Chapter 49

A single phrase.

It triggered a psychological change in the three people, with two of them being affected by a DEBUFF containing heartache and melancholy.

Yue Yuan, however, called the limping girl beside him to join in eating the delicious dishes that had already been served, without saying a word.

"……"

Lu Wushuang, who had been silenced by Yue Yuan's kick, now kept her gaze moving across the faces of the three people in front of her. Although the earlier Lu Wushuang had a good impression of Yang Guo, the current situation was different.

Seeing the deep affection in Wan Yanping's eyes as she looked at Yang Guo, Lu Wushuang naturally knew that the relationship seemed somewhat inappropriate.

Although Lu Wushuang was young, in this martial arts world, which was essentially an ancient world, both men and women understood things much earlier than modern people. Although Li Mochou, the Red Fire Fairy, did not teach her much, Lu Wushuang had seen a lot on her journey and understood that feeling of budding affection, which is why the limping girl remained silent.

Moreover, the most important thing was that her cousin Cheng Ying's eyes seemed to be off as well!

Was it a surprise? Or something else?

For a moment, Lu Wushuang didn't know why she had become quiet after being kicked by Yue Yuan.

The four people in front of her were all lost in thought, but only Yue Yuan seemed very casual, completely unaffected by his own words. He picked up his chopsticks and quietly ate the food, savoring the delicious dishes. In fact, by modern standards, the dishes, while some were quite good, were not particularly flavorful due to the lack of modern seasonings in ancient times.

After a while.

Yang Guo took a deep breath, finally recovering from his dazed state. Looking at Yue Yuan again, he saw that the other had already started eating, while Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang, and Wan Yanping were each holding their chopsticks in a daze.

"Cough!"

After a few consecutive coughs to break the daze of the three women, Yang Guo smiled and said, "Let's eat, let's eat!"

Yang Guo didn't mind his earlier daze, and even with an outsider—Yue Yuan—present, he remained very casual.

Looking at Yang Guo's behavior, Yue Yuan seemed to be deep in thought. In the Jin Yong world, Yang Guo was one of the main characters with the thickest skin, second only to Wei Xiaobao. A bit of awkwardness was completely negligible for Yang Guo.

To put it nicely, he was carefree and casual; to put it harshly, he was thick-skinned.

Recalling the plot of "The Return of the Condor Heroes," Yang Guo's thick skin and cunning boyish nature were always present in his character. It wasn't until after sixteen years of maturation that he became more composed and less restless.

Naturally, if it came to being carefree and casual, Yue Yuan was no less than Yang Guo, and perhaps even more so.

Of course, Yue Yuan wouldn't consider himself thick-skinned.

For him, it was only about being casual!

"Daoist Yue, I've always been curious, why does Li Mochou have your sword?"

Yang Guo didn't answer Yue Yuan's question about whether he would search for Xiaolongnü. Instead, he asked Yue Yuan a counter-question.

This was a defensive counterattack!

Yang Guo was quite angry that Li Mochou had Yue Yuan's sword. He thought to himself that the Daoist could lose other things, but not this sword!

The sharpness of that sword was something Yang Guo had never seen before in his journey into the martial world. In his eyes, such a sword was a divine weapon. Knowing that after practicing the Nine Yin Manual, the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, and the Toad Skill, he should not be at a disadvantage against Li Mochou, he was severely injured in just a few moves when facing that sword.

Yang Guo still had a deep, almost bone-deep scar on his chest from that encounter.

Putting aside the impact of Li Mochou's words when he escaped, the fact that Yue Yuan's sword was in Li Mochou's hands was enough to make Yang Guo wary.

"Do you know, with such a divine weapon in Li Mochou's hands, how many people in the martial world can stop her?"

Yue Yuan slowly put down his chopsticks, his tone serious and his expression stern as he looked at Yue Yuan.

Beside him, Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang, and Wan Yanping almost simultaneously stopped their actions, their gazes falling on Yue Yuan. Lu Wushuang only knew that Li Mochou had a sword that could cut through iron like butter, but she didn't know it belonged to Yue Yuan.

Cheng Ying and Wan Yanping, on the other hand, had heard from Yang Guo about the source of his injury, which was a sharp sword.

The two women also didn't know the sword belonged to Yue Yuan, so they were quite surprised when Yang Guo mentioned it.

Hearing this, Yue Yuan didn't stop his actions but continued to pick up the dish, placing it in his bowl. He then looked up, meeting Yang Guo's gaze, and said with a smile, "Someone can stop her!"

"Who?"

The Five Greats or the couple Guo Jing and Huang Rong?

The four of them were full of speculation, trying to guess who among these people could safely subdue Li Mochou with her sword that could cut through iron like butter. After some thought, Huang Rong could be ruled out, and Wang Chongyang was already dead. The remaining candidates were Ouyang Feng, Hong Qigong, Dharma Master Yideng, and Huang Yaoshi.

Ouyang Feng was insane, and Dharma Master Yideng rarely left the mountain, leaving only two people—Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi.

Huang Yaoshi, the Eastern Heretic, would be too lazy to deal with Li Mochou unless she provoked him, leaving only one person—Hong Qigong.

After some analysis, the final person they thought of was the leader of the Beggar Sect, Hong Qigong. Unfortunately, they didn't know that Hong Qigong had already interacted with Yue Yuan the day before and was temporarily not paying attention, so in reality, there was no one in the martial world who could stop Li Mochou with the Moon Deficiency Sword.

Except—

"Me!"

Meeting their gazes, Yue Yuan smiled calmly, exuding a confident aura.

Combined with his golden Daoist robe, Yue Yuan's confidence was dazzling to the eyes of the people in front of him.

...

The four of them were momentarily stunned.

Among the four, only Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang had seen a glimpse of Yue Yuan's martial arts, but it was just a glimpse.

It was a lightness skill that made their hair stand on end.

Often, this lightness skill was enough.

Cheng Ying and Wan Yanping, on the other hand, were quite surprised. Their main impression of Yue Yuan, the Daoist, was from the scene last night when he fell from the rooftop with a slap mark on his face. Cheng Ying had a bit more knowledge about Yue Yuan's musical talent.

As for martial arts...

Forget it, with a slap mark on his face, the two women couldn't imagine how strong his martial arts were.

What remained was the luxury of Yue Yuan's Daoist robe and his enjoyment of the meal.

Lu Wushuang's expression didn't change. On their journey, she had clearly seen Yue Yuan's martial arts knowledge, especially in guiding her in the practice of the Five Poisons' secret techniques, which greatly helped the limping girl.

Yang Guo, however, was thinking about Yue Yuan's ethereal lightness skill. In terms of lightness skill alone, Yang Guo admitted his inferiority. As for martial arts, Yang Guo felt that without a direct comparison, it was impossible to determine who was stronger. In his view, he didn't think Yue Yuan had supreme strength.

But...

The main issue right now wasn't this!

It was why Daoist Yue's sword ended up in the hands of the Red Fire Fairy, Li Mochou.

After a long while, Yang Guo finally realized that the rhythm was off!

Looking at Yue Yuan again, he saw that Yue Yuan had already poured himself a full cup of wine, sipping it slowly, eyes half-closed, smiling, and savoring the moment.

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