“If you are not intending to pursue her, then why are you asking where she stays?”
Huang Mingfeng had a look of disbelief at what Zhou Donghuang had said.
“I’m asking where she stays because I…am preparing to look for her to settle an old score.”
Zhou Donghuang narrowed his eyes and spoke in an even voice.
“Looking for Chen Dandan to settle an old score?”
After giving Zhou Donghuang an earnest look and confirming that Zhou Donghuang did not seem like he was joking, Huang Mingfeng shook his head and said, “Brother, although I don’t like that Chen Dandan either…Chen Dandan is not someone that ordinary disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters like us can provoke.”
“Her father is the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe!”
“That second elder is a late Connate-stage adept, and is among the top five in terms of the strength of his ability.”
“I don’t know what grudge you have against Chen Dandan but I advise you to let it go for your own good.”
Huang Mingfeng reemphasized his point.
“The second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe?”
The corners of Zhou Donghuang’s mouth had curled up with a look of bland condescension. “You don’t have to bother about the rest of it. Just tell me, do you know where she stays?”
“She usually stays with the second elder.”
Seeing that the youth not only did not take his advice despite his warning but persisted in asking where Chen Dandan was staying, Huang Mingfeng could not help raising his impression of the youth.
What kind of illustrious background did this handsome youth with an extraordinary aura, who was dressed in a snow-white robe, have that he was not afraid of Second Elder Chen Tianhe who stood behind Chen Dandan?
Someone who was still so adamant was either extremely confident in himself or deluded.
And this person before him did not seem at all like the latter.
“I just came from the training grounds and I saw Chen Dandan there sparring with other people. Come to think of it, she should still be there, and probably has not gone back yet.”
All youths enjoyed watching a show, and seeing that Zhou Donghuang was not the least bit afraid after discovering Chen Dandan’s background, Huang Mingfeng naturally assumed that Zhou Donghuang had an even more powerful background.
“The training grounds? How do I get there?” Zhou Donghuang asked with a gleam in his eye.
“It’s over there.”
Huang Mingfeng turned and glanced towards one of the branches in the road, reaching out to point into the distance beyond the branch in the road. “This road leads there. After walking for some time you will see another main road on the right…forget it, I’m free right now anyway, I’ll take you there.”
As soon as he finished, Huang Mingfeng called to Zhou Donghuang and led the way, walking ahead of Zhou Donghuang.
Zhou Donghuang followed him.
“Brother, you still haven’t told me your name.” Huang Mingfeng glanced over his shoulder at Zhou Donghuang and asked.
“Zhou Donghuang,” Zhou Donghuang replied casually.
“Brother Donghuang, how did this feud with Chen Dandan come about?”
Huang Mingfeng continued, “From what I know, she arrived here in the Valley of the Medicine Masters not long ago and she is the daughter of Second Elder who was wandering outside…I heard that she grew up in a small place in Yunyang country.”
“That small place is so insignificant that we can’t even imagine it.”
“In that small place, even a mere level-two adept of Qi-gathering can be a tyrant.”
Once Huang Mingfeng started talking, he seemed unable to stop and continued, “Apparently, it was the second elder of a minor preeminent family of the inferior-level prefecture capital of that small place who found her. Later on, the young master of that minor preeminent family was inducted into Second Elder’s family.”
“Hong Yunfei?” Zhou Donghuang asked.
“That’s right! Hong Yunfei!”
As Huang Mingfeng nodded, an expression of surprise came over his face. “Brother, so you know Hong Yunfei.”
“It’s a pity…that Hong Yunfei originally thought that he could rise together with Chen Dandan in the good graces of Second Elder. He never imagined that after Second Elder and Chen Dandan acknowledged each other as father and daughter, he would be kicked out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters by Chen Dandan.”
“That Chen Dandan is really ungrateful. Even if she did not want to be close to Hong Yunfei, at the very least he helped her to find her biological father and did not deserve to be cut off in such a manner.”
At this, Huang Mingfeng shook his head continuously, “That Chen Dandan is still pleasant to the eye, but her character is really poor.”
“Beautiful people can be like snakes and scorpions; the ancients never failed to warn us about this.”
Zhou Donghuang was not the least bit surprised to learn that Hong Yunfei had been kicked out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Knowing Chen Dandan’s character, there was naturally no way that she could have remained together with Hong Yunfei after learning that her biological father was the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.
The only thing that he did not expect was that Chen Dandan had actually kicked Hong Yunfei out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.
“Brother, you still haven’t told me…how did your feud with Chen Dandan come about?” Huang Mingfeng asked again.
“It can’t really be considered a feud. It’s just that she owes my mother a substantial debt.”
A cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang’s eyes, and his tone grew chilly in an instant. “I am preparing to collect on that debt!”
