginning to fall apart and even becoming chaotic.

However, Meng Li had recently defeated Qiao Feng and severely injured Quan Guanqing, so things should have changed.

Therefore, he could not determine exactly what happened.

Zhu Jian replied: "The specific details are unclear. We only know that the Beggars Sect experienced internal strife some time ago: the four great Protector Elders accused the Beggars Sect Leader Qiao Feng of lacking the virtue for his position and forced him to abdicate. However, the two Elders in charge of passing on skills and law enforcement rejected this and instead labeled the four great Elders as traitors to the Sect."

Mei Jian continued: "Later, Ma Dayuan's widow, Kang Min, brought people to the scene and produced the suicide note of the former Beggars Sect Leader, Wang Jiantong, identifying Qiao Feng as a Khitan."

"The people who came with Kang Min were all quite prestigious, and they all together identified Qiao Feng as a Khitan."

"Just like that, Qiao Feng's identity as a Khitan was confirmed."

Zhu Jian continued: "Then, Kang Min said that Qiao Feng killed Ma Dayuan to hide the secret of his origins, and even brought out a paper fan that Qiao Feng usually carried as evidence. Qiao Feng could not defend himself and had to resign from the position of Beggars Sect Leader."

Meng Li sorted and compared the information, discovering that the situation was similar to the original story, only missing the parts where Feng Boe and others went to challenge the Beggars Sect, and A Zhu defending Qiao Feng.

If he remembered correctly, shortly after Qiao Feng left the Beggars Sect, people from the Western Xia's Yipintang would come knocking.

The high-ranking members of the Beggars Sect were poisoned by the Sorrowful Crisp Breeze Poison and were all taken down.

Later, it was A Zhu, A Bi, Wang Yuyan, and Duan Yu who worked together to save them.

Now that A Zhu, A Bi, and Wang Yuyan were not involved, and the probability of Duan Yu getting mixed up in it was extremely low, the people in the Beggars Sect would likely be in trouble.

However, this had nothing to do with Meng Li. After thinking about it for a moment, he cast it to the back of his mind.

A Zi, who was nearby, asked in surprise: "Did Qiao Feng kill Ma Dayuan?"

"Master, I remember you seemed to have said before that the murderer of Ma Dayuan was in the Beggars Sect, and now it is indeed so."

"Master, how did you know?"

Meng Li glanced at her and said casually: "Qiao Feng did not necessarily kill Ma Dayuan. As for determining that the murderer was someone from the Beggars Sect, it is simple. Ma Dayuan died from his own famous Throat-Locking Technique, and the place of death was his own home."

"To achieve the former, besides Shifting Stars, there is another possibility, which is that the murderer also knows the Throat-Locking Technique."

"But as far as I know, the Throat-Locking Technique is Ma Dayuan's family secret skill. He has no brothers and no offspring, so it is impossible for it to have been passed on to outsiders." The one who said this was Mu Wanqing.

Meng Li smiled and said: "That may be true, but to learn a martial art, it does not necessarily have to be taught by someone."

After speaking, he used his Qi to snatch a tree branch from the ground into his hand and shot it out with a unique technique.

Mu Wanqing was stunned: "This is..."

Meng Li said: "This is your habitual hidden weapon technique. You have never taught me. But I have seen you use it a few times, and after a little thought, I learned it. How much do you think it resembles yours?"

"Perfectly."

Mu Wanqing replied, and then realized: "You mean the murderer also learned the Throat-Locking Technique through this method, and then used it to kill Ma Dayuan."

Meng Li nodded.

Seeing this, Wang Yuyan frowned and said: "But in this world, people with outstanding talent like you, Cousin, are likely rare."

A Zhu smiled and said: "Therefore, the murderer should have seen Ma Dayuan use the Throat-Locking Technique more than once. In other words, his relationship with Ma Dayuan was not bad, at least they were familiar with each other, and only then would he have the opportunity to learn the Throat-Locking Technique from him."

A Bi followed up: "That's right. Since they were acquaintances, it would naturally be easy for him to go to Ma Dayuan's house." "And since Ma Dayuan was the Deputy Beggars Sect Leader, those who were familiar with him were basically all members of the Beggars Sect."

A Zi nodded slightly, then felt confused: "But Qiao Feng meets all these conditions. Master, why do you say he is not necessarily the murderer?"