Chapter 412: Si Jin’s Return 7
Hualian Hot Mountain Springs Villa.
Several people stood on the roof of a certain tallest building in the area, watching the situation at the lake. It was not until the sky turned clear that Gu Cheng and several others’ expressions relaxed. Xiao Wuji subconsciously wiped the sweat that had broken out on the back of his neck. Mo Yang’s eyebrows were tightly screwed up, and he was silent.
After making sure that the huge wave had gone down, they observed for a while longer before getting off the roof and standing near the hot spring pool.
They looked at the flowing hot spring.
No one spoke first even after a long while.
Until Xiao Wuji broke the silence first. “Everyone saw what happened on the lake just now. It’s a.s.sumed that a terrifying battle took place.”
Gu Cheng seemed to have suffered a great mental shock. It was hard for him to return to his senses. He just murmured, “Why was that huge wave blocked by something?”
“Forget about that, the most important thing right now is finding out what happened over there,” Xiao Wuji patted his shoulder and said.
After Gu Cheng returned to his senses, he said, “Could it be that Old Mr. Pang was fighting with Old Mr. Gongsun again?”
“I don’t think so.” Xiao Wuji raised his eyebrows and said very calmly, “Think about it, the two of them have already dueled once before, so… It’s probably not a battle between those two today.”
Gu Cheng said, “Then what you mean is…”
Xiao Wuji said thoughtfully, “You know what I mean.”
Gu Cheng was silent.
He knew, but he did not want to know.
Mo Yang said the words Gu Cheng did not want to know. “That young boy showed up.”
“Is it Si Jin?” Gu Cheng muttered to himself.
“I think so.” Xiao Wuji nodded.
Mo Yang said with a smile, “If he really did show up, then the battle that made the sky murky and the earth dark just now would make sense.”
“Do you mean that the three grand masters had a brawl?” Xiao Wuji paused in silence. Had it been Si Jin and Gongsun She? Or was it Si Jin and Pang Juan?
“Impossible!!” Gu Cheng started pacing around all of a sudden. He said with a serious expression in his dark eyes, “The two old men dueled once previously. If Si Jin really showed up, then there’s only one possibility. That is, Pang Juan and Gongsun She teamed up against him!”
Xiao Wuji and Mo Yang froze at the same time.
After a long while.
“Now that the sky is clear…” Mo Yang pointed at the blue and sunny sky. After looking at the sky for a while, he murmured, “What do you guys think the results are?”
“Can’t say for sure.” ‘If the two really teamed up against Si Jin, it should be the two of them who won!’ Gu Cheng thought to himself.
Xiao Wuji lowered his murky eyes, and said, “It’s very interesting you say you can’t say for sure. I don’t suppose you think that there’s a glimmer of possibility that Si Jin won against Old Mr. Pang and Old Mr. Gongsun right!!”
“…” Gu Cheng was very irritated. He tousled his hair, then said, “I don’t know.” However, he had an inexplicable hunch on the inside…
Mo Yan proposed another possibility and said, “I think if Pang Juan and Gongsun She teamed up, Si Jin might be dead already.” The probability of old men Pang Juan and Gongsun She teaming up and losing was too low! In other words, them losing would be a miracle, so it was impossible for them to have lost.
Xiao Wuji felt his temples begin to pulsate. “The two of you have been talking too much. We might as well head over and see for ourselves.”
The three of them looked at each other and immediately walked to the stables in the backyard of the Hot Mountain Springs Villa. It was already too late to get someone to prepare the carriage, so they each took a horse and rode on it. They then left through the back door, riding the horses all the way forward.
When they arrived at the street near the lakesh.o.r.e, the three of them got off their horses. As soon as they took a few steps forward, still holding the horses, they heard the pa.s.sers-by whispering across the whole street.
“Oh, it’s too bad for that old ma just now.”
