Dominate the Heavens: Starting from the Foreign History of Wulin

Chapter 147 The villains gather together in Yihua Palace
Although Wei Mayi was born under Wei Wuya's sect, she was not an impatient person.

Looking at Su Ying in front of her, Wei Mayi sighed: "Get dressed first, your clothes are on the ground, put them on yourself!"

After Su Ying heard this, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, put on her clothes quickly, and immediately heard Wei Mayi say: "Is there something wrong with the old man? If nothing happened to him, how come these ghosts and snakes dare to come out and take advantage of you? ?”

Su Ying had just put on her clothes. She felt a little grateful to Wei Mayi in her heart, but she was more defensive.

Hearing Wei Mayi's question, he hesitated for a moment, then told the truth, "I heard that the disciples of Ya Wu's disciples came out of the mountain this time and got into trouble with Yan Nantian, who was once the greatest hero in the world. Not long ago, Yan Nantian killed Ya Wu himself. Many people in the underground palace thought that the old man was dead, but when I left, the old man himself said that he was absolutely sure that Yan Nantian would never kill him."

"Ok!"

After hearing this, Wei Mayi nodded and said no more.

Su Ying said: "I really didn't expect that you would be the one to save me today!"

Wei Mayi said: "Since I left Toothless Palace, I have been guarding the valley where you are staying. When you left, I also left with you..."

Although Su Ying didn't say a word, her dark and shining eyes gradually brightened, and a rare blush appeared on her white jade face.

Wei Mayi said: "What are your plans next? If Wei Wuya really dies, how many of his disciples, and even the Twelve Stars, will know that you are living in seclusion nearby. I can guarantee that they will be plotting against you. There are by no means a minority of people, so why not..."

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Mayi looked at Su Ying and said, "If you leave with me, I will do my best to protect you."

However, Su Ying immediately shook her head decisively and said: "No need, you are you and I am me. The two of us have nothing to do with each other. I will protect myself carefully and will never take shelter under anyone, and of course I will not follow anyone." you left."

Although Su Ying was in trouble for a while, she was an extremely strong woman.

When Wei Wuya was still alive, she had always taken shelter by Wei Wuya's side. This kind of life dependent on others was of course extremely difficult.

And after Wei Wuya died, how could she take shelter under someone else's door again?
And she knows better than anyone else that if she agrees to Wei Mayi today, she will leave with Wei Mayi from now on.

Then even her life was given by Wei Mayi. No matter what Wei Mayi asked her to do, she would be embarrassed to refuse.

Even though Wei Mayi is very skilled in martial arts, he is also very infatuated with her.

But there is no way to force things about feelings.

Su Ying asked herself, she really didn't like Wei Mayi, or in other words, she hated any of Toothless's disciples.

No matter what the consequences are, she must refuse when facing Wei Mayi. This is her principle in life. She will never compromise and take advantage of anyone just because a choice is very beneficial to her.

Wei Mayi had also heard the strong hint of rejection in Su Ying's words, and the look on her face couldn't help but darken.

He was originally a weak person when it came to feelings.

In the original text of "Peerless Two Prides", in order to save Jiang Xiaoyu, Su Ying plotted and wanted to kill him. Jiang Xiaoyu exposed it. Wei Mayi only acted very shocked and unbelievable, but still had no intention of blaming Su Ying.

In simple terms.

Wei Mayi's character is similar to that of a licking dog, and the object of his allegiance is Su Ying.

Su Ying quickly consoled her: "Actually, your talent is unparalleled in the martial arts world. There are so many disciples under Wu Ya, but you are the only one who has practiced to the point where you are almost comparable to Wei Wu Ya. Moreover, you are not bad in appearance either, Wei Wu Ya." You are born with cartilage, and you have all four limbs. If you are willing, there are countless celebrities in the world, and even their rich ladies, who are willing to welcome you as their son-in-law, so why should you..."

Su Ying's tongue shines like a lotus flower, and she talks eloquently. The meaning behind her words is "There is no grass anywhere in the world, why should I fall in love with a flower unrequitedly"!
Wei Mayi was barely able to endure it at first, but gradually she started to get angry. She stood up suddenly and shouted loudly: "Do you really think that my cultivation talent is the best in the martial arts world, better than Wei Huangyi and Wei Qingyi? "

Su Ying said: "Isn't this obvious? Among Wu Ya's disciples, you are the only one with the highest cultivation level. Even Wei Wu Ya is deeply afraid of you!"

