343: Chapter 123 Zhu Danchen

According to Quan Guanqing's confession, during the recent Heroes Assembly at the Shaolin Monastery, the reason Helian Tieshu and hundreds of Western Xia soldiers were able to successfully reach the Shaolin Monastery was because he had used his status as a Beggars Sect Disciple to provide cover for them.

He did not mention Li Qiu Shui in his account.

However, Meng Li felt that her shadow loomed behind the incident, and it was highly likely she was the mastermind.

This was because Helian Tieshu and the Western Xia Imperial Hall did not have a habit of plundering others' Martial Arts Secret Manuals.

In contrast, Li Qiu Shui had a prior record.

When Li Qiu Shui and Wu Ya Zi lived in seclusion, the Langhuan Blessed Land housed the majority of Secret Manuals from many Schools, which were later transferred to the Langhuan Jade Cave at Manda Mountain Villa.

Some of these Secret Manuals were the previous foundation of the Xiaoyao Sect.

The rest had been collected by Wu Ya Zi and Li Qiu Shui.

Li Qiu Shui likely had a greater need for them, as she mainly cultivated the Skill of No Phase.

The Skill of No Phase was claimed to be able to simulate all Martial Arts in the world; since it was a simulation, it certainly required references. To develop this function to its limit, naturally, the more Martial Arts one knew, the better.

At the same time, Li Qiu Shui had previously returned defeated from the Lingjiu Palace; it made sense that she would want to rely on collecting more powerful Martial Arts to strengthen herself afterward.

However, she likely had not expected someone like the Sweeping Monk to be at the Shaolin Monastery; otherwise, she surely would have been wary or taken countermeasures.

Combining Quan Guanqing's words with his own knowledge, Meng Li sorted out and perfected the sequence of events.

As for whether the truth was really as he surmised, the matter had already ended, and he couldn't be bothered to verify it.

Confirming there were no omissions or anything else he wanted to know, Meng Li killed Quan Guanqing with a single palm strike and carried his corpse to the courtyard to dispose of it using the Flame Blade.

Fortunately, this was a Wuxia world where the authorities cared little about the fighting and killing among people of the Jianghu, and ordinary people avoided such matters at all costs; otherwise, such a crude method of killing and burning a corpse would surely have attracted attention and invited trouble.

During this, Wang Yuyan, A Bi, and the others recognized Quan Guanqing but were not very surprised.

After all, they had also seen Quan Guanqing use the Green Flame Divine Palm at the Shaolin Monastery.

They were just a little curious.

"Husband, was he in cahoots with those three villains and the Tibetan monk?" Wang Yuyan asked, frowning.

Meng Li nodded, "Not only that, but he was also in collusion with the Western Xia Imperial Hall."

Then, he omitted his speculation regarding Li Qiu Shui and briefly explained the origin and development of the matter.

The reason he did not mention the part about Li Qiu Shui was that it was currently just speculation and had not yet been confirmed.

Once he finished speaking, the courtyard door was pushed open. It was Mu Wanqing, who had stayed in the opposite courtyard to look after Gan Baobao, returning, followed by Gan Baobao, Zhong Ling, and Zhu Danchen.

Seeing the burning corpse, Gan Baobao and Zhu Danchen were first surprised, then realized what was happening.

It turned out that someone had come to attack this side as well, only to kick an iron plate.

Immediately, Zhu Danchen cupped his hands to Meng Li and said, "Young Master Murong, I have a request that I am hesitant to make, I wonder if it is appropriate to…"

Before he could finish, Meng Li interrupted, "Since it is a request you are hesitant to make, then don't say it."

Zhu Danchen was speechless.

He had not expected Meng Li to deviate from the expected routine.

Meng Li, however, had already guessed what Zhu Danchen wanted to request; it was nothing more than saving Duan Yu.

He had no interest in this matter.

Judging by the current situation, Duan Yu counted as Meng Li's brother-in-law, but the relationship between the two was truly ordinary.

Moreover, Meng Li's impression of Duan Yu was really not very good.

Setting aside the "simp" filter brought by the original story, he felt that he and Duan Yu were not the same type of person, and he found it difficult to understand his behavioral logic.

Take this trip to the Shaolin Monastery for the Heroes Assembly, for example.

Duan Yu had already ascended the throne for some time. As the sovereign of a country, instead of staying in the Dali palace to handle state affairs, he had actually traveled all this way to join in the excitement.

Not only that, but he had also brought the paralyzed Duan Zhengchun along. He claimed it was to take the opportunity to seek out famous doctors for him, but in reality, there had been no relevant actions taken at all. It was clearly just an excuse to come out, and he did not genuinely want to find a famous doctor for Duan Zhengchun.

