Chapter 417: Chapter 184: Longing for Return

He asked around and learned that Li Wenrou had returned from a mission, seriously injured.

The people gathered outside the stone house were mostly Outer Disciples who had been looked after by Li Wenrou in the past. They had come of their own accord to check on her.

Chen Cheng walked straight over.

As it happened, the main purpose of the Treasure Fish he was carrying was to improve circulation and heal injuries.

He had no use for it himself and had originally planned to take it to Guan Lan Pavilion to raise it until Qing Chan came to pick it up.

Now, he could give it directly to Li Wenrou instead.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Chen."

Outside the stone house, the group of Outer Disciples saw Chen Cheng approach and all cupped their fists, bowing in a solemn greeting.

The crowd parted like water, automatically clearing a narrow path for him.

After a simple nod in acknowledgment, Chen Cheng stopped a short distance away, his gaze falling upon the tightly shut stone door.

"Senior Brother Chen."

Su Bing and Marsong emerged from the crowd and walked up to Chen Cheng.

"How is she?" Chen Cheng asked.

Su Bing shook her head and sighed softly.

"I’m not sure... The Elder from the Medicine Pavilion arrived before dawn and still hasn’t come out... Her injuries must be severe..."

Chen Cheng nodded and didn’t press further. ’Su Bing and Marsong wouldn’t know the specifics anyway,’ he thought. ’It’s pointless to ask them.’

"How have you two been lately? Is your training going well?" Chen Cheng changed the subject.

"I’m doing great."

Su Bing smiled, a hint of unconcealable joy in her eyes.

"During the Outer Sect competition a few days ago, my performance caught the eye of the Fourth Elder of the Sword Pavilion. I’m a regular disciple there now."

"I’m doing alright, too."

Marsong grinned, his dark face making his teeth seem exceptionally white.

"I got really lucky during the Outer Sect competition. The Second Elder of the Fist Pavilion made an exception and took me in. Speaking of which, Steward Li and I are now technically senior sister and junior brother from the same lineage."

"That’s good."

Chen Cheng nodded, then asked,

"What about Lu Shang and Ding Lu?"

As soon as he said this, the smiles on Su Bing and Marsong’s faces froze and then vanished completely.

After a moment of silence,

Su Bing sighed heavily and said,

"Lu Shang lost in the competition. His opponent used a dirty trick, and he couldn’t let it go, so he went to get revenge in private. He ended up being severely beaten..."

She paused, her voice growing even more somber.

"In the end, they managed to save his life, but he can never practice martial arts again. He was sent down the mountain three days ago. His life... is basically over."

Hearing this, Chen Cheng’s brow furrowed. "What happened to the one who injured him?" he asked.

"Dealt with? As if."

Marsong cut in.

"After winning the competition, that guy became a Python Pavilion Disciple. For Lu Shang, an Outer Disciple, to go and seek private revenge was a major taboo—disrespecting his superiors and offending a higher-ranked disciple. Even if he’d beaten Lu Shang to death, he wouldn’t have been punished."

Marsong paused before adding with a sigh,

"To put it bluntly, in the eyes of Inner Sect Disciples, we Outer Disciples are worse than dogs. The distinction between ’Inner’ and ’Outer’ says it all. The Sect will always favor them..."

Chen Cheng nodded but didn’t say anything.

"By the way, Senior Brother Chen, the one who crippled Lu Shang is named Lu Jian,"

Su Bing added as a warning.

"The Sea Courtyard competition is in a little over a month. You might run into him then. He’s very strong and has a lot of dirty tricks, so you need to be extremely careful."

"Thanks for the warning."

Chen Cheng silently committed the name to memory.

Another moment of silence passed.

Neither Marsong nor Su Bing seemed to want to bring up Ding Lu. After a long pause where they exchanged a look, Marsong finally spoke.

"Ding Lu doesn’t associate with us anymore... A few days after Ning Chong disappeared, she got together with an Elite Disciple from the Fist Pavilion."

"Ever since then, she won’t even greet us when she sees us. What’s worse, a while back she was short on money and borrowed some from Senior Sister Su, but now she’s just refusing to pay it back... And it’s not like her family is poor..."

As Marsong spoke, his brows furrowed in indignation.

Su Bing, however, seemed to have come to terms with it. Her expression was stable and her tone was calm as she said,

"Paying some money to see someone’s true colors isn’t a loss, really... It’s just a shame about Ning Chong. I heard they dug up a lot of body parts over at Feidang Mountain... He’s probably among them..."

At this, Marsong let out a long sigh.

Chen Cheng, for his part, put on a perfectly timed, appropriately somber expression.

’Of course, Ning Chong isn’t dead,’ Chen Cheng thought. He could guess that the reason Ning Chong hadn’t returned to the Mountain and Sea Sect was fear. He wouldn’t be able to explain himself and would face retaliation from the Dong Family.

As for where Ning Chong had gone, however, Chen Cheng had no idea.

’But of one thing, I’m certain,’ he mused. ’Ning Chong didn’t see my face that night. Even if he does return, it won’t affect me.’

Just then, the door to the stone house opened from the inside.

A white-haired Elder from the Medicine Pavilion walked out, followed by two of his disciples.

Zhou Wansen and two other Outer Sect Stewards followed them out, their expressions all extremely grim.

The stone door was closed again, preventing anyone from entering.

Zhou Wansen personally went to see the Medicine Pavilion Elder off.

Chen Cheng, meanwhile, walked quickly toward one of the other stewards.

"Senior Brother Sun, how is Senior Sister Li’s condition?"

When Steward Sun saw it was Chen Cheng, his perpetually stern face finally softened a bit.

"Her life isn’t in danger, but half her face, shoulder, and arm were hit by the Immortal Bone Demon’s poison. It left a large wound, almost like a severe burn... Even if it heals, her face is ruined..."

"Poison..."

Chen Cheng collected himself and asked, "Can I go in to see her?"

Steward Sun shook his head, saying nothing more.

Chen Cheng nodded in understanding. ’It’s clear Li Wenrou isn’t as tough on the inside as she appears on the outside,’ he thought. ’In her current state, she wouldn’t want anyone to see her.’

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.