The time had come to collect on the debts that Chen Dandan owed his mother Lin Lan.
“Your mother?”
Huang Mingfeng gave a start, and continued, “Brother, you…who on earth are you? How could that Chen Dandan owe a debt to your mother? Was it from before she returned to the Valley of the Medicine Masters?”
Huang Mingfeng was now even more confused.
“Those are the training grounds just ahead?” Zhou Donghuang asked.
Zhou Donghuang had just followed Huang Mingfeng onto another main road in the Valley of the Medicine Masters. The countryside opened up and he could see the large space that lay at the center of the valley.
In the large open space, groups of people were scattered everywhere. There were two blurred figures in each group of people, and it was obvious that they were sparring.
Of course, there were also some people who were gathered at a corner of the space, sitting or standing, talking and laughing, deep in conversation.
“Not bad.”
Huang Mingfeng nodded in response, feeling more certain that this unfamiliar youth had just recently arrived in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, otherwise there was no way he could not know about the training grounds of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.
“There is still some time before the Valley of the Medicine Masters takes in disciples from the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley…and I am from the previous batch of new disciples who entered after passing the test of the Valley of the Medicine Masters,” Huang Mingfeng thought.
“And if he has just arrived in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, it proves that he has been specially invited by the senior leadership of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Just as that Chen Dandan, and Hong Yunfei before her, had been specially invited by Second Elder Chen Tianhe.”
Huang Mingfeng’s heart skipped a beat.
In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, senior leaders of the late Connate stage and above had special authority to take in people from outside the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Of course, after taking someone in, the senior leader had to take responsibility for the person he took in, just as Hong Yunfei had been inducted into Second Elder’s family after being taken specially invited in by Second Elder, becoming a disciple in Second Elder’s family.
When Huang Mingfeng came around after giving it some thought, he realized that the youth in the robe that was whiter than snow had already walked ahead quite a distance, so that the training grounds were now not very far off.
Immediately, he hurried to catch up, shouting as he ran, “Brother Donghuang, wait for me!”
The training grounds at the center of the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located was at a higher elevation, and vast. Four long stone stairways surrounded it, leading to the four winding main roads of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, which in turn led to the entrance of the mountain.
“Chen Dandan!”
Taking the stone stairs to the training grounds, Zhou Donghuang swept a calm gaze around his surroundings. A moment later, it fell on one of the groups of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.
With his current visual acuity, he was able to immediately see a young lady sparring with a youth through a gap in the gathered group.
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
…
With some smooth footwork, the delicate and beautiful young lady dressed in a light green long-sleeved gown forced her way closer to a youth who looked somewhat younger than she. They began to engage in an evenly-matched duel, but she gradually began to gain the upper hand.
From the looks of things, it was only a matter of time before the young lady was victorious.
“Sister Dandan is really good!”
“She is worthy of being Second Elder’s daughter, as she has such ability even though she only returned to the Valley of the Medicine Masters not long ago.”
“She really does her father proud!”
…
The group of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters gathered to watch were effusive in their praise as they watched the young lady gain the upper hand.
“Although Chen Dandan is said to have grown up in a small place, she has an uncommon martial talent, and not long after returning to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, she has already broken through successive levels of practice and has attained level-four of Qi-gathering.”
When Huang Mingfeng caught up with Zhou Donghuang and saw that his gaze had fallen on Chen Dandan at the center of the group, he chimed in, “Of course, this is also because Second Elder has used a good deal of rare medicine on her.”
Crash!!
As Huang Mingfeng finished, in the center of the group Chen Dandan’s palm connected with great force on the youth’s chest, sending him reeling back. The youth’s body trembled, and blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.
“Sister Dandan, I concede defeat.”
Although there was anger in the depths of the youth’s gaze at being wounded to such a degree even though it was only a sparring session, he dared not let it show on his face due to his fear of the second elder who backed the young lady, and he clasped his hands in salute as he bowed humbly.
Now Chen Dandan was like a proud peacock, gazing indifferently at the youth before looking away and walking out of the group.
“Sister Dandan, wait for me!”
Two voices called out in unison as two youths left the group and followed in Chen Dandan’s footsteps, as though they were two shadows following her.
However, the young lady who had been heading out of the training grounds with great strides had suddenly stopped in her tracks.
They looked to the front at once.
They saw only two youths standing not far off.
One of the youths was familiar to them. He was also a disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters named Huang Mingfeng, but it was the first time they had seen the handsome youth dressed in a robe whiter than snow.
“Zhou Donghuang?”
Chen Dandan had stopped suddenly because she had seen someone she never, in her wildest dreams, had imagined would appear here…
That youth who had grown up with her, her childhood playmate, Zhou Donghuang!
“How is it that you are here?” Chen Dandan asked in a cold voice, her gaze turning chilly in an instant.
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