(A Few hours Before the attack of The Temple)
Wang Biming and Miao Mingzhu were sitting in a small inn, next to many martial artists who had been called to help the villagers along the Yangtze River.
Miao Mingzhu said, observing the crowd, "These people surely want a name for themselves." She frowned. "Da shixiong, do you think Ma Jingguo and Mu Dishi will be here?" She picked up a pumpkin seed and put it in her mouth. "I hope to see Cao Wenyan create a big scene. While we are enjoying the food, we could also entertain ourselves." She giggled.
Wu Jinghua walked up the stairs and sat in front of Wang Biming. She reported, "The Chief Leader is back. He is waiting for you."
Wang Biming stood up. "Shimei, you go to Liu Hong and ask him to prepare the hired assassins."
Miao Mingzhu looked at Wu Jinghua coldly, took a sip of tea, got up, and walked away without a word.
Wu Jinghua smiled faintly at her retreating back. "It seems that she doesn't like me that much."
Wang Biming dismissed the notion. "Nonsense."
Wu Jinghua picked up a pumpkin seed and put it in her mouth. She smiled and insisted, "From the first time we met until now, she has never liked me. I know from the way she looked at me."
Wang Biming offered a polite deflection. "Maybe if she gets to know the real you, she won't act like that."
Wu Jinghua laughed scornfully. "If that's the case, I'll chop off my head." She took a sip of tea, then looked intently at Wang Biming. "Tell me, how can a person like you join hands with our Chief?"
Wang Biming maintained his privacy. "It's none of your business."
Wu Jinghua pressed the issue with a bold offer. "Tell me, I will accompany you tonight." She pulled Wang Biming's face closer with her right hand.
Wang Biming smiled, a subtle rejection in his voice. "I like men." He gently removed Wu Jinghua's hand.
Wu Jinghua smiled, her interest piqued. "So, do you like our Chief?"
Wang Biming smiled ambiguously. "You can say so."
Wu Jinghua found the idea strange. "The people of Seventy-Two Islands have never seen the Chief's face. How do you like someone who hasn't shown you his face yet?"
Wang Biming smiled and pulled Wu Jinghua's face closer. Wang Biming said, "I have seen his face many times. As long as I want to see his face, he will remove the mask for me."
Wu Jinghua asked, her eyes narrowing, "Then how close are you to our Chief?"
Wang Biming replied simply, "This close." He then kissed Wu Jinghua's lips.
Wu Jinghua immediately pulled away from Wang Biming and furiously wiped her lips.
Wang Biming smiled, a taunt in his eyes. "Now, Wu guniang, was it you who said you want to accompany me on the bed?"
Wu Jinghua stood up, breathing heavily, her face flushed with fury. "Wang Biming, just because you and Chief joined hands, it doesn't mean that you two have anything to do with each other!"
Wang Biming shrugged, utterly unconcerned by her anger. "Our relationship does not require your approval." He got up and walked out of the inn, leaving Wu Jinghua behind.
Wu Jinghua quickly followed Wang Biming down the stairs from the inn, their sudden move contrasting with the general flow. They moved swiftly to a modest but sturdy house that stood discreetly in the middle of this busy commercial district. The two guards posted at the front door, recognizing Wu Jinghua, immediately and silently opened the door, allowing them quick entry.
The stepped into a busy street was alive with the chaotic symphony of daily life. Sunlight streamed down onto the wide thoroughfare, illuminating clouds of dust kicked up by passing carts and hurried sedan chairs. Merchants shouted prices in loud, rhythmic chants, while the mingled scents of hot oil from street food vendors, fresh silk, and damp earth filled the air. People moved with urgent purpose: scholars clutched scrolls, mothers herded children, and porters strained under heavy loads.
They moved through the small, well-kept courtyard and to the back of the house. Wang Biming stepped to a large, moss-covered boulder positioned near the rear wall. She pulled a hidden lever on a lantern-shaped stone resting beside it, and with a low, grinding rumble, the massive boulder slowly slid away, revealing a dark stairwell descending deep underground.
They wasted no time. As they hurried down the steep, earthen steps, the boulder slowly sealed the opening behind them, plunging them into absolute darkness and silence.
The air instantly changed, becoming heavy and still. A damp, fetid smell—a mix of stale air, mildew, and human waste—filled their lungs. They reached the bottom of the stairwell, where the atmosphere became profoundly eerie. They turned right into a narrow underground corridor. The walls here were not finished stone but rough, damp natural rock and packed earth, slick with moisture, and occasionally beaded with condensation. The tunnel twisted and turned, deepening the sense of isolation and foreboding. They continued to walk until the faint light from Wang Biming's lamp finally reached the last underground prison cell.
Just as they stopped before the heavy wooden door, the silence was broken: a series of slow, deliberate footsteps began approaching them from the end of the corridor they had just traversed.
Without looking back, Wang Biming knew the footsteps of the two people approaching them. He sighed and repeated their earlier exchange. "You two are late."
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands replied, his voice calm. "I got something to attend to before I came."
Wang Biming stepped closer. "I thought you took care of it already."
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands chuckled warmly. "You are always impatient." He reached out and touched Wang Biming's forehead. "No fever. Are you feeling better?"
Wang Biming smiled and gently put down the Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands' hand, repeating their intimacy. "Thank you, I'm fine."
Miao Mingzhu, who stood far away, had witnessed their closeness countless times. She cleared her throat, speaking with undisguised contempt for Wang Biming. "I don't understand why Chief wants him to live. He is too useless at this point."
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands explained patiently, "Miao guniang, you don't understand. Each person I kept alive and killed serves a purpose."