“What’s so bad about it?!” someone rebuked. “Many government officials came just now, and amongst them, one was the State Preceptor of the present dynasty, and one was the Head Grand Secretariat. They said that it was a grand master from Eastern Ling who died!!”
“That’s pretty bad too.”
“You idiot, the fact that one of the grand masters from Eastern Ling has died is a good thing for us Northern Liang!!”
“It is a good thing, but I feel very bad that an old man has died.” Some very sympathetic people could not help but speak up on the injustice.
“That’s why you’re an idiot!!” The person continued cursing.
…
…
Similar discussions could be heard everywhere.
Xiao Wuji’s expression paled. He said in a low voice, “Just now… do we have tinnitus? Did we misheard it?”
“Ya…” They must have heard wrong. Gu Cheng did not want to believe it.
Mo Yang looked at the two people who planned to pretend not to have heard and felt that they were being very ridiculous. He said coolly with a calm expression, “A grand master from Eastern Ling has died.”
Xiao Wuji, “…”
Gu Cheng, “…”
Mo Yan pursed his thin lips tightly and pointed to some government officials nearby. “Come, let’s go over and ask.”
Xiao Wuji and Gu Cheng were feeling very complicated.
Pang Juan had died?
How could that be possible?
Pang Juan was a grand master.
Could it be that he had not teamed up with Old Man Gongsun and had dealt with Si Jin alone? Was that why… he had lost to Si Jin?
However, that was impossible as well. Pang Juan was one of the seven grand masters, after all! How could he possibly have lost to a fledgling grand master like Si Jin?
Could it be that the young man had used some dirty tricks?!
After they went up, Mo Yang asked first, “Sir, what happened to the corpse just now?”
A government official took a look at the attire of the three young masters and knew that they were of n.o.ble status. He said quietly, “We’ve taken the body away. You people weren’t part of the crowd just now? That was the body of a grand master!! It’ll be sent back to Eastern Ling after it gets back!”
The three people, “…”
Mo Yang’s calm composure he had been holding for so long had collapsed in an instant.
Was Pang Juan really dead?
Had he died just like that?
Gu Cheng, who had already had a bad premonition in his heart, was completely dumbfounded now. His mind went blank and he did not react to anything at all. He simply stood still like a wooden stake.
Xiao Wuji was silent for a while before returning to his senses. He asked in a whisper, “What do we do now?”
Mo Yang held his forehead. “What else can we do? Of course we’ll go to the Qi Residence and ask them some questions!!”
Gu Cheng felt his head buzzing, and he no longer knew how to react. He could only say blankly, “What is there to ask?”
“???” Mo Yang looked at him incredulously, “Are you sure there’s nothing to ask?”
Gu Cheng answered dumbfoundedly, “Si Jin won, and Pang Juan died. It’s that simple.”
Mo Yang said with blazing eyes, “What about Gongsun She? Could he have gone into hiding? Let’s go to the Qi Residence and ask about that, at least.”
In a battle between two grand masters, was it possible that he had watched Pang Juan deal with Si Jin solo, not joining in on the battle?
Pang Juan was now dead.
Dead and nowhere to be found.
He could not have already left Qingzhou City, right?!
Xiao Wuji paused for a while. Then, he turned around and asked the pa.s.sers-by, inquiring about the battle. After he came back, his face looked as ugly as the bottom of a wok. When he talked a bit about the situation, Gu Cheng and Mo Yang’s expressions completely paled.
They looked ghastly.
The two grand masters had fought with Si Jin?!! And Pang Juan had died? And the other one had gone missing?
Xiao Wuji felt coldness p.r.i.c.king the back of his neck. After a long time, he asked, “Do you two think it’s possible?”
As he spoke, he felt the cold on the back of his neck travel all the way to the top of his head. His scalp began to tingle involuntarily.
Just thinking about the possibility of that young boy killing Pang Juan and severely injuring Gongsun She…
Xiao Wuji felt his nerves beginning to tense up.