With a sword drawn, he laughs proudly, his martial prowess dominating the heavens!

Chapter 2 Linghu Chong, the Drunkard

The main hall of Mount Hua is built on Jade Maiden Peak, which is only two miles away from Chaoyang Peak.

In early spring, the trees on Mount Hua are already turning green, and the small animals that have been cooped up all winter come out of their burrows, some curled up on branches, others leaping through the forest, enjoying the warm sunshine of the rising sun, just like Li Che.

"Hey Li, slow down. My mother never leaves you any food, what's the rush?"

Li Che felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this. Although he had lived two lives and had over thirty years of experience, this was the first time he had felt cared for like a child.

Ning Zhongze, the Jade Maiden of Mount Hua.

She is righteous and awe-inspiring, hates evil as if it were her enemy, and is a heroine among women.

She was a devoted wife and mother, and treated her family members well. She was a virtuous and helpful wife to her husband.

Perhaps because of Li Che's tragic past, Ning Zhongze showed him a lot of care when he first joined the Huashan Sect and showed mediocre talent.

Compared to Lao Yue, Li Che's use of "Master's Wife" was much more sincere.

"Hey~ Why did you suddenly stop!"

Yue Lingshan rubbed her nose, two tears welling up in her eyes. Her round eyes glared fiercely at Li Che, her cheeks puffed out slightly, making the girl look even more beautiful.

"Didn't you tell me to slow down?"

"I don't care! You bullied me! I traveled all this way to get you, and I even caught a cold. Just wait until I get back, I'll tell my parents everything!"

Trekking through mountains and rivers?

Li Che looked at the mountain courtyard not far away, then turned to Yue Lingshan with a smile and said, "Alright, stop acting. Usually it's my eighth senior brother who calls me, but today I'm troubling my junior sister to 'lower herself'. If you don't tell me what's going on, I'm really going to run away from hunger."

He mentally counted to three.

"Um... Senior Brother Li, it's really not a big deal."

Li Che secretly curled his lip. "When there's trouble, she calls her senior brother; when there's no trouble, she calls this Li guy. What a little brat!"

Then she thought, if it's not a big deal, then it's probably something between fellow disciples. The fact that Miss Yue is being so hesitant is probably related to Linghu Chong.

Sure enough, Yue Lingshan paused for a moment and then sighed, "Senior Brother... he's caused trouble again."

"What happened this time? Drinking? Gambling? Or another fight? Wait a minute, didn't Master send our eldest brother down the mountain to help catch the thief a few days ago?"

What could possibly go wrong?

After three years of getting to know each other, Li Che's immediate assessment of Linghu Chong was: chivalrous, courageous, highly talented, a bit of a drunkard, and loves freedom...

In his previous life, he had seen many comments such as "Old Yue has been exonerated" and "Linghu Chong cannot distinguish between relatives and friends and is not up to the task," but compared to those, Li Che believed more in what he had seen and heard.

At least so far, the Huashan Sect has been friendly and respectful to its brothers and disciples, and the relationship between masters and disciples is harmonious. Except for Lao Denuo, the traitor who is often sent by Lao Yue to handle Huashan's external affairs, the sect can be described as "friendly and harmonious".

Linghu Chong was known to everyone in Huashan for his love and addiction to alcohol. He often made mistakes while drunk, mostly minor ones, and he never learned his lesson despite repeated admonitions.

Li Che had also tried to persuade him, but repeating the same thing three times would only make it sound bland, and too much persuasion would only annoy people.

Later, he "became wise" again, and Yue Buqun personally taught him martial arts. As a result, he had less contact with Linghu Chong, and their relationship remained neither too close nor too distant, but rather harmonious.

As for the matter of going down the mountain to capture the thieves, that happened a month ago. A group of bandits appeared in Huazhou, Xi'an Prefecture, and committed nearly ten robberies and injuries.

The bandit leader was quite brave and could not be defeated by the local constables or security escorts, so he sought help from the top of Mount Hua.

Li Che glanced at Yue Lingshan and thought to himself, "Since she is here, the bandits must have been captured, and Linghu Chong should be safe and sound. What else could it be?"