Wang Biming ordered, cutting the conversation short. "You should stay outside as usual."
Miao Mingzhu frowned. "I understand." She turned to look at Wang Biming. "Don't delay it too long. The two of you stayed there for more than three hours last time."
Wang Biming replied, dismissive of the implication. "Last time, we still had things to deal with."
Miao Mingzhu chuckled sarcastically. "Yeah right…?"
Wang Biming and the Chief Leader walked to the cell, entered, and stared at Yang Ru, who was tightly chained inside.
Wang Biming began with false respect. "Yang qianbei, among the five gentlemen of Huangshan, I respect you and Li qianbei the most, but your stupidity has harmed you both."
Yang Ru glared at them. "Then when the two of you start working together, please give this stupid old idiot some tips?"
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands answered, revealing a timeline. "A long time ago." He stopped, correcting himself. "Oh, since Li Yingpei died." He corrected himself again. "Much earlier than that."
Wang Biming leaned in. "Yang qianbei, you may not know, but the Mu family is not just a great doctor, but also a master of disguise."
Yang Ru asked, surprised, "Master of disguise?"
Wang Biming smiled. "Yes, for once the stupid Six Sects did get one thing right about the Mu. The Mu fooled everyone in the martial arts world, believing that the Mu Treasure Cave is a cave full of unimaginable treasure. The truth is… the only treasure inside the Mu Treasure cave is the corpse of my da ge, Wang Changming. The real Mu treasure is hidden in a separate area, and only three people know its location."
Yang Ru asked, his mind racing. "Who are those three people?"
Wang Biming replied, "Mu Jiao Long, Mu Lan, and Mu Dishi."
Yang Ru realized the massive scale of the plot. "So, you two also cooperated with Peng Boqin and Suo Bojing?"
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands confirmed the chaos. "That madman Li Yingpei was so angry that he ignored the dangers lurking around him. If he hadn't lost control, he would have guessed whether the Peng Boqin who stood in front of him that day was the real Peng Boqin."
Yang Ru gritted his teeth, his anger spiking. "No wonder, Suo Baojing denied it. It was you; you killed my san ge…"
Wang Biming warned, calm and cruel. "Yang qianbei, calm down, the angrier you are, the faster the poison in your body will circulate." He smiled. "In any case, when everyone decided to enter Mu Village, everyone's fate was sealed to die with the Mu villagers. We just overlapped our plan with theirs."
Yang Ru roared in helpless fury. "You bastards, let me go, let us fight one-on-one!"
Wang Biming sneered. "Yang qianbei, the reason you are like this is because you picked up lice and planted them in your hair."
Yang Ru asked one final question. "Tell me. The anonymous letter, was it really from Wang Zedong?"
Wang Biming confirmed. "Yes, that letter was indeed sent by my father to Suo Baojing."
Yang Ru, seeking to understand the twisted plot, asked, "How?"
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands repeated, "I said before, it's just some overlapping plans."
Yang Ru laughed loudly, a sound of bitter, absolute despair. "No wonder Mu Dishi called us a bunch of dogs. We deserve this name!" He continued to laugh, weeping with the futility of it all. "What a joke? What a joke? … Those people are a bunch of losers. They didn't realize that the man who brought them down, the mastermind behind one massacre after another, was actually the plan of two teenagers!" He screamed, utterly broken. "A bunch of idiots, they are!" He laughed again. "A bunch of idiots, we all are!"
Wang Biming bowed slightly. "Thank you for your compliment."
Yang Ru laughed one last time. "We are all idiots." He continued to laugh, then stared coldly at Wang Biming and the Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands, the sight of them triggering a vivid memory of his capture.
Yang Ru remembered that night. He knew the distance between his brothers and the men in black was significant. He sent four powder balls at the man in black, then ran into the thick bushes, making it harder for the man in black to catch up. He hid until nearly midnight, only to see the man in black rushing towards his hiding place. He was about to draw his sword when another man ran over after the man in black. The man in black quickly jumped onto a branch. When the second man spoke, Yang Ru immediately knew from the man's voice that this man was Li Fu, Second Leader of the Seventy-Two Islands.
Only a few words were exchanged between the two. Before they finished speaking, Li Fu suddenly knelt down and called the man in black "Chief Leader." Just when the man in black pierced Li Fu's abdomen with a sword, Li Fu pulled the black mask off the killer's face. Yang Ru saw the face and was as speechless as the dying Li Fu.
Yang Ru was so angry that the people chasing him and his brother turned out to be people they knew and trusted. He came out of the hiding place angrily and shouted, "How dare you call yourself an orthodox sector when your action is not?"
A sword was immediately placed on Yang Ru's neck. Yang Ru turned around, glaring at the person. He took a heavy breath. "Wang Biming..."
Wang Biming smiled. "Yang qianbei…"
As the memories slowly faded away, Yang Ru looked at the masked Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands. "Duel. If I win, let me go. If you win, I will do whatever you want me to do."
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands responded, chillingly pragmatic. "Yang qianbei, after you know our secrets, do you really believe that we will let you go? If you want to duel us, your time will come, so don't worry about you won't get to fight us. When the time comes, you will definitely be fighting someone. Who knows if you're going to fight us or your fellow members of Huangshan."
Yang Ru roared, desperate to force the truth. "Fu Yuanjun! If you are really a man, don't stand behind the mask!"
The Chief Leader of Seventy-Two Islands removed the mask from his face. He smiled at Yang Ru. "Yang qianbei, real men don't need to hide behind a mask. The mask is just a shield he uses to conquer his conquest."