"Daoist Master Wan, you shouldn't have done this..."
Gu Xuzi looked at the embarrassed sight of Chen Jing and his son, along with Master Kong Wu, being hung from a tree and couldn't help but express his concern and kindly persuade, "We just came to talk to you about the Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts manuals. Why is this necessary?"
"Hmph."
Wan Yunting shot him a cold glance and said sternly, "Since you came to see me, why did you kick down the door of my Taoist temple and injure my师母 (shīmǔ - martial aunt/wife of master), as well as my senior brothers, senior sisters, and junior brothers?"
"Is it because our Wuliang Daoist Temple is small, and we deserve to be looked down upon and bullied by you so-called major sects?"
His words left Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia speechless, as it was indeed Chen Jing and Master Kong Wu who had initiated the bullying.
"Wan Yunting, if you have the guts, kill me."
Master Kong Wu, unwilling to suffer such humiliation, said furiously while his hands were bound and he was hung from the tree, "Our Abbot Renxin will absolutely not let you off."
Wan Yunting turned his head and looked at him coldly, then shouted, "Zihang, go get me the whip."
"Yes."
Li Zihang's spirits lifted, and he ran back to retrieve a whip and hand it to Wan Yunting. He then proceeded to whip the hanging Master Kong Wu fiercely, causing him to cry out in pain repeatedly. Chen Jing and his son Chen Yuxuan, also hung nearby, could only stare with resentment, gritting their teeth and daring not to speak.
Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia exchanged glances with Jia Hongji and the others. They were all intimidated by Wan Yunting's domineering actions and dared not speak up in defense of Master Kong Wu.
"Is this... is this going to be alright?"
Wu Weizi watched Wan Yunting whipping Master Kong Wu, his brow furrowed with worry.
"Well beaten, it's satisfying..."
Duan Yingying, Li Zihang, and Qi Wu were all excited. They weren't worried at all, and even wished Wan Yunting would beat them to death to vent their anger.
Yang Jingyi sighed and said, "He has his limits; there's no need to worry."
"Keep mouthing off," Wan Yunting said coldly to Master Kong Wu, holding the whip.
"You..."
Master Kong Wu's eyes widened with rage as he glared fiercely at Wan Yunting below. However, his袈裟 (jiāshā - Buddhist monk's robe) was torn by the whip, revealing bloody marks, and the pain was making his heart ache...
"Alas, let's go down the mountain..."
Jia Hongji shook his head, not daring to say anything further, and turned to leave.
"Stop right there, did I say you could leave?"
Wan Yunting then handed the whip to Li Zihang, who, with renewed vigor, took it to whip Chen Yuxuan and Chen Jing.
Jia Hongji, Gu Xuzi, and Zhao Yixia's expressions changed slightly. They turned to look at Wan Yunting and asked, "Daoist Master Wan, what exactly do you want?"
Wan Yunting looked at them coldly and said, "I told you, none of you will be leaving this mountain today!"
"On what grounds?"
Jia Hongji said angrily, "Are you planning to imprison us here?"
"Yes, let your Sect Leaders come to ransom you," Wan Yunting said coldly.
"You, how can you do this?" Gu Xuzi felt that Wan Yunting had gone too far.
Wan Yunting said, "Didn't you want to talk to me about the Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts manuals? Then let your Sect Leaders come and talk to me themselves. Otherwise, none of you will leave Wuliang Mountain!"
"Wan Yunting, you've gone too far," Jia Hongji said angrily.
Wan Yunting's eyes turned cold, and he shouted, "It seems Elder Jia, you want to be hung on the tree!"
"You..."
These words made Jia Hongji's old face flush with anger and fear. He waved his hand, saying, "Alright, alright, I will call my Sect Leader now and have them come personally. We'll see what you do then..."
Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia exchanged glances and had no choice but to take out their phones to contact their respective Sect Leaders.
"And you lot, contact your Sect Leaders and Abbots as well. Tell them that Wan Yunting is waiting for them in Wuliang Mountain!" Wan Yunting shouted back at Chen Jing and Master Kong Wu on the tree, then turned and headed back to the Taoist temple.