Wei Mayi sneered: "How can I have the qualifications to be invincible? In fact, although my qualifications are not bad, they are at most the same as those of Wei Qingyi and the others. To say that I am invincible is far from enough. "

"But……"

Su Ying said in confusion: "Are you obviously much better than them?"

Wei Mayi's martial arts skills were roughly on par with those of Xiao Yu'er and Hua Wuque.

In other words, he alone can defeat Wei Qingyi and Wei Baiyi. He is indeed much stronger than the other four disciples.

Su Ying's question was not just to please, in fact, her heart was full of curiosity and confusion.

Wei Mayi had no intention of hiding anything from Su Ying, not to mention that at this moment, Wei Wuya could hardly protect himself, and he was not worried that his secret would be leaked.

Wei Mayi said softly: "Do you think the old man accepted a hundred of our disciples, taught martial arts, and trained us carefully to cultivate us into talents, or to use us to do things for him?"

Su Ying shook her head sadly and said, "I'm afraid it's just to take advantage of you more."

"Not bad!"

Wei Mayi said: "Do you think he is really kind-hearted enough to teach us all his martial arts skills and his ability to control the bottom of the box?"

"That is absolutely impossible!"

Wei Mayi sneered: "So when the old man teaches us martial arts, he must leave one move as a back-up move among the ten moves. When he teaches us internal skills and mental methods, he also secretly hides it. No matter how amazing or stunning it is, , even an invincible genius will never be able to obtain the old man’s true inheritance, and of course no one can learn all his martial arts.”

"The reason why I can compete with him is very simple."

Wei Mayi said disdainfully: "Just because after I joined the old man's disciples, every time he practiced in seclusion, I would definitely go and learn secretly. When he left, I would secretly peek at his martial arts secrets. Therefore, other masters I can learn all the martial arts that my brothers cannot learn, and I understand the principles that other brothers don’t understand better than anyone else, so I can become everyone’s senior brother.”

"It turns out that this is the truth!"

Even Su Ying was stunned.

Even though she was extremely smart, this was the first time she understood this truth.

suddenly.

The two of them heard a voice at the same time, and heard a generous and powerful man's voice coming from their ears. The voice was loud and clear: "Brother Mai is talking like this, could it be the Yuan Chen magic skill of that old guy Wei Wuya, and the secret of his martial arts practice?" , everything has fallen into your hands?"

"who is it?"

Wei Mayi stood up in disgrace and looked into the distance.

Su Ying also stood up at the same time.

Unlike Wei Mayi, she had clearly heard the voice of this uninvited guest.

If Wei Shiba, who wanted to deal with her before, could be considered a jackal, the voice that appeared at this moment was completely like a ferocious and vicious tiger.

Even Wei Mayi may not be able to protect her!

I saw an extremely burly figure walking out of the darkness, facing the two people in front of me, and said, "Don't worry, Mai Yi, it's your good brother Baishanjun!"

Baishanjun laughed loudly, but his eyes were staring at Su Ying's body as if nothing.

Wei Mayi sneered: "So it's Mr. Baishan? What are you doing here? Could it be..."

Wei Mayi lost her voice and said, "You also have a crush on Su Ying?"

Baishan Junlang said with a smile: "Brother Mai, there is no need to be angry. The gentle lady is so jealous. I came here this time with such a plan. However, after seeing Brother Mai, I have changed my mind. I have heard about the old man's Yuan Chen for a long time. His magical skills are unparalleled in the martial arts world, as well as his various profound and unpredictable martial arts stunts. If you can learn them all, even if you are not invincible, you will definitely be one of the best in the martial arts world."

"I wonder if brother Mai can give up his love? Can he teach his brother some of this peerless martial arts secret?"

Wei Mayi gradually calmed down, and said with a sneer: "So you are also interested in the magical secrets in me, so what do you have, why should I teach you my secrets?"

Lord Baishan said: "Then what do you think of my wife, Lord Tuxue?"

Wei Mayi's eyes widened in an instant.

He really didn't expect that there would be such a shameless person in the world, shamelessly using his wife as a bargaining chip?

Su Ying knew better than him.

