He Chuan's family was wealthy, with two rows of candles as thick as an arm on the table and oil lamps hanging on all four walls. The large hall was brightly illuminated.

He Chuan's gruesome appearance in the light was quite eerie. With Third Lady and four other corpses, the hall was filled with a bloody stench, resembling hell.

Fortunately, He Chuan prohibited others from entering for convenience. Even with such a commotion in the hall, no one came over.

Tao Zhengren in the hall looked at Gao Xuan coldly, his gaze unfriendly.

The two sisters, Tao Hui and Tao Ying, found the bloody smell dizzying and their small faces turned pale. On the other hand, they were very curious about Gao Xuan.

The note in the afternoon clearly served as an early warning from Gao Xuan. Without Gao Xuan's help, their family would have been in big trouble this time.

However, Gao Xuan had drugged them just the day before yesterday, clearly not a good person.

This conflicting feeling left the sisters at a loss, unable to make a judgment.

Nevertheless, one must admit that Gao Xuan looked exceptionally dashing and handsome tonight. Especially his eyes, bright as the stars, full of charm.

At this moment, Gao Xuan's demeanor was extraordinarily elegant, completely different from the lewd man two days ago.

Girls are sentimental beings; they noticed Gao Xuan's transformation and felt his charm.

Deep in their hearts, the two girls were inclined towards Gao Xuan. This change was so natural that even the girls themselves were unaware.

Tao Zhengren, however, noticed the expectant look in his daughters' eyes. Clearly, the two daughters leaned towards trusting Gao Xuan.

The subtle change in his own children's attitude actually influenced Tao Zhengren as well.

After all, thanks to Gao Xuan's warning, he took the Wudang Dragon and Tiger Golden Core in advance, with his body barely enduring the opponent's poison.

Without preparation, their family's outcome this time would have been unimaginable.

Tao Zhengren shuddered at the thought and grew slightly more tolerant towards Gao Xuan.

Of course, as a seasoned Jianghu veteran, he wouldn't easily trust Gao Xuan.

Initially, he even suspected this was a ruse, using the deaths of Third Lady and the others to gain his trust in Gao Xuan.

The Jianghu is treacherous, with schemes and intrigues that are beyond prevention.

The problem was that He Chuan was a top swordsman in the Northwest, a master from the Kongtong Sect. There's no reason for them to sacrifice He Chuan's reputation and life to benefit Gao Xuan.

Tao Zhengren deliberated for a moment, deciding to get to the bottom of the situation.

"Who is your master, which sect?"

Gao Xuan replied frankly, "I am from the Feihua Sect, without any particular master. I just learned a few tricks with hidden weapons and poison."

Tao Zhengren's expression changed, "The Feihua Sect of the Lower Five Sects?"

The Feihua Sect was notorious in the Jianghu, despised by everyone. Even many from the underworld looked down on the Feihua Sect.

"That's right."

Gao Xuan was quite calm, "I live in darkness, yet my heart yearns for the light. Having been taught a lesson by the two heroines the day before yesterday, I came to a profound realization. I want to do what is right, to stand up for justice and eliminate injustice."

Gao Xuan spoke with eloquence and passion, his attitude sincere.

Tao Zhengren naturally did not believe such words, yet Gao Xuan's upright and free-spirited demeanor was quite charming, making him rather appreciative.

Moreover, Gao Xuan did save him. Whether his words were true or false, there was no reason to attack Gao Xuan.

Tao Zhengren said, "Regardless, you saved our family. I, Tao Zhengren, have been through the Jianghu for decades, with clear distinctions between gratitude and enmity. I will definitely repay such kindness."

He asked Gao Xuan, "Tell me, what do you want?"

Gao Xuan laughed freely, "Hero Tao, I helped you without asking for anything in return. He Chuan and Third Lady wreaked havoc, committing grave sins. I only hope Hero Tao can uphold justice, rescue those captured women, and make proper arrangements..."

Gao Xuan clasped his fists, "Hero Tao, the mountains are high and the roads long, we'll meet again in the Jianghu."

After speaking, Gao Xuan gracefully exited the hall, disappearing into the night in an instant.

Tao Zhengren pondered for a moment and sheathed his sword. He told his two daughters, "This person is deep and unfathomable. Be careful if you encounter him in the future."

Tao Ying and Tao Hui were not entirely agreeable in their hearts but nodded repeatedly on the surface.

Tao Hui worriedly asked, "Father, how should we handle the situation here?"

Cyan Forest City is a major area in the Northwest, just a few hundred miles away from Kongtong Mountain. With He Chuan dead, what should they do if the Kongtong Sect seeks major revenge?

"No worries. Our Wudang Sect commands respect wherever we go."

Tao Zhengren was not flustered; the Kongtong Sword Sect was a well-known and upright sect, they had to maintain decorum in public regardless of their private actions.

Tao Zhengren emerged from the hall with his two daughters, capturing two disciples from the Sword Hall.

Through interrogation, he finally got the situation figured out.

Tao Zhengren led people to the Zhenwu Escort Agency, killing Qin Zhenwu and others on the spot. In the cellar behind the agency, he found dozens of abducted women and children.

Gao Xuan followed Tao Zhengren closely. While Tao Zhengren was killing, Gao Xuan slipped into Third Lady's room.

Having been a Sub-Branch Leader for years, Third Lady must have had some personal fortune from her misdeeds. There was no reason not to take that money.

If it fell into the government's hands, who knew who would embezzle it.

Gao Xuan said nothing about robbing the rich to help the poor; he took the money solely for his own use.

Robbing the rich to help the poor was just a bandit's excuse to cover up plundering. Anyone who took it seriously was just plain ridiculous.