The two disciples from the Huashan Sect and the disciple from the Shaolin Sect quickly called their respective sects...
At the main hall of the Wudang Sect, Zhong Yulong received Gu Xuzi's call, his old face becoming solemn. He said, "Good, I understand. I will set off for Wuliang Daoist Temple immediately."
After hanging up the phone, which was on speakerphone, many people in the main hall heard everything clearly. The senior disciple Xian Yun chuckled, "I never thought Wan Yunting would be so domineering, hanging Elder Chen of the Huashan Sect and Master Kong Wu of the Shaolin Sect from a tree!"
"They deserve it. Who told them to kick down the door of Wuliang Daoist Temple and injure people?" Chong Ling'er snorted.
Others shook their heads. Fortunately, Gu Xuzi had not joined Chen Jing and Master Kong Wu in attacking and injuring the people of Wuliang Daoist Temple.
"Master, you shouldn't go. I'll go," Xian Yun said.
Zhong Yulong stood up and waved his hand, "I'll go. You come with me."
Xian Yun could only nod. After all, they had to go find Wan Yunting to discuss the matter of the Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts manuals...
The Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, Liu Bing, the Sect Leader of the Huashan Sect, Shi Yizhen, the Abbot of the Shaolin Sect, Renxin, and the Sect Leader of Longhu Mountain, Zhang Xuanliang, all set off for Wuliang Daoist Temple to rescue them...
"Yunting, are you just going to leave them hanging like this?"
At this moment, at the Wuliang Daoist Temple, Li Zihang, Qi Wu, and Xue Xinghe were repairing the main gate.
Chen Jing and his son, along with Master Kong Wu, were still hung from the tree below. The other disciples could only sit below, eagerly watching their masters being suspended from the tree...
Gu Xuzi, Zhao Yixia, and Jia Hongji, along with their disciples, sat on several large rocks next to the tree. Threatened by Wan Yunting and forbidden to leave the mountain, they could only sit there sighing, hoping their respective Sect Leaders would come quickly to rescue them.
Wu Weizi still had some courage, but Wan Yunting waved his hand and said with a very firm attitude, "Keep them hanging. We'll wait until their respective Sect Leaders and Abbots arrive."
"Also, don't give them any food, just water. Anyone who dares to sneak down the mountain will have their legs broken!"
Gu Xuzi, Zhao Yixia, and Jia Hongji, sitting to the side, heard Wan Yunting's words, and their faces turned extremely grim, but they were helpless.
"Daoist Brother Yun Ting, you go in and have dinner first. Zihang and I, along with Junior Sister Zhishan, will watch them," said Qi Wu, who had finished repairing the gate.
Wan Yunting nodded, glanced back at Gu Xuzi, Zhao Yixia, and the others outside, and sternly warned, "You all better behave. Anyone who dares to run down the mountain will bear the consequences."
With that, Wan Yunting, along with Wu Weizi and the others, went inside. Gu Xuzi, Zhao Yixia, and Jia Hongji exchanged glances. Meanwhile, several young disciples from the Huashan Sect and the Shaolin Sect sitting nearby got up, intending to take down Chen Jing and his son, and Master Kong Wu, who were hung from the tree...
"Who dares to let them down?"
Qi Wu directly drew his long saber. Li Zihang and Xu Lingwei also drew their long swords and shouted angrily, truly frightening the young disciples from the Huashan Sect and the Shaolin Sect into immobility.
"Sit down honestly," Jia Hongji also waved his hand, and the disciples reluctantly complied.
"This Wan Yunting is truly overbearing," Gu Xuzi remarked with emotion.
Chen Jing, enduring the pain from being hung from the tree, coldly snorted, "He will pay the price for what he did today..."
"Slap!"
Just then, Li Zihang came over and whipped him fiercely with the long whip, shouting, "You should worry about yourself right now."
"You scoundrel, try hitting me again," Chen Yuxuan, who was hung nearby, roared angrily.
Li Zihang swung the whip and hit Chen Jing again, then arrogantly and coldly said to Chen Yuxuan, "I hit him. What can you do to me now?"
"You bastard, when our Sect Leader comes, I will definitely kill you... Ah..."