Although Mr. Baishan is not a good person, his wife, Mr. Tuxue Shenjun, is even more shameless.

No woman can imagine that Tiger Wife Tuxue Shenjun, although quite beautiful and not as good as top beauties such as Tie Xinlan and Su Ying, is still first-class. However, she has an extremely special hobby, that is She enjoys being watched by men and watching the way men see her.

and so.

No matter what, I can't help but want to take off my clothes at any opportunity.

The more others look at her, the more excited she becomes!
The world is so big and full of wonders that even a woman like Su Ying, who grew up in a den of evil, can't help but feel disgusted.

Is there such a shameless and shameless woman in the world?

After Wei Mayi was briefly shocked, she came back to her senses, faced Hushan Lord, and shouted in a low voice: "No matter what price you can pay, I have no interest in it. Do you want to get out of here, or do you want me to give you a ride?" ?”

After the words fell, a heavy aura enveloped the surrounding area.

Everyone can easily feel the air gradually becoming chilly.

Su Ying strode back, far away from the battlefield between the two of them.

but.

Suddenly, he screamed.

"what happened to you?"

Wei Mayi looked in the direction Su Ying left in shock.

I saw a beautiful woman in white clothes walking out of the darkness. The girl who was originally wearing emerald green clothes and as cold as ice fell to the ground with a pale face, seemingly unable to get up.

Wei Mayi first looked at the White Tiger Lord opposite, and then at the White Lady in the distance, the Snow God Lord, with an angry look on her face: "Not only is the Yin Tiger here, but the Wu Horse is also here?"

"And I!"

Another middle-aged man who was quite old and had a slightly wretched appearance walked out. He was Hu Yaoshi, the rabbit among the twelve zodiac signs, the god of medicine.

At this moment, the famous Twelve Stars, except Wei Wuya whose life and death are unknown, and the God Xianguo who was secretly rescued by Lu Ye, the remaining three Gods have all arrived.

When the three of them arrived here, they originally wanted to deal with Su Ying alone and take the opportunity to get some secrets from Wei Wuya, but they did not expect that such a good thing would happen and they would meet Wei Mayi who came to their door.

On the one hand, Wei Mayi was full of fear of the three people, on the other hand, she was worried about Su Ying's injuries, and asked in panic: "Su Ying, how are you, but where are you injured?"

Su Ying reluctantly moved, but her legs felt weak and she couldn't move at all. Moreover, whenever she moved, her lower body felt like needles pricking her.

The God of Snow Treading laughed like a silver bell and said: "No one can imagine that Wei Wuya, the insidious, vicious and cruel Wei Wuya, is not only a rare infatuated seed in the martial arts world, but also a rare infatuated person among the disciples he trains. The existence of infatuation."

Su Ying glanced at Ta Xue, gritted her teeth and said, "You used to be respectful in front of me, but now the world has really changed. Even a guy like you dare to secretly attack me?"

The God of Tuxue was three feet away, looking at the painful Su Ying with a smile on her face, and said with a smile: "Young lady, you finally know that the world has changed?"

"You are indeed a difficult person to offend. Even if you don't have any martial arts skills, with your intelligence and knowledge of traps and poisons, we don't dare to offend you easily."

"but!"

The God of Tuxue laughed loudly and said: "Only unknown means are really scary. You are just an ordinary person. If you can keep it secret enough to prevent us from knowing all your means, no one will dare to attack you. , but unfortunately, we already know some of your tricks and methods. The more we know, the more we can be sure of. Now the old man can't protect himself, so why don't we dare to attack you? "

"Wei Mayi!"

Tuxue Shenjun's eyes wandered, looking at the figure opposite, and said: "You don't like me, and you are not willing to hand over the complete Yuanchen Divine Art for me, then can you like this dead girl? If you are willing to agree to us , obediently hand over the martial arts manual in your hand to us. I, Tuxue, will not only hand over this little girl Su Ying to you completely, but also, I will keep and train her obediently, so that you will be firmly attached to her for the rest of your life. Remember her well.”

"Shameless and obscene!"

Wei Mayi said worriedly: "What did you do to her?"

"But it's nothing!"

Texue said indifferently: "I just used my own hairspring needle to shoot into Miss Su's lower back. Her lower body was sealed by me and she couldn't move. She just needed to move and she was immediately unable to survive. The fate of death."