Robbery itself is a disruption of order, and as for robbing the rich to give to the poor, that's all nonsense.

Throughout history, robbing the rich to help the poor has just been a slogan.

Gao Xuan entered Third Lady's room and directly opened the man-high wooden cabinet. He had been here before. From the layout of the room, only behind the wooden cabinet could something be hidden.

Opening the cabinet, there was a hidden compartment. Carefully handling the poison needle at the switch, Gao Xuan pulled out the wooden layer.

Behind it was a small wooden rack embedded in the wall. It mainly held a bag of gold melon seeds. Large gold ingots couldn't circulate at all. Small gold melon seeds were convenient to carry and could be spent in big places.

There were also some silver notes, probably amounting to several thousand taels. These notes were from the Golden Dragon Money Shop and could be exchanged for current silver in large cities across the country.

This was Third Lady's life savings, equivalent to about three to four million in modern currency.

In this economically backward era, this money was quite a fortune.

The rack also had some bottles and jars, mostly poison, healing medicine, and the like.

These items were not convenient to carry, so Gao Xuan picked two useful ones and left the rest, destroying all other poisons.

Gao Xuan found several human skin masks thin as cicada wings. Disguise modification was a compulsory subject in the Feihua Sect. But such exquisitely made human skin masks were very precious.

The most valuable item on the rack was probably a Hidden Dragon Sword. This was a soft sword, with the blade folded inside a one-foot-long sword box.

It was locked to the arm with a clasp, and when used, inner strength was activated, causing the blade and handle to spring out directly from the sword box.

The blade was three and a half feet long, shining like a mirror, extremely sharp. When drawn from the box, it was straight and firm, but the sword body had strong flexibility, allowing it to be pressed into the sword box.

Gao Xuan was a bit surprised too; such smelting technique in ancient times was quite unreasonable. Perhaps some special metal was used.

Third Lady wasn't skilled in using swords, so this Divine Sword had to be hidden. It was fortunate that this person was selfish; otherwise, she wouldn't have given such a Divine Sword to He Chuan.

On the rack, there was also a martial arts manual. Gao Xuan glanced at it, and it turned out to be the Pure Yang Wuji Scripture.

This was evidently Wudang's first-class authentic inner power heart method. It should have the same origin as this soft sword.

Otherwise, with Third Lady's level, how could she manage to obtain such precious Sword Artifacts and manuals?

Time was urgent, so Gao Xuan quickly glanced through it, then put away the manual and Sword Artifact, and turned to leave the room.

Soon after, he saw Tao Zhengren leading his two daughters over. This old Jianghu noticed that Third Lady's treasures had been cleaned out, but he didn't say anything.

He also guessed that it must have been Gao Xuan's doing.

Gao Xuan hadn't gone far; he was staying in a residential house not far from the escort agency. He was a bit curious about how Hero Tao would go about rescuing people.

If the other party just abandoned the killing, he couldn't be called a hero.

After more than half an hour, he saw a team of soldiers with torches coming over.

Tao Zhengren chatted briefly with the leading Chief Constable, and the following matters were left to the soldiers.

Including the women who were abducted, all were taken away by the soldiers.

Seeing Tao Zhengren's manner, Gao Xuan thought he seemed to know the Chief Constable. Indeed, connections are needed in the Jianghu.

The next day, Gao Xuan heard the news that Feiyun Sword He Chuan and Nine Palace Divine Sword Tao Zhengren, the two great heroes, joined forces to break the Feihua Sect's sub-branch, saving over thirty abducted women and children.

Unfortunately, Hero He Chuan was ambushed by villains and died tragically on the spot.

Gao Xuan couldn't help but praise, indeed, the old Jianghu skillfully shifted He Chuan's death onto the Feihua Sect.

Even if the Kongtong Sect found out the truth, they couldn't directly seek revenge on Tao Zhengren.

With this battle, Nine Palace Divine Sword Tao Zhengren's name shook the Northwest.

However, Tao Zhengren dared not stay long. Breaking the Feihua Sect's sub-branch wasn't much, but killing He Chuan was a big problem.

He Chuan's master, Seven Injuries Sword He Bi, was famous for bearing grudges. His martial arts cultivation was unparalleled, making him a top master of his time.

When He Bi comes for revenge, things would be hard to say.

Tao Zhengren arranged everything behind and hurriedly led his people home.

The distance from the Northwest to Jiangnan is a long way.

After three days of traveling, Tao Zhengren and his group reached outside Black Stone City.

Leaving Black Stone City, they entered the Southwest region, leaving the Kongtong Sect's sphere of influence.

Seeing Black Stone City from afar, Tao Zhengren felt relieved.

At this moment, he heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. Looking back, he saw a black steed galloping from the rear.

The rider on the black steed abruptly pulled the reins upon reaching Tao Zhengren, the steed raised its forelegs, turned a half circle, and suddenly stopped.

The rider spoke loudly to Tao Zhengren, "Hero Tao, we meet again. It's fate."

The rider wore a bamboo hat and was covered with a fine gauze to block the wind and sand, making the face indistinguishable. But from the clear voice, Tao Zhengren knew it was Gao Xuan.

Tao Zhengren frowned slightly, "Why are you following us? What exactly do you want?"

Gao Xuan laughed heartily, "Hero Tao, I'm here with good intentions to warn you."

He pointed forward to the Willow Forest, "There's a small inn in the forest ahead, Seven Injuries Sword He Bi and a Feihua Sect master are waiting for you there."

Gao Xuan spoke casually, but it struck Tao Zhengren like a thunderclap.

Tao Zhengren's face slightly changed, "Is this true?"

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