Faraway Wanderers

Chapter 32: Rong Xuan

Thus the three of them casually clapped their asses and beat it. Meanwhile, the Gao's Manor was a ball of chaos. Cao Weining was still indignantly informing those beside him that the Hua Shan sect was clearly being unkind in this matter when Mo Huaikong dragged him away and gave him a brief command. "Shut up."

Cao Weining turned to look at his shishu. Just as he wanted to ask "shishu, how could you yield to evil forces?", he saw Mo Huaikong point at Yu Qiufeng. "Didn't you see him go looking for death? Shut up, turn off the bullshit, and take a good look!"

Cao Weining obediently shut up.

He took a moment to glance all around, then lowered his voice. "Shishu, you said that with Warriors Gao and Zhao here, how could Brother Zhou take away the Zhang's child so easily?"

Mo Huaikong's eagle eyes had been trained ahead, but at hearing that, they coldly swept over to Cao Weining. "Did your brain get eaten by a dog?" he squeezed out through his teeth.

Cao Weining had been harshly scolded by him for so long yet his face didn't display any redness, very sincerely waiting for his shishu to clear up his doubts. Against expectations, Mo Huaikong turned his face away and didn't pay him anymore mind. It took Cao Weining a short moment to suss out why, making the discovery that his brain really had been eaten for him to not even realize such a thing — his shishu also clearly had no idea!

Grandmaster Ci Mu quickly rushed over, a middle-aged man following behind him. The man was of gaunt stature with black clothes and deep laugh lines, the corners of his mouth cast downward, his sword-like brows shooting into the hairs on his temples and his eyes extremely clear; one look told that he was a master not to be trifled with. Upon witnessing this farcical scene, Grandmaster Ci Mu had no choice but to use the Shaolin's Lion Roar skill to make a loud bellow. Many of meager martial arts saw black before their eyes at his call, the crowd then settling down.

Gao Chong and Zhao Jing saw the man behind Grandmaster Ci Mu and both stood up, Zhao Jing taking the initiative to unveil his identity. "Brother Shen!"

Cao Weining heard Mo Huaikong gasp in surprise, quickly taking the opportunity to question him. "Who is this, shishu?"

Mo Huaikong's brows furrowed. "That's the head of the Shuzhong's Shen family, Shen Shen. He's normally a big young madam-type and never steps foot out of his residence, getting a white face from being shut up in his house for fear that he'd get tan. Why would he be willing to part with all that soft skin to run a good distance over and see the sun in Dongting? Very strange."

Cao Weining had never heard of him, so he just made a dumb-sounding "ah". Mo Huaikong hated seeing that stupid look of his the most, so he sent him a glare and gave an explanation. "Most people your age don't know this. Back in the day, the five most famed major families of jianghu were Jiangnan's Zhang, Taihu's Zhao, Dongting's Gao, Shuzhong's Shen, and Taixing's Lu. Nowadays, though, apart from Gao Chong and Zhao Jing, the Zhang family has one member left, the Shen family has long since washed their hands of jianghu's affairs and ignored them, and the Lu family is gone. The 'Five Great Clans' have been more name than fact for a while now, and lots of young folk already don't remember them."

Cao Weining counted them on his fingers. "Something's wrong, shishu. Counting the Zhang's descendant, that's only four surnames here. Where's the fifth family?"

"That's because the head of the Lu family has been dead of illness for a decade now," Mo Huaikong replied impatiently. "He didn't accumulate enough merit in his last life, so in this one, his family line was cut off, and he left behind no sons or daughters. Because he'd had something of a friendship with Tai Shan Sect Leader Hua Fangling, who's since turned into a stiff, he entrusted his family property and few young disciples to the Tai Shan Sect. Hua Qingsong and the rest are here now, so don't they count as the Lu family? Why don't you understand shit? Where are so many questions coming from? Don't go telling others I'm your shishu! You're a disgrace!"