Wei Mayi asked again: "How can I remove this hidden weapon?"

Tuxue said: "The poison carried on the hairspring needle is nothing. I have the antidote now and can take it at any time. What is especially troublesome is that the hidden weapon itself cannot be used unless the star-absorbing iron is used within half an hour. Take out the needle, otherwise the hidden weapon will wander along with the blood of the human body and gradually disappear. The longer time goes by, the more difficult it will be to save it. If time delays for a long time, even if there is a way to save it, it will be difficult to save it!"

Wei Mayi kept looking at Ta Xue, then at Su Ying, and said, "Give me the antidote and the star-absorbing iron. You don't need to take care of the rest."

Bai Shanjun said: "Brother Mai, have you decided to hand over the martial arts secrets in your hands?"

Wei Mayi said: "Even if I can defeat the three of you, I can't beat four hands with two fists, and Su Ying is here with me. After all, I can't protect her. If I don't agree to you, what else can I do?"

The three of them, Baishanjun, looked at each other, with indescribable expressions of surprise on their faces.need to know.

The Twelve Astrology Organization, which is famous in the martial arts world, was founded by Zishu Wei Wuya.

Whether it is Baishanjun or the two divine lords of Stepping on Snow and Pounding Medicine, all of them have only practiced one-twelfth of Wei Wuya's magical skills.

However, just one-twelfth of it has already allowed them to achieve what they have achieved at this moment.

The martial arts possessed by Wei Wuya's lineage are in the same line as the martial arts practiced by the three of them, and they must be able to complement each other.

If they could use Wei Mayi to obtain Wei Wuya's complete martial arts secrets, the three of them thought to themselves, at least at least, all three of them would be able to greatly improve their skills and advance to a small level without wasting their efforts.

Seeing Wei Mayi's promise, the three of them had no doubt that he was there, and Lord Taxue immediately threw the antidote and star-absorbing stone in Wei Mayi's hands.

Wei Mayi stepped forward to treat the injury, but gradually stopped.

Lord Taxue sneered: "Why don't you take action? Time is running out. If we delay for a long time, a vicious hidden weapon like the gossamer array is no joke."

Wei Mayi looked at Su Ying and said, "Do you have any protective poison on your clothes?"

Although at this moment, Su Ying lost Wei Wuya's protection, almost no one, a true martial arts master, took Su Ying, an ordinary person, seriously.

but.

It’s impossible for everyone to really not be afraid!

Almost everyone knows that Su Ying is an unprecedented master of poison.

Even if Wei Mayi wanted to save someone, he still had to get her consent!

There was hesitation on Su Ying's face. After a long time, she sighed leisurely and said: "Wei Mayi, let's go. Even if I die here, even if my legs are paralyzed from now on, I don't want you to come." Leave me alone."

"Don't you understand?"

Su Ying said: "I don't want you to save me at all, and I don't want you to give anything for me!"

A word falls.

The expressions of the three people of Baishanjun all changed drastically.

All three people looked at Wei Mayi worriedly, worried that after receiving such a rejection, he would become disheartened and leave.

However, Wei Mayi's infatuation was beyond everyone's expectations. Regardless of Su Ying's objection, she stepped forward and fed the antidote. At the same time, she took out the star-absorbing iron and slowly sucked out the poisonous needle from her lower back.

The hidden weapon was dissolved. Wei Mayi trembled and fell to the ground weakly.

"what happened to you?"

Su Yinghua looked at the figure lying on the ground with a pale look, and said: "How could this happen? Although there are some poisonous needles on my body, there is no poison in the place you just touched. How could this happen? ? How could you be poisoned? This is absolutely impossible? "

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The three of them, the White Tiger Lord, the Medicine God Lord, and the Snow-Taking God Lord, laughed loudly.

"Good sister!"

Texue said with a smile on his face: "With your intelligence, you only need to think about it carefully, and you can immediately know that the poison cannot be on your body, it is just on brother Mai's star-absorbing iron."

"Man, man!"

Texue sighed sympathetically: "Why do such a heroic man like women? If he was cold and ruthless enough, he would not have the fate he has at this moment."

Su Ying struggled to move. Although the poison had been removed and the hidden weapon on her body had been taken out, Mrs. Taxue's hidden weapon was too vicious. Even at this time, she was still unable to move.