Using his paralyzed father as a front—if Duan Zhengchun was willing, that was fine.

The problem was that this father and son had enemies outside; whether it was Duan Yanqing, who wanted to reclaim the throne, or Jiumozhi, who coveted the Six Veins Divine Sword, they could not defeat either of them.

This was a fact both of them had personally verified.

Faced with such a situation, in Meng Li's view, let alone joining in the excitement, even if there were real business, he might not necessarily go out.

He would first train his Martial Arts to the level where he could kill his enemies before doing anything else.

If his own Martial Arts were hopeless, then he would use bounties, borrowing a knife to kill, or similar methods to wipe them all out.

Otherwise, if one had to be on guard against the other party showing up at their door while staying at home, how could one dare to go out with peace of mind?

However, Duan Yu dared to!

Not only did he dare, but he also went on a long journey, and while bringing along three burdens, he only brought three guards.

Meng Li truly could not understand where Duan Yu got his courage.

Could it be that because he was captured by Jiumozhi and hunted by Duan Yanqing without suffering any substantial harm, he thought these dangers were all child's play?

Except for this explanation, Meng Li could not think of any other reason for the time being.

If that were really the case, then his rescuing Duan Yu from Jiumozhi's hands this time would likely only add a few more points of courage to him.

Then Duan Yu would run out to fool around again next time…

Thinking of this possibility, Meng Li glanced at the embarrassed Zhu Danchen and vaguely saw a blurry, flickering blood-red character above his head—Danger!

Zhu Danchen met Meng Li's gaze, composed his embarrassment, and said sincerely, "Young Master Murong, although this is a request I am hesitant to make, I still must say it. His Majesty's safety concerns the very foundation of Dali. I beg you, Young Master, to extend a helping hand, and all of Dali will surely reward you heavily afterwards."

As he spoke, he was actually about to kneel to Meng Li.

Meng Li raised his hand and used True Qi to stop him, while saying, "Duan Yu's safety concerns the foundation of Dali? That is just what you think."

"If he were truly that important, how could he just find an excuse and leave Dali?"

"A person of great worth does not court danger; a person of high status does not take unnecessary risks."

"As the sovereign of Dali, Duan Yu should be high in the imperial court, worrying about the country and its people. Yet, in order to meddle in the affairs of the Jianghu, not only did he easily leave Dali, but knowing full well there were enemies outside that he could not handle, he only brought you three guards."

"It is clear he does not view himself from the position of a sovereign, and he is equally indifferent to his own safety."

"Furthermore, from Emperor Baoding's abdication to study Buddhism until Duan Yu inherited the throne, Dali was in a state of having no sovereign for quite some time."

"Did any turmoil occur during that period?"

Zhu Danchen was silent.

The answer was negative.

If turmoil had occurred in Dali, Duan Zhengchun, Duan Yu, and even they, the guards, would not have had the leisure or time to wander around outside.

But Zhu Danchen could not respond to this.

To respond would be to indicate that he believed it didn't matter whether the Dali Kingdom had a Duan clan member as emperor or not.

Although this was indeed the fact, and Zhu Danchen felt a sense of agreement, he could not express it.

He was a Dali man and Duan Yu's guard; once he expressed this thought, it would be treasonous.

Meng Li could be completely unconcerned because he was not a Dali man and possessed extremely high Martial Arts.

Even if the Dali Duan Clan knew, it would be difficult to hold him accountable.

Having said this much, Zhu Danchen already understood that Meng Li was not only unwilling to help but also held Duan Yu in some contempt.

He was not angry about this latter point.

Because Zhu Danchen himself had reservations about Duan Yu coming out on this trip.

But there was no help for it; who made him a subject and Duan Yu the sovereign?

Now that Duan Zhengchun was dead and Duan Yu had been captured, he had already failed in his duty as a guard.

If he did not find a way to rescue Duan Yu, he would truly have no way to answer for it upon returning to Dali.

If anything were to happen to Duan Yu, not only would he lose his life, but his family would also not escape death.

Thinking of this, Zhu Danchen was filled with helplessness. Biting the bullet, he resorted to his last measure, bowing to A Zhu, A Zi, and Mu Wanqing, "Young ladies, I know that because of the Prince's past absurd actions, you do not think highly of him or His Majesty."

"But regardless of anything else, His Majesty is ultimately your brother, and he bears no grudge against you."

"At this moment, he is in distress; I beg you to save him!"

Seeing Zhu Danchen say this, Gan Baobao also spoke up…