Before Chen Yuxuan could finish his words, the enraged Li Zihang whipped him a dozen times, causing Chen Yuxuan to scream in pain repeatedly, while Chen Jing also roared angrily beside him...
Finally, Gu Xuzi and Zhao Yixia persuaded Li Zihang to stop. He held the whip and said angrily, "I'm telling you, don't think that we people from Wuliang Daoist Temple are easy to bully. If you really push us, we'll fight to the death, and in eighteen years, we'll be heroes again."
"Yes, yes, yes, young friend, don't get agitated."
Jia Hongji nodded repeatedly and said, "Don't worry, we won't go down the mountain. Hurry up and get us some water..."
Li Zihang glared at them before handing the whip to Qi Wu, "Senior Brother Qi, you watch them. I'm going inside to get water..."
In the refectory, Wan Yunting and Wu Weizi returned. Yang Jingyi and Duan Yingying were bringing the stir-fried dishes to the table. The young girl immediately went up and held Wan Yunting's arm, "How is it? Are they behaving themselves?"
"Mhm, how are you? Does it still hurt?" Wan Yunting asked with concern.
"It hurts a bit..."
Duan Yingying touched her stomach, which still ached faintly from being beaten. Wan Yunting said, "I'll massage it for you later, and it won't hurt anymore."
Yang Jingyi brought the dinner over and said, "Yunting, sit down and eat first."
"Okay, thank you, Shīmǔ (师母)."
Wan Yunting sat down with a bowl of rice personally served by Yang Jingyi. Duan Yingying sat beside him, and Wu Weizi also sat down to eat, sighing, "I never imagined that people from those major sects would be so bullying. Fortunately, you, Daoist Master, returned in time, otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to defend this Taoist temple."
Yang Jingyi also nodded, feeling full of guilt, believing that they could not shirk responsibility for the temple's decline.
"Shīmǔ (师母), Uncle Wu, don't worry. With me here, they absolutely won't be able to bully you at will," Wan Yunting said seriously.
Yang Jingyi and Wu Weizi looked up at him and nodded. Duan Yingying happily kept putting food on Wan Yunting's plate and then asked, "By the way, did you really get the Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts manuals?"
Yang Jingyi and Wu Weizi also looked at him. Everyone had heard about what happened in Death Valley and knew that Wan Yunting had snatched the Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts manuals from the major sects.
"Mhm, they're all here."
Wan Yunting put down his chopsticks, picked up his backpack, opened it, and took out one Snow Mountain Sect martial arts manual after another. This made Yang Jingyi and Wu Weizi's old eyes widen, and Duan Yingying curiously picked up a manual to flip through, exclaiming in surprise, "It's true..."
Yang Jingyi and Wu Weizi's expressions became solemn, and they said, "Yunting, the reason people from the Martial Arts Association have been looking for you repeatedly is for the Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts manuals. How do you plan to handle this?"
"Yes, are you really going to keep them for yourself and not hand them over to the people from the major sects?" Wu Weizi was also worried, as antagonizing the major sects was not a wise choice.
Wan Yunting placed his large hand on the several manuals on the dining table and said coldly, "Originally, I planned to give these manuals to them when I returned this time, but their actions today were simply too bullying. So I've decided that these martial arts manuals cannot be given to them!"
"Yes, don't give them. Wouldn't it be better for us to keep them for ourselves to practice?" Duan Yingying said.
Yang Jingyi and Wu Weizi exchanged glances and said worriedly, "But Yunting, the people from the major sects are scrambling for these manuals. If you hoard them, you'll be openly against them."
Wan Yunting picked up his chopsticks and continued eating, sneering dismissively, "In their eyes, I'm already an evil cult. So what if I'm their enemy? I'll take these manuals back to the capital and definitely won't give them to them easily."
"By the way, Shīmǔ (师母), Uncle Wu, you should both copy these manuals tonight and keep them for yourselves to practice. After all, the Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts are extraordinary and suitable for practicing in our Wuliang Mountain."
Seeing Wan Yunting's resolute attitude, Yang Jingyi and Wu Weizi had nothing more to say...