Looking at the three complacent figures in front of her, Su Yingkong gritted her teeth, but she couldn't even do anything about it.

"what's going on?"

Just when the three of them were getting carried away and thought they had defeated Wei Mayi and Su Ying, a voice came over.

What a strange thing in this wilderness!

What happened today?
One after another, nosy people appeared one after another.

First, Su Ying appeared here. Su Ying was a stunning beauty, and it could be said that it was understandable that she would be attracted to a crazy person like Wei Shiba.

Wei Mayi appears to save people.

And then the three Baishanjuns appeared.

At this hour today, there are already enough people here.

No one could have imagined that someone would show up at this moment, and that the other party would dare to show up even though they knew the three of them were here?

Even the extremely smart Su Ying couldn’t even imagine it!
The figure who spoke had already walked out of the darkness. He was wearing brown and green embroidered clothes. He was elegant and dressed like a learned Confucian scholar and a gentleman.

Everyone knows him.

A hero from the south of the Yangtze River with unparalleled benevolence and righteousness, Jiang Biehe.

When Jiang Biehe saw the people in front of him, he bowed respectfully and said with a smile: "Tiger, Madam, and Shenjun, we said goodbye before, and the three of you are fine!"

"Humph!"

Bai Shanjun looked at Jiang Biehe indifferently and said: "Who did we think it was? It turns out to be you, Jiang Biehe. Although you are a famous and righteous hero in the martial arts world, you are not Yan Nantian after all, not even Yan Nantian." Lu Zhongyuan, we three brothers are not afraid of you."

"Of course!"

Jiang Biehe said politely: "With the abilities of the three of them, I should be afraid of the three of them. How can I make the three of them afraid of me?"

Baishanjun was very satisfied with Jiang Biehe's attitude and asked proudly: "What are you doing here?"

Jiang Biehe said: "I'm here to show the three of you a clear path. Of course, it may also be the only way to survive!"

"What did you say?"

Baishanjun was startled for a moment, then laughed loudly and said, "You said you were here to show us a way out?"

"Did we hear correctly?"

Baishan Jun said: "The three of us are living here well, and we are about to obtain Wei Wuya's martial arts secret book, and our martial arts will greatly improve. By that time, besides Yaoyue, Lianxing and Yan Nantian, who else in the world will be the three of us?" Personal opponents? With such martial arts, how can we be in danger? Where does the danger come from? "

"Since we are not in danger, why do we need you to rescue us?"

"The three tigers are certainly very skilled in martial arts!"

Jiang Biehe agreed: "But do the three of you really think that you are not in danger? From Biehe's point of view, I'm afraid that's not necessarily the case!"

Mrs. Taxue said: "What do you want to say?"

Jiang Biehe said: "Although I have lost the martial arts forces in Jiangnan, in terms of intelligence, I am by no means inferior to any force in the Jianghu. Not long ago, I heard that the Nantian hero Lu Zhongyuan, who was close friends with Yan Nantian, died tragically. Is this possible because of the methods of the three of you?"

"Not bad!"

Mr. Baishan hesitated for a moment and replied calmly: "That kid is chasing after him. He won't stop until he kills us all. We have no choice but to join forces to deal with him."

Taxue said: "We are all here to protect ourselves. If it were not for self-protection, who would be willing to deal with Lu Zhongyuan at any cost? Wouldn't that offend Yan Nantian to death?"

Jiang Biehe smiled and said: "Of course Biehe knows that the three of them are trying to protect themselves. I'm afraid Yan Nantian also knows it. However, the problem with this matter is that the three of them joined forces to kill Lu Zhongyuan. If Yan Nantian wants to Lu Zhongyuan is seeking revenge, will he care if you are protecting yourself?"

After saying these words, the three people who were originally very proud suddenly fell silent, and each of their faces looked solemn and ugly as never before.

Su Ying looked at the three people in front of her coldly and said: "I thought that the famous Twelve Stars were such fearless people, but I didn't expect that they were so unbearable. Just hearing Yan Nantian's name, she I’m already so scared.”