Yue Lingshan was interrupted by him, and only after he finished speaking did she say, "Actually, it's not a big deal. Senior Brother captured the bandit leader, which greatly enhanced the prestige of the Changhua Mountain Sect."

"That's a good thing."

"Senior Brother Li, please let me finish."

"Alright, alright, go ahead."

Yue Lingshan rolled her eyes at him impatiently, then said resentfully, "It's all those merchants' fault for insisting on hosting a banquet for our senior brother."

"That's only human nature. As the saying goes, you get paid to do something, it's perfectly reasonable... You go on, I won't say anything more."

"Where was I? Oh, right, a banquet! You know Senior Brother loves to drink, and this time he came down the mountain alone without anyone stopping him, so he drank too much."

"Actually, it's nothing much. Senior Brother has profound internal strength, and the wine... cough, so what?"

"And then? Then he got drunk!" Yue Lingshan said angrily, "This morning before dawn, someone banged on the door. My parents thought it was an urgent message from the martial arts world, but it turned out to be a lot of porters. My eldest brother was drunk and unconscious on a sedan chair, holding an empty wine jar in his arms."

What's most hateful is that many people followed behind, carrying sealed, aged wine up the mountain.

"puff--!"

"You're still laughing?!"

"I didn't, you're mistaken."

"You're lying, I heard everything!"

Seeing her puffed-up face, Li Che couldn't help but chuckle.

To everyone's surprise, after a few laughs, the girl was also drawn into laughing without a care in the world.

The scene must have been quite comical.

Li Che then realized that it was no wonder Old Yue came to see him practice his skills so early in the morning; he was furious and had come seeking solace.

However, this matter could be considered a big deal or a small deal. Most of the disciples were only around twenty years old, and they would probably just think it was the senior brother's usual practice, and that he would just get a beating and that would be the end of it.

But they forgot about Lao Yue's reputation as the "Gentleman Swordsman." The future face of Mount Hua was a drunkard, which made Lao Yue lose face.

Moreover, this time it was someone else who begged Mount Hua to help, and what's most hateful is that they even catered to Linghu Chong's tastes, going to great lengths to bring those wines up the mountain, which is truly a slap in the face to Yue Buqun.

Li Che sighed inwardly. The matter of greatly enhancing the prestige of Mount Hua had been handled in such a way. Others might outwardly fear the bravery of Mount Hua and say that heroes of the martial world are unconventional, but what would they really think?

"Junior Sister, do you want me to plead with Master on your behalf?"

Yue Lingshan nodded and said, "That's right. Father forced Senior Brother to get rid of the smell of alcohol and then made him kneel in the Hall of Righteousness. He didn't even allow us to plead for him."

Besides my eldest brother, my parents value Senior Brother Li the most. Go and beg him..."

"I'm not going!"

"Huh?! You... why won't you do it? When you first joined the sect, your senior brother even taught you the sword on behalf of the master. Have you forgotten already? I think Father is really angry this time. What if he punishes your senior brother by sending him to the Cliff of Repentance?"

"It's Senior Brother Li!"

"Oh, Senior Brother Li, I beg you, please help me this time. I will call you Senior Brother from now on."

Li Che's right arm was grabbed and swung back and forth by her, making him dizzy, but he thought, "This girl is indeed different from others when it comes to Linghu Chong."

Unfortunately, your official partner is still living the life of a wealthy young master in Fuzhou.

"You like the eldest brother?"

"Huh? You...you shouldn't talk nonsense." Yue Lingshan's pretty face flushed red, and she stammered, "I, I only think of Senior Brother as an older brother. Oh dear, please tell me if you'll help or not."

Brother? Li Che thought to himself, "What does this little girl know about love? But you two, I'm afraid it won't work out."

He then withdrew his arm and said seriously, "Junior Sister, do you also feel that Master's punishment of Senior Brother this time is different from the past?"

If you could understand your master's good intentions, you wouldn't have come to beg me.

Let's go, don't keep Master and Mistress waiting."

......