Although the Medicine God Lord was frightened, he was not too panicked. Hearing Jiang Biehe's words, he thought for a while and then responded: "Yan Nantian is indeed powerful, and none of us can afford to offend him, but after all, he is only one person, and Wulin It’s so big that there’s nowhere to hide. Whether we live in seclusion in the mountains or forests, or remain anonymous, as long as we hide deep enough, how can he catch the three of us by just one person?”

"Not bad!"

With a pair of shining eyes, Bai Shanjun looked at Su Ying and Wei Mayi on the ground, and sneered: "If it were before, we would have been helpless against Yan Nantian, but at this moment, Wei Wuya's martial arts The secret is at our fingertips. If we get Wei Wuya’s secret book, and everyone here practices and their martial arts improves significantly, we may not be sure of victory even if we face Yan Nantian.”

"Ha ha!"

The smile on Jiang Biehe's face suddenly turned cold, and he said disdainfully: "With Wei Wuya's secret book, you can compete with Yan Nantian? Do you believe this?"

Jiang Biehe said: "Although I haven't seen Wei Wuya's secret book yet, I only know from Wei Wuya's martial arts and the martial arts of his disciples that even if he practices to the top, the pinnacle of this line of martial arts is just Wei Wuya's. With such level, how can Wei Wuya be Yan Nantian’s opponent, and the three of you may not be able to reach the peak of this line of martial arts?”

The energy that the three people had just gathered was shattered in an instant.

Lord Baishan looked at Jiang Biehe with reluctance and said, "You are just attacking us with your words. Facing Yan Nantian's reputation and martial arts, what else can we do to deal with it other than the current method? "

Texue also said: "Besides escaping and retreating to the mountains and forests, there is simply no other way!"

"Is there no second way?"

Jiang Biehe sneered and said, "From Jiang's point of view, I'm afraid this is not true, right?"

"Oh?"

The Medicine God Lord asked curiously: "Could it be that Master Jiang has some idea?"

"Isn't this nonsense?"

Jiang Biehe said: "If he didn't have the means, how could Mr. Jiang walk out openly? How could he say these words to you?"

heard.

All three of them were overjoyed.

The Medicine God Lord asked curiously: "I wonder if Master Jiang has any ideas that can save the lives of the three of us?"

Jiang Biehe said: "You only know that Yan Nantian's martial arts is so powerful that he is almost invincible, but you don't know that there is at least one person in this martial arts world whose martial arts is far more terrifying than Yan Nantian's."

Baishanjun and Mrs. Taxue looked at each other.

Baishan Jun said in surprise: "Could it be that the person Jiang Daxia is talking about is the famous Master of Yihua Palace?"

Mrs. Taxue said: "What kind of person is the Master of Yihua Palace? Is she willing to come forward to protect us?"

All three people looked suspicious.

Jiang Biehe said with a smile on his face: "If it is a normal situation, of course the people in Yihua Palace will not be able to protect us, but if it is for the sake of Yuan Chen Shen Gong and Miss Su Ying Su, that may not be the case!"

Jiang Biehe's meaning is very simple!
The three of them are also veterans, and they all heard clearly and clearly.

That is to ask them to offer the magic power they finally obtained and the woman Su Ying.

The Medicine God Lord looked at Su Ying who was lying on the ground unable to move with his small round eyes, and said with reluctance: "I can barely understand the offer of Yuan Chen's magical skill, because among the martial arts people, I'm afraid no one can do it. Resist the temptation of peerless magic, but offering Su Ying is strange. Is it possible that the master of Yihua Palace is also interested in the stunning beauty?"

"What a fool!"

Jiang Biehe said coldly: "When did I say that the Master of Yihua Palace would be interested in women, and with your status, even if you really get the peerless magic, you are qualified to meet the Master of Yihua Palace? What I said As I said, the person who came to ask for a meeting is just related to Yihua Palace, Lu Ye, a bandit who has recently become famous in the world!"

"Getting his protection is actually no different from Yao Yue and Lian Xing's protection."

"If Yan Nantian comes to visit, he must deal with Lu Ye first, and dealing with Lu Ye means dealing with Yao Yue!"

"You must understand this very well?"

Although not long ago, Lu Ye suggested to Yao Yue to kill him, Jiang Biehe didn't take it seriously at all.

After just one contact, he already clearly understood what kind of person Lu Ye was.

At this moment, there is no way to protect himself. However, Lu Ye's Zunxin Sect is undoubtedly an exception.

(End of this chapter)